Audi Teams With NVIDIA to Bring Google Maps 3D Navigation to the 2011 Lineup

As expected, Audi has given us another upgrade to their constantly improving Multi Media Interface for the New Year. This iteration features not only a more impressive visual experience, but will also include a 3 Dimensional representation of buildings and landmarks.

Unlike the previous upgrade to the MMI system, this one will sport only a few changes to the driver interface. NVIDIA has been called in to help make everything run faster and more smoothly, which was accomplished very nicely. The menus are straightforward and easy to navigate and provide a minimum distraction to the driver while under way.

The controls for the system are still dominated by a central dial, with 4 smaller selection buttons on each corner. The top of the dial has a miniature thumb-stick imbedded to allow for manipulation of specific menus.

For the upscale A8, Audi has removed the thumb-stick and incorporated a multifunction touchpad. It can be used to input destinations and house numbers, as well as scroll across maps provided by Google. The system can also use an integrated SIM card copied from the owner's phone.

The integration of Google Maps also allows the driver to view a satellite image of pretty much any position across the globe. Thanks to NVIDIA, this also allows a 3D view of certain destinations and buildings when zoomed in enough.

The new version of MMI is set to hit the 2011 model year lineup.