There we were, in a high-ceilinged loft space in the artsy Dogpatch section of San Francisco. The walls were white. The furniture was white. A DJ supervised a thumping soundtrack. And parked on the smooth concrete floor under bright lights were two Lexus IS sedans.

Melissa Riofrio

The crowd consisted of slightly rumpled automotive and tech journalists (myself included) and sleekly trendy blogger types. We all snapped photos to post on Twitter and noshed on treats from food trucks parked outside just for us.

Lexus

Lexus had made a concerted effort to associate the IS with all the coolest aspects of one of the coolest cities. Like a new kid at school trying a little too hard to fit in. However, when I drove one the next day, the vibe I got from the car was precisely the opposite: It was as cool as a cucumber without trying. Or at least, not seeming to. And that included the tech.

This car has plenty of it: The IS 350 I drove was the 'F Sport' model, whose race-y embellishments include a TFT instrument cluster taken directly from the Lexus LFA Supercar. The Navigation Package also built into the car adds infotainment, device ports, a backup camera, and even voice commands. But all the tech is subtle, part of the overall, leather-wrapped package—a genteel contrast to the ostentation (however luscious) of the Tesla Model S. Even on a short jaunt, I could appreciate that subdued elegance.

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A lot of people have negative feelings about Bluetooth headsets. They emit radiation! They’re super lame! They make it somewhat difficult to tell if that guy walking next to you is crazy homeless or just talking to his agent on a tiny device tucked into his ear!

But the reality is, there are times when a Bluetooth headset is actually a useful bit of technology to have on hand – for example, when you’re driving. While a variety of states have banned texting and driving, because it's incredibly dangerous, more and more are extending that ban to include using a hand-held cell phones as well. A Bluetooth headset, or car kit, could mean the difference between you and a $159 ticket (for first-time offenders in California – a second offense in the state raises the fine to $279).

Whether you need to take a call while driving, prefer to walk around while on conference calls, or multitask your way through your day, there are plenty of times that a Bluetooth headset (or car kit) can come in handy. To help you wade through the options, we’ve reviewed ten of the most recent Bluetooth headset and car kit models to see how they hold up to real-life use. Some of them are solid, some just average, but all of them will keep your hands free so you can drive safely (or freak out the guy next to you on the sidewalk who can’t tell if you’re crazy homeless or talking to your roommate).

Researchers are developing machine-to-machine (M2M) communication technology that allows cars to exchange data with each other, meaning vehicles will soon know what the cars all around you are doing on the highway.

Your car, for instance, could "see" the velocity of nearby vehicles and react when they turn or brake suddenly. And with computer algorithms and predictive models, your car will be able to predict where other vehicles are going and measure the other drivers' skills—ensuring you're safe from their bad moves.

"We're even imagining in the future cars would be able to ask other cars, 'Hey, can I cut into your lane?' Then the other car would let you in," said Jennifer Healey, a research scientist with Intel.

Intel is working with National Taiwan University on M2M connectivity between vehicles as a way to make roads more predictable and safe.

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PALO ALTO, California—Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk says his electric-car company has had discussions with Google about autonomous driving technology, but tweeted Tuesday that self-driving Tesla cars are "still a few years from production."

"I like the word autopilot more than I like the word self-driving," Musk said in an interview with Bloomberg. "Self-driving sounds like it's going to do something you don't want it to do. Autopilot is a good thing to have in planes, and we should have it in cars."

Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin were early investors in Tesla before the car company went public in 2010.

After the Bloomberg interview made headlines yesterday, Musk tweeted: "Am a fan of Larry, Sergey & Google in general, but self-driving cars comments to Bloomberg were just off-the-cuff. No big announcement here."

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Putting too much tech in classic American muscle seems almost blasphemous. These cars are for driving, not tweeting and texting, after all. But Ford basically nails the tech situation in its 2013 Mustang. When you jump into the company’s latest pony car, you’re not overwhelmed with screens, buttons, and ports, though there is a high-tech instrument cluster and SYNC AppLink compatibility.

