General Motors' Telematics Strategy
With Internet access becoming more mobile, car manufacturers have a great opportunity to receive additional revenue with in-vehicle Internet access, according to Gartner Group, Inc. General Motors announced its Telematics strategy that will ultimately offer Internet access in cars for the first time. The company will increase the breadth of its satellite-based OnStar communications service through the "Virtual Advisor" and the offering of the "Infotainment'' system in selected Cadillac models.
Beginning in the fall of this year, the "Virtual Advisor" will allow drivers to perform voice-activated personal calling and give them access to Web-Based information like stocks, sport and traffic news. The ``Infotainment'' system will be able to read e-mails to the driver, display the e-mail text on a screen and offer download capabilities to a handheld computer. In addition, the "Infotainment'' system will offer navigation support and an advanced audio system. To ensure vehicle safety, both the OnStar "Virtual Advisor'' and the ``Infotainment'' systems will be voice controlled.
Continuing to set industry standards in utilising innovation to distinguish its vehicles from other luxury cars, Cadillac selected the Communiport Infotainment PC radio that offers a full map turn-by-turn navigation system, e-mail, Internet access, voice memo and integrated hands-free telephone and address book. Infotainment PC is powered by the Microsoft Windows CE® operating system. The Communiport system is commanded by voice recognition and features text-to-speech technologies to read messages or e-mails. In addition, the system includes an Infrared Data Adapter (IrDA) port to exchange information with hand-held devices like personal digital assistants. The system includes a compact flash slot to expand memory and hot keys to instantly access frequently used features.
this is a couple of years old--Cadillac put this on hold; i always thought edig was involved in this
