Cadillac CUE System to Get a Performance Upgrade

Responding to criticisms that its Cadillac User Experience telematics system is too laggy, Cadillac has announced that it will issue a software update that will improve overall performance. During an interview with Wired, the auto maker's CUE design manager Jeff Massimilla, explained that Cadillac was acutely aware of the criticisms users have lodged against the system and that it is working to rectify the situation.

The update, which Massimilla said will be released some time this year, will be available for Cadillac XTS and ATS vehicles. Unlike other automakers, such as Ford, which provide over-the-air updates for their telematics systems, Cadillac will require owners to bring their vehicles to a Cadillac dealership to have the update installed.

Massimilla says the CUE update will help improve the system's touch screen, haptic feedback and capacitive center stack controls. During our time with the Cadillac XTS, we noted that the navigation system suffered from a significant amount of lag. We also wished the system's main 8-inch touch screen offered a higher resolution than its 800 x 400 pixels. Still, we were fans of the CUE system.

Interestingly, Cadillac Vice President of Marketing, Don Butler, let slip that the company is looking into returning to a traditional dial control setup for some of the CUE's features in future vehicles. The move, Butler said, is to improve overall user comfort.

Daniel P. Howley
LAPTOP Senior Writer
A newspaper man at heart, Dan Howley wrote for Greater Media Newspapers before joining Laptopmag.com. He also served as a news editor with ALM Media’s Law Technology News, and he holds a B.A. in English from The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey.