1 Owner 2011 Volvo S80 Inscription Edition Awd Turbo Moonroof 3.0l on 2040-cars

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The next-generation wearable will be your car

This year's CES has had a heavy emphasis on the class of device known as the "wearable" – think about the Apple Watch, or Fitbit, if that's helpful. These devices usually piggyback off of a smartphone's hardware or some other data connection and utilize various onboard sensors and feedback devices to interact with the wearer. In the case of the Fitbit, it's health tracking through sensors that monitor your pulse and movement; for the Apple Watch and similar devices, it's all that and some more. Manufacturers seem to be developing a consensus that vehicles should be taking on some of a wearable's functionality. As evidenced by Volvo's newly announced tie-up with the Microsoft Band 2 fitness tracking wearable, car manufacturers are starting to explore how wearable devices will help drivers. The On Call app brings voice commands, spoken into the Band 2, into the mix. It'll allow you to pass an address from your smartphone's agenda right to your Volvo's nav system, or to preheat your car. Eventually, Volvo would like your car to learn things about your routines, and communicate back to you – or even, improvise to help you wake up earlier to avoid that traffic that might make you late. Do you need to buy a device, like the $249 Band 2, and always wear it to have these sorts of interactions with your car? Despite the emphasis on wearables, CES 2016 has also given us a glimmer of a vehicle future that cuts out the wearable middleman entirely. Take Audi's new Fit Driver project. The goal is to reduce driver stress levels, prevent driver fatigue, and provide a relaxing interior environment by adjusting cabin elements like seat massage, climate control, and even the interior lighting. While it focuses on a wearable device to monitor heart rate and skin temperature, the Audi itself will use on-board sensors to examine driving style and breathing rate as well as external conditions – the weather, traffic, that sort of thing. Could the seats measure skin temperature? Could the seatbelt measure heart rate? Seems like Audi might not need the wearable at all – the car's already doing most of the work. Whether there's a device on a driver's wrist or not, manufacturers seem to be developing a consensus that vehicles should be taking on some of a wearable's functionality.

Volvo working on ultra-lux four-seat XC90 for China?

In China, it's all about being driven. That's why we've seen so many automakers stretch their most popular models to appeal to buyers in the Chinese market. Volvo is certainly no stranger to this, and according to Autocar, the company is already working on a super-lux, four-seat version of its recently launched XC90 crossover.
Volvo won't stretch the XC90 and just increase second-row legroom, however. Instead, the company will reportedly remove both the standard XC90's second and third row benches, and install a duplicate set of front seats in the rear compartment, featuring the same electric adjustment features, including massage. These more luxurious thrones will be placed further back in the vehicle, allowing for "exceptional" legroom, Autocar reports, without needing to stretch the wheelbase.
Mum's the word on when we can expect to see the high-zoot Volvo arrive, though the magazine estimates that it surface later this year.

LOLVO Volvo V60 video leverages the power of cats on cars

You know what we haven't posted in a long time? A very weird, car-related video. It's high time we address this failing.
As strange videos go, this one is truly bizarre. The two-minute clip focuses on the Volvo V60 R-Design, although you're not going to be learning anything about the car. Instead, you're going to be focused on the weird narrator (and the cat decals on the windows).
It's like someone taught the Swedish Chef to speak English, but with a ridiculous accent and a script that's been fed through Google Translate. The result is a weirdly cerebral voice speaking in a manner that borders on gibberish mixed with information about the car. We're particularly fond of, "In accordance with Volvo tradition... the car... is... of course... furnished, with an inside." "Floor bibs," in reference to the floor mats, was an office favorite, as well.