The first recorded conversation was about Jeff's grandparents' challenging pilgrimage in WWII era from Latvia and eventually to Canada and a brief history of Dow Honda. We finished up with a run-down of Honda's back-up camera and back-up assist features as well as summary of the most popular or the newest Hondas. The second podcast with Mr. Mierins is about the Mercedes-Benz and a discussion of its newest technological features that make it sound more like a classy robot than an inanimate collection of high quality aluminum, paint and such.
Feel free to stream the Mercedes-Benz technology podcast or download it to your favorite device and listen offline even. It's available on iTunes, DIDX podcasts and AstraQom podcasts. A list of major points discussed:
1. Quick history of Mercedes Benz such as Karl Benz's Schwäbian descent and a common moniker of that area: "Too poor to be cheap"
2. The pre-safe feature, new B class models and where they will be available (yes in Europe and Canada, but not USA), the new smaller A class that is a little larger than a smart car.
3. The new radar-based collision prevention assist system which will be available eventually on all Mercedes-Benz products ... Jeff describes being a passenger, in an SL convertible, down a slalom course in which the driver slammed the brakes hard as possible, with a couple of the wheels coming up off the ground ... (hold your breath!)
4. Do the new technologies take the autonomous driving experience away from the driver?
5. Blind spot assist feature during lane changes to reduce fender benders.
6. Cross-border shpping differences, issues, and price points between Canada and USA.
7. Comparison of the Starbucks and Mercedes-Benz brands as TMC's Mr. Tehrani once spoke of in a blog post ... and from there to Canada's "equivalent to Starbucks" ... the Second Cup.
Finally ... a bit about Star Motors. It is Ottawa's oldest import dealer, and it houses dozens of new and pre-owned Mercedes-Benzes. In fact, one could walk out with a new 2013 C 300 4Matic which has a V6 engine and the ECO start/stop technology at just $388 per month lease payment. Imagine my excitement when told by Star Motors' management that I could participate in the AMG Performance Tour in Las Vegas during the second week of November. If I go, I will definitely report on it, with emphasis on the classically geeky features of every model! ITEXPO West 2012 has a Machine 2 Machine Evolution Conference and & Expo component scheduled October 2 -5 in Austin Texas. Strategies, case studies and benefits of M2M with automobiles will be discussed by experts. Other topics of M2M will include transportation in general, security, health, cold chain, safety, and even proactive response centers to buy time and avoid risk. (Follow Carl Ford who is a major leader in the M2M and Mobility Tech Zone components of ITEXPO. He is on Twitter.)