Based on the Swedish...
Based on the Swedish firm"s new V70 estate, the all-wheel-drive load-lugger adds protective body mouldings and an increased ride height. Research by Volvo shows that more XC70s are used off-road than full-sized XC90 SUVs, so designers have concentrated on the car"s performance over rough terrain.
Voice recognition technology...
Voice recognition technology is creeping into the car and, in particular, the new generation of sat-navs ò€“ with Garminò€™s nüvi 860T the latest to benefit.
The large widescreen display is easy to read and understand, using graphics and interface systems that will be familiar to any current Garmin owners.
Mapping was reasonably accurate as well, although it did miss a major road on our test route. And while the casing is nothing special to look at, the mounting is neat and we particularly liked the integrated power and Traffic Message Channel jam alert leads. But voice activation was where this unit excelled ò€“ you simply press a button on the steering wheel to launch it. Only in the noisiest of environments did the device struggle to understand us, and it gave lots of time for commands. The main problem we had was the low volume of the instructions. At motorway speeds, we had trouble making out what was said ò€“ for a top-end unit, thatò€™s disappointing.