There are those who are preparing for an August holiday barbecue and who is ready to debut at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance (California, USA - August 16, 2015), as the Icona Vulcano, super-car designed by the French Samuel Chuffart and built by the Italian Cecomp.

Inspired by the world's fastest plane - the Blackbird SR-71 -, the Vulcano (“volcano” in Italian) has a “bullet-proof” titanium and carbon fiber body that required 1000 hours of modeling and that will be shown in its full glory, without painting.

4.45 m long, 1.24 m wide 1.96 me high, with a wheelbase of 2.70 m and a weight of 1,595 kg, the prototype is almost ready for production, with a completely functional interior and hypercar performance: under the hood beats an eight cylinder engine capable of reaching an output of more than 1,000 horses, if required by the Customer. The powerful engine was developed by Claudio Lombardi and Mario Cavagnero, celebrities of Italian automotive engineering. In its actual configuration, 670 horses and 840 Nm of torque, combined with a paddle-shift close ratio gearbox signed by Automac Modena, allow the car to take from 0 to 100 km/h in just 2.8 '', up to a maximum speed of 345 km/h.

Revealed for the first time at the Shanghai Motor Show in 2013, Icona Vulcano will appear at Pebble Beach among the most beautiful and rare cars in the world.

Partaker of this result is also bylogix who created the “volcanic” hued dashboard. The IPC (Instrument Panel Cluster) is based on a high resolution digital screen and is supported by the ICU (Interactive Communication Unit), a platform capable of managing human-machine interfaces in 3D graphics and to connect the device on which it’s installed (in this case the dashboard and the car), with the outside world, becoming a fundamental component for connected and autonomous car.

They don’t create any shades and need spotlights nor similar optical elements neither cooling. They are efficient and light and characterized by considerable bright flexibility, allowing the combination of components such as "security" and "style".
We are talking of OLED or organic light emitting diodes, the new technology frontier of automotive lighting that Audi and BMW are exploring first.

In January, BMW showed the M4 Concept Iconic Lights at CES 2015 in Las Vegas (International Consumer Electronics Show) and declared the launch of OLED rear lights as standard, as well as Audi, who is preparing to present a concept car featuring Matrix OLED tail lights at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September.

The Matrix OLED system will be composed of units containing two electrodes and numerous thin layers of semi-conductor materials on which is applied an organic substance, activated by a 3-4 volts alternating current.

Unlike incandescent bulbs and LEDs, organic diodes lights aren’t point lights, but emit over their entire surface, guaranteeing illumination homogeneity and the ability to continuously change intensity and play simultaneously with different colors.

All this leaves a lot of room for designers’ creativity, who can develop bright areas covering the whole rear part of the car, create lamps able to quickly switch from one color to another, generate "lighting signatures," customize not only the back lighting, but also the front, the surface and the interior.

For connected cars and IoT lovers, OLED technology can also be used for communication between vehicles (e.g. providing information on the vehicle and on the driver’s intentions).

Rejected on large-scale use the Google Glass are employed in some US private practice and to help workers. Boeing has just started a pilot program for supporting operators in airplanes' assembly and some phone companies make their technicians employ the Google Glass for ECUs' reparation.

If in the "consumer" universe, the smart glasses didn’t have much success (much to convince Google to halt sales last January 2015), in the work one trials are going on. "In the world of work – indeed –  how to keep operators' hands free has being a fundamental topic for 20 years".

In the wake of these experiments, Google would be focusing on a new version of the Glass designed exclusively for businesses, to meet the specific needs of industries ranging from health care to energy supply, to production.

The new smart glasses have a "lens" composed of a curved rectangle with no frame, but fitted with a system to "hook" the device to different glasses. They also have a battery of longer duration (2 hours),  which a battery pack can be magnetically connected to, and an improved wireless connectivity.

Autonomous and accident-free driving and connected cars have long been hot topics for the automotive and Mercedes-Benz focuses on these aspects with the launch of the future E-Class, scheduled for next spring.

The innovations on the new model will allow the driver to: travel partially autonomously out of town (Intelligent Drive); park in difficult spots while remaining out of the car and using the smartphone – the new digital key –; get benefits from automatic braking devices (Brake Active Assist) and steering-support systems for evasive action (Evasive Steering Assist), to avoid unexpected dangerous situations and to facilitate the car management.

Furthermore, a Car-to-X communication system will create an interconnection between vehicles exploiting the mobile phone network, so allowing the driver to receive real-time information about any dangers existing in the path.

Finally, the PRE SAFE (Side and Sound) will ensure a greater protection during side impact, further safeguarding from the impact noise, and the new Multibeam LED headlights will better lighten the road without dazzling other drivers.

Already in 2013, Mercedes-Benz had demonstrated the feasibility of autonomous driving over long distances, making the experimental car S 500 INTELLIGENT DRIVE go 100 kilometers autonomously in complex traffic situations.

June 24th 2015 marks the history of Alfa Romeo which celebrated its 150th anniversary by inaugurating its own historical museum in Arese "The Time Machine" and presenting the "new Giulia" to the world.

100% Italian Manufacturing and with a new logo that retains the legendary styles, the Giulia 2015 doesn’t hide sports performance that will allow it to compete with the German BMW and Mercedes.

The new Alfa Romeo model challenges the competition presenting a rear-wheel drive, a twin-turbo V6 aluminum engine produced in partnership with Ferrari that allows it to reach 100 km/h in just 3.9 seconds, a Torque Vectoring technology and an innovative Integrated Brake System.

And let’s highlight the Active Aero front splitter whose geometry is modified by an actuator in order to improve downforce and aerodynamics.

The driver is at the center of the vehicle: the pleasure of driving is optimized by a wheel containing all necessary commands and by the Chassis Domain Control, a "brain" giving each electronic component a defined role. Finally, together with the Dynamic and Neutral mode the driver can set the Advanced Efficient (energy saving) and the Racing ones, in order to take advantage of all the performance of this luxury sports car.

With the new Giulia, in production from the end of 2015, Alfa Romeo relaunches its brand and has the goal of reaching 400,000 global sales in 2018.