Cockpit Management and Data system - COMAND for short - acts as a “command center” for all audio

Sound

Sound is a mechanical wave that is an oscillation of pressure transmitted through a solid, liquid, or gas, composed of frequencies within the range of hearing and of a level sufficiently strong to be heard, or the sensation stimulated in organs of hearing by such vibrations.-Propagation of...

, telematics

Telematics

Telematics typically is any integrated use of telecommunications and informatics, also known as ICT...

 and telecommunications functions on Mercedes-Benz vehicles. Depending on vehicle specification, functions like the radio

Radio

Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...

, CD player, DVD

DVD

A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....

 player, navigation system with dynamic routing, and amplifiers are all integrated in the COMAND system.

A high-performance processor controls the system and manages the various programs. If requested by the driver, the CD changer, sound system, TV receiver, telephone

Telephone

The telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...

 and Linguatronic voice control system can also be linked up to COMAND via an optical fibre ring bus named D2B

Domestic Digital Bus (automotive)

Domestic Digital Bus, D2B, is an isochronous ring-based fibreoptical communications technology, with a bandwidth of 12 Mb/s, specified by the Optical Chip Consortium for use in automotive applications. As of 2007, D2B is used by Mercedes-Benz in their vehicles.- External links :* * *...

 or MOST.

The latest generation of the COMAND system used in the Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. Mercedes-Benz is a division of its parent company, Daimler AG...

 S-Class

Mercedes-Benz W221

The Mercedes-Benz W221 is a chassis code of S-Class, the successor of Mercedes-Benz W220.The vehicle was unveiled in 2005 Frankfurt Motor Show.-Styling:The W221 S-Class' exterior styling is distinctly different to the W220...

 boasts a large color TFT

TFT LCD

Thin film transistor liquid crystal display is a variant of liquid crystal display which uses thin-film transistor technology to improve image quality . TFT LCD is one type of Active matrix LCD, though all LCD-screens are based on TFT active matrix addressing...

 screen in 16:9 (wide-screen) format, and uses a multi-directional wheel - located in the center console - to navigate and use the numerous menus and functions. The system allows the control of a huge number of features, from seat bolster inflation to the satellite navigation.

With the Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. Mercedes-Benz is a division of its parent company, Daimler AG...

 COMAND APS system, for instance, the car radio can act in concert with the telephone to establish contact with a service provider that will transmit digital traffic-jam warnings to the navigation system via TMC

Traffic Message Channel

Traffic Message Channel is a technology for delivering traffic and travel information to drivers. It is typically digitally coded using the FM-RDS system on conventional FM radio broadcasts...

 and recommend a detour if necessary.

The COMAND APS system includes a navigation computer with a second DVD

DVD

A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....

 player in the boot. The speech technology

Speech technology

Speech technology relates to the technologies designed to duplicate and respond to the human voice. They have many uses, including to aid the voice-disabled, the hearing-disabled, the blind, and to communicate with computers without a keyboard, to market goods or services by telephone and to...

 engine, used in the application is provided by Nuance Communications

Nuance Communications

Nuance Communications is a multinational computer software technology corporation, headquartered in Burlington, Massachusetts, USA, that provides speech and imaging applications...

.