Sarah Jacobsson Purewal

We reviewed the 2013 Mustang GT Coupe Premium, which has just one screen in the cabin: a 4.2-inch color display nestled between the tachometer and the speedometer. True techies can trick out the Mustang interior with the Electronics package, which includes a head unit screen, built-in navigation, SiriusXM Traffic and Travel Link, and HD radio, but that costs an extra $2,340.

Sarah Jacobsson Purewal

Pony projection lights: low-tech, but still awesome

Our model did come equipped with the $1,950 California Special package and the $650 Comfort package. The California Special package is mostly an exterior mod, while the Comfort package includes six-way power passenger seat and heated mirrors.

Sarah Jacobsson Purewal

This is also is the first model year that the Mustang’s Comfort package also includes special “pony projection lights,” lights under each side mirror that throw a Mustang logo on the ground beside the car whenever you unlock the doors. Pretty low-tech, but awesome nonetheless. As configured, our review model costs $40,230.

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The system is patterned after ignition-interlock systems that prevent intoxicated drivers from starting a car.

The product, called OrigoSafe, costs $279 and comes in a kit that includes the docking station, DriveCase adapter for the phone and installation instructions. Buyers can opt for installation by an authorized dealer for $125, including warranty, or install the docking station themselves with no warranty.

Currently, OrigoSafe is only compatible with the Samsung Galaxy S3, and iPhone 4, 4S and 5. Adapters for other phones may be introduced in the future, and a complete list will soon be available on the company's Web site.

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Automated vehicles aren’t just a Google side project anymore. At the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show, Toyota debuted its “advanced active safety research vehicle,” which is basically a Lexus LS460 tricked out with cameras, sensors, and a whirling LIDAR laser. Audi also showed off some automated driving skills with a proof-of-concept sedan that was able to valet and park itself. And plenty of other automakers, including Ford, General Motors, and Volvo, are researching and testing out the technology.

Sarah Jacobsson Purewal

You can see where this is going. When fully self-driving cars come online, the human will just be the one who signs the insurance contract. And if you think you’re not ready to let go of the wheel, it’s kind of too late: Cars started driving better than most people do about 40 years ago. People have gladly traded full driver control for greater ease and safety. So buckle up and learn how cars—whether heavily automated or someday, self-driving—can and will drive better than all of us.

It all started with antilock brakes

Although the fully automated self-driving cars we’ve seen so far look dauntingly high-tech (thanks mostly to that spinning LIDAR laser gizmo jutting up from the roof), the elements of self-driving technology already exist. Most of the cars on the road today incorporate at least a little automated technology, and have done so since the 1970’s. Automakers overwhelmingly agree that the antilock braking system (ABS) was the beginning of “automated,” or driver-assisted, technology.

ABS is a safety system that keeps cars’ wheels from locking up and skidding when you slam on the brakes. The system uses automated cadence braking (pumping the brakes to maintain control of the car) and threshold braking (controlling brake-pedal pressure to maximize braking force). While both of these braking techniques can be performed by a skilled human driver, ABS is more effective because it can pump brakes much faster and with more control than a human can.

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Taking advantage of modern technological conveniences often requires us to give it certain pieces of personal information. Want to have your bills automatically paid each month? You'll need to give the Web site your credit card or checking account information. Want your smartphone to find the nearest Denny's? You'll have to allow it to know your current location.

A new car these days is no different. A modern car with Bluetooth, navigation and an event data recorder is capable of knowing where you've been, who you've called, what your texts say and even whether you are wearing your seatbelt.

But before you swear off on all new cars for fear that Big Brother is tracking your every move, it is important to know that much of the personal information you can give to a car is optional. Nor is the vehicle constantly tracking your location, even if your car has a telematics service such as General Motors' OnStar.

