Recently I visited Mercedes-Benz’s headquarters in Montvale, NJ to see their all-new 2010 E-Class vehicles. You might be thinking we’re pulling an Autoblog, but we’re not. If you knew the amount of technology and engineering in the new E-Class… well, you’re actually about to.

When you begin to look at how much effort, planning, design, testing, and money goes into creating a line of cars, you realize it’s not an easy task. Forget about competition from other manufacturers, just hearing and seeing the process of how it’s done was an incredible experience for me. We’re going to focus on just some of the technological features in the E-Class which is more than we could ever imagine, so once you add that in with every other component in a car, it’s really amazing. I was lucky enough to get a whole sense of how the process works and how it’s executed. I also test drove two 2010 E-Class vehicles, the E550 Coupe and the E63 AMG Sedan. Read on for my experience and an overview of some of the amazing stuff in the E-Class.

Disclosure: Mercedes-Benz North America is a past and present advertiser on BGR.

The E-Class has a feature called ATTENTION ASSIST which is amazingly cool and incredibly brilliant. Mercedes told us that people who drive when they are tired and drowsy get into car accidents roughly 100,000 times a year, almost as much as driving while intoxicated. What Attention Assist does is monitor around 70 different parameters to get a baseline of your habits and then compare it in real-time to your current driving habit. So, you turn on your car and go off for a drive on the highway. For the first 20 minutes, the intuitive system automatically is monitoring different things that you do. Stuff like how aggressive you are with the steering wheel, braking patterns, and much more. Once that baseline is measured, the system then can decide if your patterns changed for the worse and it wants to alert you. There’s an audible alert as well as a visual one in the instrument cluster.

Mercedes told us that in testing, Mercedes drivers typically have a heart-rate that’s reduced by 5% compared to other drivers of other brand vehicles. The reason they said is because of how much attention they pay to the cabin and the entire experience of making the driver feel like a driver, and a driver that’s driving comfortably.

Something else intelligent the new E-Class does is called Adaptive High Beam Assist. It uses a camera that sees oncoming headlights and taillights of cars in front of you. It then automatically softens the headlights as cars pass by you to ease the lighting and not blind them. It will even switch between high-beams and low-beams automatically. But the best part is that it’s all automatic and will auto-adjust your headlights to compensate for 1,000ft of road (including vehicles) in front of you.

The E-Class cars we saw were equipped with a bag load of safety features and it’s really great to see these things start to get implemented faster and faster on different cars from all sorts of manufacturers. PRE-SAFE Brake is another one of these technological achievements that you might wonder why it isn’t available until now. It makes use of something called DISTRONIC PLUS feature (basically think of it as adaptive cruise control that uses radar to see if another vehicle in front of you has stopped while you’re cruising at 75MPH), and what it does is actually stop the car for you in emergency conditions. We’re not talking about just slowing it down and slightly breaking, we’re talking 100% braking power. It works by sensing an impending rear collision (you about to hit another car in front of yours) and will sound about three warning tones.

If you’re listening to Bubba Sparxx too loud on your iPod and don’t hear those tones, and you don’t see the visual alerts because you’re emailing BGR a tip (not smart), the car will be able to detect that you’re a moron and apply around 40% partial braking to the car to slow you down 1.6 seconds prior to impact. But if all the aforementioned things fail, besides the fact you probably shouldn’t be operating a moving vehicle, the car will apply 100% full braking power 0.6 seconds before impact which will create an “electronic crumple zone,” dramatically reducing the impact for you. It doesn’t mean you won’t crash, but it’s an amazing safety enhancement that Mercedes is confident will reduce serious accidents on the road.

What about night vision? Well, Mercedes said they’re one of the only manufacturers to use an actual camera for their night vision implementation, and instead of detecting heat, it works as does a regular night vision product; it shoots out IR light and the IR camera captures it. We were told it enables you to see more or less 500ft in front of you which is unbelievable if you think about it. There’s also a person detection feature that will put people in boxes so you can accurately view them.

If you know me personally (funny guy, aren’t I?) or even follow me on Twitter, you’ll know I absolutely love cars. So mix that love of tech, gadgets, mobile devices, and everything else with cars and you can get an idea of why the E-Class is so interesting and incredible to me. It’s the most advanced vehicle I’ve ever driven and one of the most exciting just from the technology aspect itself. But, who are we kidding. The E63 would have had me excited if there was a rotary phone strapped to it. Just look at it.

The car can also pair up to 5 mobile phones via Bluetooth and will give you much-loved signal strength indicator in the COMAND display as well as load in your entire phone address book if you’d please. The navigation system actually shows a lot of POI data as icons now, so you’ll literally see a Sunoco sign if there’s one close to you, or a McDonalds, or what have you. Completely unnecessary yet surprisingly enjoyable. Something else interesting is that DVD-based navigation is no longer necessary in this vehicle as it uses a built in hard drive to store everything. There is also around 4GB of free space for you to copy MP3 files to and play back at your leisure.

