2014 Ferrari Laferrari on 2040-cars

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Apple CarPlay drawing early safety concerns [w/video]

Apple's CarPlay infotainment system hasn't made it into a single vehicle yet, and it's already drawing criticism for distracting drivers among safety advocates. The new tech unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show pairs users' iPhones with the car's dashboard display to make calls, dictate messages and listen to music. Some automakers, like Volvo, also let users interact with the HVAC system from the screen.
"The idea that people want to be on their phones, and therefore let's give them a way to do that -- that's not putting safety first, that's putting convenience and the desire to be in touch first," said Bruce Hamilton, manager of research and communications at the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, to CNN Money.
Distracted driving is a huge concern on modern roads with more vehicles allowing drivers to use their smartphones through Bluetooth and infotainment systems. A Texas A&M study found that drivers' reaction time doubled while dictating text messages, according to CNN Money. The new tech is certainly not making drivers pay more attention.

Amazing LaFerrari tribute watch more intricate than the real thing [w/video]

The Enzo had no companion watch, but its successor, the Ferrari LaFerrari, does. Created by Hublot "entirely in parallel with the car" and "alongside the Ferrari teams," the MP-05 LaFerrari tribute watch is a similar test of how much gobsmacking gadgetry can be packed into a chassis. The manually-wound watch has 11 barrels set in a spine down the center that work together to provide a 50-day power reserve. So yes, it does need to be wound, but only once every seven weeks.
Hublot says the movement, engineered in-house, has 637 components. It has more pieces than any other movement Hublot has ever designed, and it gets a tourbillon to further showcase the "demonstration of watchmaking virtuosity." The face is sapphire crystal, the case is black PVD titanium and features an open case-back, the strap is rubber with a PVD titanium buckle. Time is told via the barrels to the right of the the spine on the right - it's 10:05 on the watch above. To the left are the barrels displaying the amount of power remaining.
Hublot hasn't disclosed the price, so you know what that means. There will be 50 tribute watches made, each sent in a presentation case wrapped in Schedoni leather and carbon fibre and including the miniature power tool you need to wind the timepiece. You can read all about it in the press release below, and for true watch geeks there's also an in-depth wrists-on video of the MP-05, performed by ABlogtoWatch.com.

Ferrari replaces F1 boss with Marlboro exec

Ferrari just finished its worst Formula One season in decades, and if you're thinking heads are going to roll, you're right. In fact they already have, as team principal Stefano Domenicali was dismissed earlier this year and longtime chairman Luca di Montezemolo was axed just two months ago. Now Maranello has announced a new team principal, yet again. Instead of promoting from within, however, this time Ferrari has called in an outside executive – albeit one with whom it is intimately familiar. His name is Maurizio Arrivabene, and he's served as a senior executive at tobacco giant Philip Morris International, managing (among other areas) the Marlboro brand's sponsorship of the Scuderia. In that capacity he's been sitting on the FIA's Formula One Commission as the sponsors' representative since 2010, giving him a familiarity with how the series is run. In his new capacity as Managing Director of the Gestione Sportiva and Team Principal of Scuderia Ferrari, Arrivabene replaces Marco Mattiacci, who was called up to the post from his previous position as head of the North American office just eight months ago. Back then Mattiacci replaced a similarly under-performing Domenicali. The change may very well have come at the behest (if not insistence) of Philip Morris, which remains the team's main sponsor and is undoubtedly displeased with Ferrari's performance lately. It wouldn't be the first time. After all, Marlboro similarly brokered the deal that put Ron Dennis in charge of McLaren in the early 1980s. Mattiacci's swift replacement comes at the end of a disastrous season for the Scuderia. Following yesterday's season finale in Abu Dhabi, Ferrari finished fourth in the constructors' standings behind Mercedes, Red Bull and Williams. The last time it finished the championship in such poor shape was in 2010 when Felipe Massa was injured and the team scrambled to find a replacement. But even then it managed to win at least one race and land on the podium another five times. Fernando Alonso finished on the podium only twice this season while Kimi Raikkonen struggled further back. This year marked the first time Ferrari failed to win a grand prix since 1993, and even then Jean Alesi and Gerhard Berger managed more podiums than the team scored this season.