"This is a common misconception," says Nick Pudar, GM's director of global connected consumer. OnStar does not keep track of a vehicle's location until a customer initiates a service request, adds Pudar. A service request could be a call for help after an accident, asking for directions, or calling law enforcement if the car has been stolen. And if you don't like the idea of being connected to a telematics service, you can discontinue it.

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The new 2013 Avalon sedan is available with the full-featured version of Toyota’s Entune suite of on-board applications that display data retrieved by smartphones on a large screen in the car’s dash. All the usual tech connections are also available, but one of the best things the Avalon has going for it is the “eBin” that’s in front of the shifter on the center console. It’s a nook for a smartphone and includes a grippy rubberized surface. This simple feature keeps the cup holders free for actual cups.

Check out the bumper-to-bumper review on Edmunds.com.

The test-drive

Toyota is clearly trying to court younger car buyers by loading up the Avalon with high-tech features. The Avalon line, which usually sells to an older demographic, starts at $31,000 and comes in both traditional and hybrid models with multiple trims. The Limited comes packed with technology, including three-color TFT screens in the cabin, capacitive touch-sensitive buttons on the head unit, and blind spot and cross-traffic monitoring.

The first thing you’ll notice when you get into the Avalon Limited is its slick, futuristic-looking dashboard control area, which houses two of the aforementioned color screens.

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Technology is the ultimate luxury in large flagship sedans such as Audi’s A8 (starting at $72,200). On-board Wi-Fi is the latest in car tech, so it’s part of the Audi Connect system in Audi’s biggest car. Up to eight devices can hook up to the A8’s password-protected Wi-Fi network, which connects to the Internet over a high-speed LTE connection.

That means you can hand each of your kids an iPad and cruise along serenely while they occupy themselves with YouTube videos. The media interface is also impressive, and the system includes Google Earth real-world navigation graphics and Google Voice Local Search to help you hunt down travel resources.

Check out the bumper-to-bumper review on Edmunds.com.

The test-drive

Audi’s flagship luxury sedan, the A8, is a good-looking and surprisingly high-tech car. I say “surprisingly” because initially it doesn’t look that way—in fact, the car-tech system’s main screen doesn’t even emerge from the dashboard until you start the vehicle.

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Tesla’s advantage is that it has so little experience building cars that it doesn’t know what it can’t do. The all-electric Model S sedan (from $57,400) features a massive, 17-inch central touchscreen in its dash that not only allows access to the car’s functions but also provides a direct, full connection to the Internet. That includes video display even while the car is in motion—something never available from established car manufacturers. Of course, the Tesla Model S system will also take media from smartphones or other media players through Bluetooth and two USB connections, but the screen is what makes everything so usable.

Check out the bumper-to-bumper review on Edmunds.com.

The test-drive

Tesla’s flagship four-door sedan is arguably more computer than car. This all-electric vehicle seats five people, goes from 0 to 60 in 5.6 seconds, and starts at $52,400 (with a 40kWh battery and after a $7500 federal tax credit). But it’s not the Tesla’s electric powertrain that we’re interested in—it’s all the tech inside the car, which includes two screens (one of which is the 17-inch touchscreen) powered by separate Nvidia Tegra 3 processors.

A massive touchscreen

The first thing you’ll notice when you hop into the Model S is the enormous 17-inch touchscreen that completely replaces the typical head unit. The Model S has just two physical buttons on the head unit: a hazard-light button on the left, and a glove-box button on the right. The rest of the controls, including those for media, navigation, door locks, and climate control, are located within the touchscreen.

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Infiniti’s JX35 crossover vehicle comes with “Infiniti Connection” technology that shoots information about the vehicle to most smartphones through a dedicated app. Beyond that, it syncs with Google calendar so that you can access your schedule—soccer games, piano lessons, pilates classes, and happy hour at Mel’s—through the vehicle’s central information screen. Throw in the optional and spectacular Around View Monitor that uses four cameras to generate a 360-degree mosaic of what’s surrounding the vehicle, and running a family becomes easy. Well, easier.