Another great feature for us phone freaks is that pretty much all Mercedes have dedicated phone number pads.

What about suspension? Isn’t there some tech in there, too? Definitely. There are two different suspension options on the E-Class. One is a spring-suspension system and the other is AIRMATIC suspension which lets the driver select either comfort or spots mode at the touch of a button to fine turn their driving experience. We would have preferred even more control on the suspension, maybe four modes, like some other cars offer, but oh well.

There’s literally so much technology in this car — obviously why I jumped at the opportunity to do this article — that we could go on and on for a pretty long time. If the car senses an incoming collision the seats will move automatically to a more favorable crash position to try and protect the occupants, if the car is about to roll over, the sunroof and windows close automatically, there are up to 11 airbags in the car (9 standard) and a whole lot more. What’s great about all this technology though, is that it’s configurable. We often asked if you could disable almost every new feature they briefed us on, and the answer was always yes. We’ll be following up with a video post on the E-Class that will give you a more visual look at the car’s styling and design elements as well as a nice walk-through from our friend Bart Herring who is Product Manager for the E-Class series at Mercedes-Benz.

Apparently Nokia’s online sale last week was pretty effective because the Finnish manufacturer has decided to give it another go. This time around the sale is good at both Nokia Flagship Stores — in New York and Chicago — and online as well for those who don’t live near a shop. Here’s how this one shapes up:

• 5800            $280.00
• E63              $195.00
• E66              $275.00
• E71              $285.00
• E75              $380.00
• N79              $260.00
• N85              $330.00
• N95 8G         $355.00
• N96              $440.00

Not bad at all, Nokia. As you can see, some of the prices are even better than last week’s deal and all fall into range off the 30-50 percent off. So when can you get your Symbian fix on the cheap? Thursday, June 25th in New York City from 11am-4pm local time (Eastern) and in Chicago from 10am-3pm local time (Central). The sale will also be going down in the same time slot on nokiausa.com. Anyone eyeing some new kit?

If you’ve read any of our coverage of Nokia’s E63 smartphone in the past, you likely know we’re not huge fans of this handset. Dubbed “E71 lite” here at BGR, the E63 features an E71-like form with the following downgrades: Plastic instead of metal, No GPS, a 2 megapixel camera instead of a 3.2 megapixel camera, a tiny unusable spacebar and no dedicated power or volume buttons. Boo. On the flip side of the coin however, Dell is now offering a special on unlocked E63s — likely because no one is buying them — that chops the price down to $198.39 with free shipping. If you’re looking to break into the smartphone arena with a slim entry-level handset at a good price, this deal might just help you pull the trigger. Then again, you could just wait less than a month for the E71x to drop via AT&T at $99 a pop. Yeah, that’s definitely what you should do.

[Via IntoMobile]

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Amazon, please. What do you take us for? The internet mega-retailer known for eBay-like prices and far fewer eBay-like scams has apparently blown a fuse as it has just made the Nokia E63 available for pre-order for a mind-boggling $500. Huh? So let’s get this straight – we can order the E63 in Ultramarine Blue for $499.99 or we can order the more capable, sexier E71 NAM for $379.99 from the very same site? Hmm, let’s think about this. Plastic vs. metal, EDGE vs. 3.5G, No GPS vs. integrated GPS, 2 megapixel camera vs. 3.2 megapixel camera, no warranty vs. warranty, tiny unusable spacebar and no dedicated power or volume buttons for an extra $120. Thanks but no thanks.

Thanks, William!

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Yes, it was shown at the Symbian Smartphone Show a few weeks ago but as we all know no press release means nothing is official just as much as shipping trial devices doesn’t make a device official. Thankfully today the boys and girls of Espoo announced the “successor” to the E71. Expected to retail at around €199 before taxes and carrier subsidies, the device should be out relatively soon in Europe. Sadly, Nokia was extremely stingy with the specs of the phone (which is seriously uncool) so forgive us for rehashing what most have already figure out. We’ll have to leave the rest for when Nokia decides it wants to let us know.

• 113mm x 59mm x 13mm, 126g
• S60 3rd Edition FP1, Symbian v9.1
• GSM/GPRS/EDGE/UMTS/HSDPA
• 320×240 TFT display
• 110MB internal memory
• 2 megapixel camera
• WiFi
• Bluetooth
• MIDP 2.0 and CLDC 1.1
• 3.5mm stereo headset jack
• microSD
• microUSB
• 11 hours talk-time (ha!) and 432 hours of stand-by
• Pathetically small space key
• All-plastic body (remember the terrible reception of the E71′s metal body?)
• No side buttons

When it goes on sale in the next few weeks, in Europe at least, the E63 will be available in both Ruby Red and Aquamarine Blue. It will also come sporting 1 GB of free Files on Ovi storage, enabling users to remotely access their PC files on the go.

