geekosystem

The best way to promote any product in Japan is obviously through an anime short. The setting for said short must be a decade or so from now, that way the animators can play with some totally sweet futuristic flourishes. Also, the first protagonist has to be an adorable petite girl, or the rest won't work at all. This is all apparently known to Mercedes-Benz, the car manufacturer, as they partnered with anime studio Production I.G -- the studio behind Ghost in the Shell -- to produce a short exactly like that to promote the release of the next A-Class model in Japan. Seriously.

Mercedes-Benz has revealed that they are integrating Apple's Siri into its electronics system so drivers will have access to their iPhone apps through the use of voice commands. This program, dubbed Drive Kit Plus, will work with Mercedes' already established Digital DriveStyle App to display the iPhone's screen on the in-car screen, where users will be able to use a variety of iPhone features, such as peruse social networks, send text messages, and listen to music.