Check out the bumper-to-bumper review on Edmunds.com.

The test-drive

The 2013 Infiniti JX35 is a family-friendly luxury crossover—Infiniti’s answer to the Acura MDX and the Lexus RX. This seven-passenger SUV is packed with tech, including a fancy infotainment system and tons of safety features.

The first time you hop behind the wheel of this luxury car, you might find yourself a bit overwhelmed. After all, the inside of the JX35 is littered with buttons, ports, and screens. However, once you start using the interior tech, you’ll find that it’s quite user-friendly. The buttons are merely options (the infotainment system can also be controlled by touch or voice), the rear-facing screens are useful for distracting bored children, and the backseat component hookup lets kids play video games and DVDs on long road trips.

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Cadillac’s new ATS small sedan (from $35,225) carries within it the Cadillac User Experience (CUE) media interface, which puts many of the basic controls of the car on an LCD touchscreen (with touch-controlled buttons) on the head-end unit. This arrangement has frustrated some longtime Cadillac owners who are accustomed to controlling things such as the radio and the air conditioning using knobs and other physical controls. The CUE interface strives to work like an iPad, but comes up short in real driving conditions.

Check out the bumper-to-bumber review on Edmunds.com.

The test-drive

The ATS doesn’t just look sporty and sleek on the outside—it’s also pretty high-tech on the inside. The Cadillac User Experience consists of an all-touch head unit, a small instrument-cluster display, and a lower-tech heads-up display.

The majority of the Cadillac User Experience appears on the all-touch head unit, which features an 8-inch multitouch touchscreen and touch-sensitive buttons. Both the touchscreen and the buttons offer haptic feedback, which means you’ll feel a small vibration when you press anything. The feature is designed to help you navigate the system when your eyes are otherwise occupied (read: on the road). The head unit is fairly attractive at first glance—it’s all glossy screen and shiny black plastic—but it gets visibly covered in fingerprints after just a few swipes and taps.

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Edmunds.com and PCWorld/TechHive collaborated to identify and review the ten 2013 automobiles that are doing the most interesting things with in-car technology, and doing them well. Some have advanced capabilities, while others push the user interface to new levels.

To arrive at the top ten, Edmunds.com's editors looked at all the 2013 models they had reviewed (virtually all new models from every well-known automaker) and chose the ones with the coolest tech inside. PCWorld/TechHive’s editors worked with Edmunds to narrow the list to a top five, and then test-drove each car and wrote a full review of the in-cabin tech.Cars, the technology that shaped the 20th century, must get along with the personal electronics that are building this century. But it’s a struggle, and some vehicles make a more valiant effort to cope with the new tech reality than others do.

Click below to see a short video showing our top 3

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The 2013 New York International Auto Show is in full swing this week, showcasing cars and trucks of all makes and models, and technology is taking center stage. Many cars, from lower-priced Kias up through luxury BMWs, boast a high-tech infotainment system as a key part of the pitch for drivers. Cloud-based services, Android, and smartphones are being integrated into car systems—Honda has even introduced a vacuum to clean up after the kids.

In this video, we’ll take a look at the Android-based platform Kia is using in the infotainment system in its 2014 Soul. The car starts at $17,500. Kia says this is the first Android platform in its cars; more significantly, Kia’s Henry Bzeih says the Android platform “is going to be the enabler for many things for the future.”

The video also takes a look at Kia’s 2014 Sorrento, which lets users plug an Android-based phone or an iPhone into the car’s UVO system to access 11 different applications ranging from roadside assistance to a parking minder.

Step into one of the glitzy cars at the 2013 New York International Auto Show, and you may be tempted to reach out and poke at the dashboard touchscreen to see what it can do. The answer, in many cases, may come as a surprise: absolutely nothing.

That’s because many of the touchscreens that became popular in recent vehicle model years have been unceremoniously jettisoned in favor of bigger, non-touch screens controlled by what amounts to stationary computer mice.