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One thing we can give the folks over at Nokia – they never cease to surprise us. In a very uncharacteristic and peculiar move, Nokia has begun shipping trials of the upcoming E63 even before the handset is formally announced. In fact, the devices being shipped aren’t even being delivered in retail packaging. We first learned of the E63 a few months ago and since then spy shots have emerged and it even popped up for a little preview at this year’s Symbian Smartphone Show. We already know the specs – it’s basically a dressed up E71 with a slightly modified keyboard (good luck with that space button). The reviewer does note however, that the case on the E63 is a bit thicker than the E71 and there are a handful of the new themes on the device as well. Nokia’s intentions with this handset are a bit unclear at this point; usually when it releases the same phone more than once with slight modifications, it keeps the same name – a la N95. All should be made clear soon enough. Hit the jump for two more shots.

[Via adonismobile]

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The Nokia E63 made a surprise public debut at the Symbian smartphone show last week. Labeled Exx in the photos, the E63 gets snagged next to the E71. Looking very much like its older brother, the E63 sports a black coat of paint, instead of the red we previously saw, and a condensed keyboard that fits 8 keys and a mini space bar across the bottom. With such a polished looking production model hitting the scene, a formal announcement should be right around the corner. Hit the jump for a close up picture.

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As part of the whole discussion on the leaked Nokia promotional video about a month ago,  the existence of the mysterious Eseries phone, the E63, has come to light. Much of the phone still remains a mystery but we do have some new spy shots to confirm its existence and few leaked details on the handset itself courtesy of the Telefon-Tredd.de forums. This is all rumor so take it with a healthy grain of salt. The Nokia E63 is purported to come in three variants: the E63-1: for Europe, the E63-2: without a camera and more memory (?), and E63-3: for the Americas. According to a user agent profile on Nokia servers and from the spy shooter himself, the E63 will have the following specs:

• GSM and GPRS + EDGE
• UMTS + HSDPA
• Display: 240 x 320 Pixel, 18bit
• Camera: At least 2MP. No Front Camera.
• WLAN
• Bluetooth
• Symbian v9.1
• S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 1
• MIDP 2.0 and CLDC 1.1
• Has 3.5 mm jack connector
• Is thicker than E71
• Has a flashlight function (which by pressing the space bar immediately activated and can be disabled)
• No metal construction (plastic only) except Navikey and camera module
• No side buttons
• Left side: microSD slot and micro-USB connector (with hard plastic closure)
• The microphone is on the lower side (not front as E71)
• 2mm mains next to the microphone
• Bottom right (on the corner) is an eyelet
• Menu’s like E71, looks like FP1

So there you have it folks, the Nokia E63 as we know it today. Hit the jump for a few more spy shots.

[via Finest Fones]

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Ok, there’s a whole lot of back and forth on the net with regards to the Nokia E72 / E63 or whatever it is that showed its pretty little face in the recently-leaked promotional video from Nokia shown above. We know that the slider has been dubber E75 thanks to a few leaked live images but the E71 look-a-like is still a bit of a mystery. Until now. Two BGR tipsters and an anonymous third source have suggested that this upcoming QWERTY Eseries will in fact be dubbed E72. What’s more, it will be a branded handset available exclusively through AT&T. That’s right people, it looks like AT&T is finally going to give a little love to a decent S60 handset. Aside from the differences we already pointed out, the E72 should be pretty identical to the E71 specs-wise with one other major revision… Feature Pack 2. Sorry E71 owners, it looks like AT&T customers will finally have an edge on the unbranded folks. So just as the E62 was AT&T’s version of the E61, the E72 will be AT&T’s E71. Great! Now that we’ve cleared that up, it’s time to start digging into the mysterious third upcoming Eseries that surfaced today – the E63.

Well lookie what we have here. The leak of a promotional video containing two upcoming Nokia Eseries handsets, at the time labeled E72 and E75, has spawned some digging around a few of the common sources of Nokia info. Say hello to three new XML files that represent the coming of the E63-1, E63-2 and E63-3. Because of the timing of all this it is certainly logical, though not certain by any means, that the E63 is in fact the final label that will be slapped on what we referred to as the E72 earlier. Ok then. So if the E72 does in fact turn out to be the E63, here’s what we know about this puppy so far:

• 320 x 240 pixel display
• S60 Feature Pack 1 (OS 9.2; not FP2 love for Eseries apparently)
• GPRS / EDGE / UMTS
• WiFi
• Three variants, presumably with varying flavors of 3G (same as the E71)
• Basically an E71 with a thick candy shell

Beyond that, it looks like the E72 / E63 will see a much-needed boost in terms of camera resolution, possibly even by way of some Carl Zeiss love. From the video it also looks like the size of the space key has been reduced by about 50% to allow the “/” and “@” keys on the left side of the board to be spread out (possibly with volume controls on each key). On the right side, it looks like the control and character keys have been separated as well. Honestly, we would have preferred to keep the wider space key – good luck typing out that email quickly when every other “space” ends up being a “/”.

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