2011 Audi A8 Is Stacked With Gadgets [New Audi Sedan Comes With Google Earth, WLAN, More Tech Toys]

Are you in the market for a new car? Might I suggest the all new 2011 Audi A8 full-size sedan, that will come loaded, and I mean absolutely loaded, with tech toys (I’m sure thats what Audi calls them) for the German automotive connoisseur. These tech features include, a Google Earth navigation system, a 19-speaker sound system, and an internet connection and WiFi network. That’s right, your car can be connected to the internet.

The internet connection is provided to the car via a UMTS (3G) connection, and the car then spits that out via a WiFi network, perfect for browsing your laptop while going 65 mph down the highway (also, ideally, perfect for browsing the web while a pal drives). The WiFi network’s usefulness doesn’t stop there, as you can use it to wirelessly stream music from your MP3 player to the car’s speakers. No contracts are required for the 3G connection (probably built into the car’s price, similar to the Amazon Kindle and other things of that nature). The car’s navigation system streams satellite pictures from Google Earth, giving you a (theoretical) preview of your surroundings, instead of the bland roads and streets that most GPS systems give you.

Looking for a Burger King but don’t want to bother typing it in with an on-screen keyboard. The navigation system has a handwriting recognition system that lets you ‘write’ your desintation on screen with a stylus – honest – for those who don’t care to use the onscreen pad.

But let’s go back to the sound system, shall we? The flagship Audi will come with a 19-speaker sound system from Danish stereo company Bang & Olufesn, and will bring you a grand total of 1400 Watts of Power. The steering wheel comes with a vibration-cancelling motor, and the seats come with hot and cold massage motors. Yes, please.

Oh yeah, the Audi features a night vision heads-up-display that’s augmented with thermal vision, in case the Xenon-powered headlights aren’t enough for you. The ‘intelligent pedestrian detection’ software analyzes your current situation and determines if you are at risk from a possible encounter with a pedestrian or animal. Yeah, really. How it does this, isn’t really explained.

So, undoubtedly the 2011 Audi A8 is packed with enough goodies to make the TFTS reader green with envy. Want yours? Expect this loaded full-size car to start hitting Audi dealers this July. The A8 will set you back a cool $80,000 in the United States.