Many automakers now view touchscreens as too distracting since they require drivers to take their eyes off the road too long to reach and poke at screens. Instead, many 2014 cars come with small Driver Information System (DIS) controls or knobs that work like computer mice.

Lexus shows 12.4-inch display with DIS control

Robert S. Anthony

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Just the Facts:

• The 2014 Honda Odyssey Touring Elite hopes to clean up at the 2013 New York Auto Show as the first minivan featuring a vacuum as standard equipment.
• Stored in the driver's side bulkhead of the rear cargo area, the vacuum's electric motor never needs an outlet or recharging.
• The 2014 Honda Odyssey Touring Elite also gets revisions to its styling and added safety features, including Forward Collision Warning and Lane Departure Warning.

NEW YORK — The 2014 Honda Odyssey Touring Elite hopes to clean up at the 2013 New York Auto Show as the first minivan featuring a vacuum as standard equipment.

Developed with Shop-Vac, the vacuum sports a replaceable filter and canister bag, along with cleaning attachments that reach into the corners of the Odyssey's cabin.

The vacuum is stored in the driver's side bulkhead of the rear cargo area. Its electric motor never needs an outlet or recharging. It operates continuously when the engine is running, and will continue to suck up debris for up to 8 minutes when the minivan is turned off.

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These days, you’ll find many Bluetooth speakerphone makers extolling the hands-free virtues of their in-car devices. Certainly, the $89 SuperTooth HD Voice allowed me to navigate calls using my voice, as opposed to constantly fumbling for controls by feel alone or––egads––taking my eyes off the road to pinpoint a button’s precise location.

The HD Voice is a cinch to snap on and off the sun visor. You slide a clip on to the visor, and the HD Voice attaches firmly to the clip, thanks to the magnetic buttons.

Using my voice, I could pick up calls when they came in by saying “Answer”––sometimes just a grunt would do––after the HD Voice announced the caller from my address book. I had to press the end/reject button to end calls, and spin the larger rotary button to adjust volume. The HD Voice compensates with the super-sized double-duty volume/call button which is easy to find by feel alone, in a way where the BlueAnt Commute’s controls were not.

As far as call quality goes, overall, callers said my voice had a slightly higher-pitched sound to it, across the board, and my rambling had a subtle metallic or robotic tinge constantly. Some of the time, I sounded far away. All that said, people concluded that they could still understand what I was saying nonetheless. The HD Voice shoved freeway noise and music from my car stereo into the background admirably. Audio quality on the receiving end––that would be my end––proved to be steady to boot; callers’ voices sounded pretty clear, if a bit speakerphone-ish.

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Cars are smartphones now. At least—as with cell phones before them—cars are becoming increasingly linked-in and integral to our digital Matrix lives. That’s perhaps why it wasn’t all that surprising that Ford’s EVP of Global Marketing, James Farley, didn’t use his keynote address at the opening day of the New York International Auto Show to announce some line extension or new braking system, but rather to introduce a mobile app competition.

Specifically, Farley used his prime showcase slot to announce the company’s $50,000 Personalized Fuel-Efficiency App Challenge. Ford wants developers to cook up apps that will help customers optimize their personal fuel-economy performance. But what’s noteworthy is that the apps won’t use humans as a medium to enter information; rather they will utilize data directly from the cars themselves via OpenXC, a vehicle-specific API. OpenXC creates data out of parameters such as steering wheel angle, GPS, and brake pedal status and can share it directly with an Android device or to the Web.

The platform has only been around for a little over a year, but OpenXC has already been used to create apps that alert drivers to local rain by combining data from Weather Underground and the car’s GPS, or ones that reflect LEDs off the windshield to present heads-up information directly to the driver.

But these basic sorts of applications are only the beginning.

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Ford's latest entry into the alternative energy vehicle market, the Fusion Energi, is notable for the reassuring amount of control it gives drivers over its plug-in-hybrid powertrain.

