Cadillac’s new CUE car system takes cues from smartphones, tablets

Cadillac debuted its new connected car system, dubbed CUE, today, and the in-dashboard interface clearly took a lot of notes from smartphones and tablets.

CUE, which Cadillac launched at the CTIA technology conference in San Diego, shows how much impact mobile technology is making on well-established systems. While Ford clearly led in this area with its release of its voice-operated SYNC communications system in 2007, Cadillac’s system has some innovations of its own.

CUE features an 8-inch LCD touchscreen on the dashboard that you can connect to your smartphone via Bluetooth. You can browse and navigate through the CUE’s simple screens by swiping through and tapping apps, much like you would on a smartphone or tablet. There’s a little cubby hole underneath the screen for placing your smartphone.

One of CUE’s more interesting features is gesture recognition. It can recognize that your hand is near the console and once your hand is within eight inches, the number of icons on the screens increases to give you more options. There are also similar features that coordinate with hand motions, like pinch-to-zoom and sense recognition that makes the screen feel like you’re pressing a button more than pressing a screen when you select an icon.

CUE’s first appearance will be in April inside the Cadillac XTS, the luxury brand’s new large car. After that implementation, CUE will head over to other models in the Cadillac lineup.