You’ve heard of “connected” cars, but what about ones that fly? It’s likely you’re going to be hearing a lot more about hybrid road-and-air vehicles in the next few years, as the demonstration of two such devices arouses plenty of media attention at the New York International Auto Show, going on right now. The first of the flying cars on display is the “Transition,” which is built in Massachusetts by Terrafugia. In development since 2009, the Transition features foldable wings that allow it to navigate your average streets and highways. With the wings unfolded it looks like your every day small aircraft, but it by no means looks like your daily commuter when soaring down the highway at 110 miles per hour.The Transition is a two-seater that, conveniently enough, uses your run-of-the-mill unleaded gasoline for both driving and flight. Technically, it’s considered a “street-legal airplane” and is getting close to being approved for U.S. roads.

Unfortunately, most of us won’t get the chance to own one. Terrafugia says that when the Transition goes on sale (perhaps this winter), it will cost $279,000. The company is currently taking $10,000 deposits.

The second flying car on display in New York this week is a much different device from Dutch company PAL-V. Unlike the Transition, PAL-V’s flying vehicle is a gyrocopter, meaning it uses overhanging blades to take off. Powering those blades is an auto-rotating rotor and foldable push propeller. Like the Transition, the PAL-V gyrocopter uses unleaded gasoline.

The PAL-V flying car has also been in development for a few years now but it’s unclear how close it is to hitting city streets. We also don’t know how much it will cost.

Nevertheless, PAL-V co-founder and CEO Robert Dingemanse says plenty of folks are interested in the device.

“We know there is a lot of interest for the PAL-V. Prior to announcing these test flights, we were already approached on a daily basis by potential customers and dealers wanting to be part of this exciting project,” Dingemanse said.

The Terrafugia and PAL-V flying cars will be on display until April 15.

In recent months we’ve been hearing a lot about the ng Connect Program, which is designed to encourage cross-industry collaboration in the advancement of communications technology. But there’s more to the ng Connect Program than just making better smartphones. A key element is the advancement of automotive telematics, which is why many people are closely following one wing of the program known as The Connected Car Consortium.If you’re not familiar with the term, it’s likely that will change in the next couple years. That’s because some of the biggest up-and-comers from the tech and automotive industries are joining the consortium in order to discuss the future direction of automotive telematics.

Officially, the ng Connect Program is “dedicated to the creation of the new generation connected user experience.” In other words, it’s a global organization whose goal it is to improve telecommunications platforms.

In recent months, new firms have been joining the ng Connect Program by the handful; in November of last year, twenty joined all at once. Some, like Indosat, are interested in advancing and improving cellular services. But others, such as Altran, are seeking collaboration with other high-tech engineering firms that can help them to expand projects associated with the automotive industry.

The Connected Car Consortium recently made waves with the announcement of the MirrorLink protocol, which will help car makers like Mercedes and Toyota compete with Ford and its Sync platform. MirrorLink is designed to help drivers stay connected while behind the wheel by advancing hands-free mobile technology, giving users the power to surf the web, receive and send emails, and talk on their smartphones while safely piloting a vehicle.

MirrorLink was considered big news when it emerged last month, and was one reason why industry analysts at Juniper Research forecasted that almost 100 million vehicles will feature some kind of smartphone integration by 2016.

“Integrating the smartphone into consumer cars represents a new route for the mobile internet and infotainment to enter the vehicle,” said Juniper’s Anthony Cox.

Besides improving the average driving experience for the daily commuter, future projects for the Connected Car Consortium will likely include the introduction of commercial telematics (allowing firms to track company vehicles) and the expansion of usage-based insurance plans, which allow insurance companies to base client premiums on actual driving behaviour (rather than guesswork).

A new report out of the United Kingdom suggests that many drivers are distracted by in-car tech systems designed to keep them connected with the outside world. However, the report doesn’t appear to insist that in-car tech be outlawed, but simply better regulated.The report comes to us from British technology blog “Which?” which asked 1,000 of its members to tell them how distracting they found in-car tech platforms.About one in four of those members said they had access to modern in-car tech systems, such as those featuring touchscreen controls, wheel-based buttons, etc.