Ford previewed the new model to about a dozen journalists here in San Francisco earlier this week. The Fusion Energi is a variation on Ford's bread-and-butter midpriced sedan. Available now, the Fusion Energi SE's list price is $38,700. It is eligible for a $3,700 federal tax rebate as well as a $1,500 Califonia Air Resources Board rebate.

The Energi has a huge battery, which eats up a good part of the trunk space, but  otherwise the car seems to strike a graceful balance between the intriguingly progressive and the comfortably traditional.

Melissa Riofrio

Choosing between gas and electric motors

Ford emphasized that the Fusion Energi is designed to reassure people who get range anxiety when they think about electric cars, by offering choices. You can choose to drive the Fusion Energi in ‘Auto EV’ mode (like most hybrids) where the car decides when to engage the gas engine and when to use the electric powertrain. Or, you can choose ‘EV Later’ mode in which you can tell the car to stay with the gas motor. You might switch to this mode if, say, you know your battery is low. Or, you can press an ‘EV’ button on the center console to use just the electric motor, which is good for short-distance drives.

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The $99 BlueAnt Commute speakerphone, much like its cousins, the S4 and the S3, houses the devices controls along a flat surface. Almost all car units I’ve tested sport physical buttons––and the larger, the better, in my book as it makes using them while driving all the more safe.

Fortunately, the Commute’s volume and main-call controls are touch-sensitive and require only the lightest of taps to function and the areas on the top of the Commute where you need to tap are clearly labeled. However, until I got the feel for where each was located, I found I had to glance up at the device attached to my visor––something I don’t like to do when driving.

Following in the footsteps of the S3 and S4, the Commute will allow you to bypass tap sequences entirely as you can also rely on voice activation while driving (for answering or rejecting calls, voice-dialing, and checking battery level, among other things). If a call comes in from my Contacts list, for instance, the Commute will announce the caller and all I have to do is utter "Answer" or "Ignore". This hands-free mode worked great, as it limited the number of times I would otherwise have to reach out and touch the unit. However, I still had to tap the main call button to end a call and swipe to tweak volume.

According to my callers, conversations on the Commute sometimes sounded far away––but not horribly so, compared to the audio quality of other speakerphones––and nobody begged me to hang up and call back sans Bluetooth. People could understand what I was saying without any problems, but my voice did sound muffled; on some occasions, it was more muffled than others. Overall, though, voice quality was reliable.

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Smartphone mapping and traffic news apps can be a big help on a highway commute, but the next generation may go beyond advising alternative routes to actually reduce congestion. Honda says it has recently tested an app that can delay the start of a traffic jam by as much as six minutes, while also improving your car’s fuel efficiency by 20 percent. The secret to improving traffic flow isn't adding lanes to a highway or reworking an exit ramp, but in teaching drivers how to manage the brake pedal.

Urban dwellers have all been there. You’re cruising down the highway, when suddenly traffic slows to a crawl. Maybe an accident is blocking progress, or a slew of cars are trying to merge onto the interstate. Five minutes later, when you reach the site of the major slowdown, all you find are a bunch of cars getting closer and closer together before speeding up and continuing on their way. The problem wasn’t a major obstacle or hazard, but simply too many people braking too hard at the same time. So you pass the invisible stop sign and work your way back up to 55 miles per hour.

This is where Honda’s smartphone app comes in. The system displays either a green or blue screen, visible at a glance. Green means your driving is aligned with the surrounding vehicles and the chances of congestion are low. If the smartphone app turns blue, that means your driving is likely to create congestion and the app will guide you to realign your driving with the surrounding traffic flow.

Apps ease traffic in tests

Honda didn't specify how its smartphone app helps get your driving back in sync with everyone else. My guess is that it advises you to brake more slowly, or maybe back off from the car in front of you. The company said, however, that when its app was tested in Jakarta, Indonesia between September 2012 and February 2013, traffic jams were delayed by an average of three to four minutes and fuel efficiency improved by 20 to 22 percent.

