The National Highway Authrority Of India (NHAI) debuted their "RFID Electronic Toll Collection" system FASTag on selected few toll-palazas almost 2 years ago, the same has now been extended to 275 toll-booths across nation.

A FASTag is a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag affixed on the windscreen of your vehicle which allows automatic toll payments directly from the prepaid account linked to it. The system allows users to drive through toll plazas offering near non-stop movement of vehicles through toll plazas and the convenience of cashless payment of toll fee with nation-wide interoperable Electronic Toll Collection Services.

Yesterday, we shared the story on how increased inclusion of technology in automotive sector arises the danger of security - and today we have more automotive technology for you. Adding another Smart feature to a variety of new functionality dependent on technology, Ford has re-thought the headlights and has made it smarter allowing it to locate and track objects in night. The new Camera-Based Advanced Front Lighting System utilizes standard and infrared camera to detect objects near the road and even widen the beam at junctions and roundabouts.

Improving upon the Ford's Adaptive Front Lighting System and Traffic Sign Recognition, the system interprets traffic signs to better illuminate hazards that are not in the direction of travel, and uses GPS information for enhanced lighting when encountering bends and dips on a chosen route. Where GPS information is not available, a video camera detects lane markings and predicts the road’s curvature. When next the driver uses the same road again, the headlights adapt to the course of the road automatically. The new technology can locate, track and mark eight people or animals up to 12 meters, the system also spotlights the hazards for the driver with a spot and a stripe on the road surface and highlighted objects are displayed on the screen inside the car. Do watch this exciting new technology in action on the video shared below.

Anything connected to the internet is vulnerable to outside access and security violation by hackers, and network connected "Smart Cars" are no exception. Just imagine the horror of having your car taken over by hackers remotely while you are driving at high-speed on a highway, and suddenly the vents of your car starts blasting cold air at the maximum setting, the radio switched to the local hip hop station at full volume, the windshield wipers turned on and wiper fluid blurring the glass while you push buttons on your dashboard to stop this mayhem without any success. This is no longer a imaginary situation as two hackers demonstrated the zero-day exploit they found in Jeep Cherokee to Wired reporter Andy Greenberg and as shared in the video below.

This is one aspect of technology usage in automotive industry that none should have anticipated, the application of "copyright laws" like DMCA to your vehicles because they are now computing platforms. Automakers are doing their bit to support copyright law provisions which would prohibit home mechanics and car enthusiasts from repairing and modifying vehicles, Automaker OEMs and their lobbying organizations have filed comments to the federal agency saying cars have become too complex and dangerous for consumers and third parties to handle. The automotive industry has now raised concerns that modifying these ECUs and the software coding that runs them could lead to vulnerabilities in vehicle safety and cyber security. The "copyright" angle to the dispute arises from a section of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act which defines it's applicability to "rolling computing platforms". The U.S. Copyright Office is now examining whether provisions of the law that protect intellectual property should prohibit people from modifying and tuning their cars.

Leading car manufacturer Hyundai will be debuting their next-generation "BLUE LINK" technology and app at CES 2015, The Blue Link smartwatch app once paired via Bluetooth to the owner’s smartphone allows execution of Remote functions from almost anywhere in the U.S. without any range limits as long as the smartphone has a Bluetooth and data connection. Blue Link Smartwatch features voice activated controls for Remote Engine Start/Stop, Remote Door Lock / Unlock, Remote Flash Lights / Honk Horn, Car Finder, Call Roadside and Call Blue Link.

Jaguar Land Rover’s (JLR) R&D division has been demoing some excellent automotive technology concepts and after "Transparent Windscreen", it's time for Transparent Pillar and Follow Me Ghost Car Navigation concept video demonstrations as shared below.

FASTag is the brand name given to automated "Electronic Toll Collection" system launched by India's Ministry of Road Transport & Highways. While such type of highway tag brands are common in developed countries under brand names like “Eazee Pass”, “SunPass”, “e-Pass” and “Salik”, this is a new technology for India. The system comprises of a simple to use, reloadable RFID tag which can be used to pay toll charges without stopping at toll-plazas. The Radio-frequency Identification (RFID) technology used in the tag allows users to travel non-stop through dedicated FASTag lane at toll checker booths, automated scanning of RFID tag on vehicle's windscreen deducts toll charges from the linked prepaid account without stopping for the cash transaction. The tag employs Radio-frequency Identification (RFID) technology and is affixed on the vehicle's windscreen after the tag account is active.

The RFID cards can be purchased and loaded from banks, at the moment Axis Bank and ICICI bank have started to offer the same with more franchises/agents at points of sales are planned in coming days. The technology not only saves users time but also helps save fuel as one don't need to wait for cash transaction, this reduction in idle vehicle fuel consumption is expected to save Rs 60,000 crore in fuel bills.

Adding another entry to the growing list of smart automotive features including more and more technology. Assuring us once again that we could be seeing automated self-driving cars in "near future", Hyundai has released a video titled The Empty Car Convoy which shows six 2015 Hyundai Genesis cars driven by stunt drivers until one by one they jump out of the vehicles in order to allow the cars drive on their own.

Well this is no "Smart-Car" technology but something which you can experience right now - a fully automated Robo driven valet car parking system. German Airport Düsseldorf (DUS) has introduced ParkingPLUS structure with robot valets to take the hassle out of parking for travelers, the Robo named "Ray" measures the vehicle, picks it up with a forklift-like system, and takes it to the parking area, users can call their cars at "Pickup Pods" using their ParkingPLUS mobile app when they come-back, Ray is even connected to the airport's flight data system, and therefore knows when the customer will return for the vehicle.