Of those people, 72 per cent said they had been distracted while driving by their in-car tech systems. That’s a surprising and worrying statistic, particularly for an automotive industry that is using these kinds of platforms to revive interest in new vehicles.

With this 72 per cent rate in mind, Which? set out to test a number of the in-car systems found in today’s high-tech vehicles. Its findings were relatively straightforward: premium car makers like BMW and Mercedes built systems that were easy to use and, thus, less distracting, while mainstream car makers like Ford and Peugeot did not fare so well.

According to Which? many in-car tech platforms found in affordable cars tended to be harder to use and more likely to distract a driver while behind the wheel.

The investigation by Which? also found that in-car tech systems vary widely from car to car, meaning industry-wide controls could help reduce the number of drivers who report being distracted. Including the T-Mobile best smartphone.

Said Which? editor Richard Headland: “We know people want systems in their car that integrate audio, phone, sat nav and other functions, but we want strong guidelines to focus carmakers on creating less distracting systems.”

Internet connectivity is one of the hottest topics in the automotive market. In recent years, a number of car companies have introduced platforms designed to keep drivers linked with the outside and digital worlds while behind the wheel. But the leader in this category has always been Ford, which recently announced a number of improvements to its very popular Sync platform.

Sync has been around since 2007 and is now found in about four million cars. Recently, the company unveiled MyFordTouch, an improvement to the original system that offers drivers the ability to connect to the web and use applications capable of displaying engine speed, temperature, trip information, and navigation data.

In a recent interview, Ford Sync design engineer Ryan Dauzet revealed that the company’s 2013 models will get a significant performance upgrade when it comes to their digital connectivity options. Furthermore, about 300,000 MyFord Touch customers will also see improvements to that system.

So, what’s Ford got in store for everyone?

Dauzet says the first thing Ford focused on was improving the user interface by cleaning up the design so that only “the most critical” pieces of information stand out to users. Ford is also extending its voice recognition and navigation platform to “almost every aspect of the infotainment system,” Dauzet said.

Beyond that, the Detroit company says it also believes the upgraded system features “snappier” responsiveness, meaning it takes less time to navigate between screens.

Finally, Ford says it intends to offer better support for its infotainment platforms.

For car audio junkies, collaborative work between Ford and Sony will be welcome news. A number of 2013 models will now receive a significant audio improvement with the installation of 10-speaker systems along with HD Radio and integration with Apple iTunes.

Down the road, Dauzet predicts that in another three to four years Ford will be a leader in taking Internet connectivity a step further, offering systems that improve safety by allowing for cars to interact with one another on the road.

That prediction really comes as no surprise, given recent statements by the company’s chairman.

Intel, the world-renowned computer chip maker, is preparing to make a massive investment in the automotive industry and specifically in the development of connected car technology. According to the firm, it will provide $100 million through the Intel Capital Connected Car Fund to help in the advancement of software, hardware and other services related to the improvement of in-car applications.

Staci Palmer, general manager of Intel’s Automotive Solutions Division, insists that the move simply makes good business sense.

How so?

Well, because analyst firm Gartner predicts that consumer vehicles will represent one of the fastest-growing markets for computer technology and Internet content in the next two years. That means Intel, which is the world’s leading semiconductor company, will want to be a major part of this rising market.

According to Intel’s Brian Wolf, managing director of Intel Capital, the company will use the fund to invest in firms that develop in-car technology that seamlessly integrate with other devices, such as smartphones. Areas of particular interest to Intel are vehicle-to-device communication, social media platform integration, and speech as well as gesture recognition.

The investments will be made in companies all over the world within a three-to-five year time span.

While Intel is relatively new to the automotive market, it has already reached agreements to work with several major car makers, including BMW, Kia, Hyundai, and Toyota.

According to Intel, it hopes the fund will arouse more interest in the growing connected car market. “The intention of this fund is to get the ecosystem going and other investors will join us along the way,” noted Intel Capital President, Arvind Sodhani.

“The Intel Capital Connected Car Fund will drive the development of technologies to enhance the in-vehicle experience of the future.”