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The excitement over recent advancements in autonomous vehicle technology has elicited some optimistic expectations.

Google, whose driverless car prototype has driven more than 300,000 miles without an accident, says it hopes to get the cars on the road within three to five years. Others in the industry have been more realistic in their predictions. Bill Ford, executive chairman of Ford Motor Co., says fully autonomous vehicles will be a common sight on roads in the U.S. by 2025.

[Slideshow: 20 cars that drive themselves ]

However, even that might be a stretch, according to IDC's program manager for product lifecycle strategies Sheila Brennan. Leading a new effort in the research firm to gauge the potential time to market for autonomous vehicles, Brennan says Ford and Google are both accurate in their prediction that driverless cars will be street-ready within the next few years. But she sees too many barriers, and says adoption will more likely reach the mainstream around 2040.

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It’s easy to start feeling spoiled after spending a week with a tech-filled car like the 2013 Ford C-Max Hybrid (I tested the SEL model, with a $31,605 MSRP).

Ford

Fresh off my time with the C-Max Hybrid, I went back to my own car (which is a perfectly nice car that shall remain nameless so I don’t embarrass it). I wanted to hook up my phone to the display and use it with voice commands, but my car has no display and no voice controls. I wanted to know how much gas I was saving, but since my car isn't a hybrid, I’m not saving any gas. I almost missed the beeping that the C-Max Hybrid would emit when I got too close to anything while backing up. Almost.

What my week with the C-Max Hybrid shows is how the increasingly interactive driving experience can be addicting—and, if you’re not careful, distracting.

Three displays provide plenty of information

Ford

The C-Max Hybrid has three color displays inside: two 4.2-inch displays in the instrument cluster in front of the steering wheel, and an 8-inch touchscreen in the center of the dashboard. The center console has connections for AV input, USB input, and a USB broadband modem. You can get Internet connectivity by going through a modem or by tethering your Bluetooth-connected phone.

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The 2013 Ford Escape Titanium compact SUV has a completely new design--and a lot of tech to go with it. Along with two displays, tons of audio inputs, and a keyless push-button start, it can parallel-park automatically--if you can stand it.

The Escape starts at $22,470 for the basic S package (2.5L engine, no touchscreen or SYNC). Our review model was the Titanium model, which starts at $30,370 and includes a 2.0L EcoBoost engine, SYNC with MyFord Touch, a keyless push-button start, and a foot-activated liftgate.

The Escape Titanium is a good-looking car, even if it doesn’t look particularly high-tech (it’s not a Tesla, let’s just say that). The four-door compact SUV has 19-inch painted aluminum wheels, molding along the sides, and a sleek, swoopy profile. The outside of the car is also packed with sensors, though you won’t notice them at first glance: They’re small, round, and they blend in fairly well along the edges of the car. The sensors help with the driver-assist technology, which includes cross-traffic assistance, blind spot monitoring, and automated parallel parking.

Ford

The Escape Titanium also has a back-up camera, which beeps at you when you get too close to an object, and a foot-activated liftgate. If you walk up to the car with the keyfob in your pocket and you kick under the rear bumper, the liftgate will open automatically (providing the car doesn’t sense any obstacles in the way). The liftgate is programmed to recognize foot-shaped objects, so a skittering animal won’t accidentally cause it to open. You can also open the liftgate manually or by pressing a button on the keyfob.

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BARCELONA—My colleagues here at Mobile World Congress this week think this is a show about smartphones and tablets.

But the truth is more along these lines: MWC 2013 is turning out to be a car show, and cars are the new smartphones.

Audi’s 100-yard long ad that papers the windows on the way to Hall 8 of Fira Gran Via here might say it best: “The Audi A3 Sportback: The world’s biggest smartphone.”

TechHive

Basically, everyone uses smartphones, everyone drives cars, and…everyone does both of those things at the same time (even though they shouldn't).

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