By
Mike Bantick
HondaLink joins other - mostly German – vehicle manufacturer’s attempts
at bringing the online world into our cars. Social media, cloud based
services and other applications streaming directly to the infotainment
system.
Beginning in the 2013 Honda Accord, HondaLink will deliver a range of
infotainment features that will appeal to many of today’s smartphone
wielding brigade.
Combining the app driven smartphone way of life
with a modern in-car infotainment system is all part of the service.
"Honda's strategy is about leveraging the cloud to bring a wealth of new
information and services to Honda owners," said Charles Koch, American
Honda manager of new business development. "This is the next evolution
of the connected car and the connected customer."
In the US
purchases of cars with HondaLink can expect a wealth of content
available when they connect their iOS or Android based device.
"HondaLink will enable customers to put away their phone and still stay
connected to the people, music and media they love," said Vicki Poponi,
assistant vice president of product planning for American Honda. "By
creating an intuitive and customizable user interface, HondaLink allows
drivers to access digital content as easily as choosing a radio
station."
Connecting the smartphone app to HondaLink enables content to be
streamed, through the infotainment system of the vehicle. You can enjoy
digital content seamlessly from the device as well as streamed via the
cloud, picking up from where you left off before the drive started, and
book-marking the content when getting out of the car.
The Aha
Radio service, which is part of the HondaLink package, is somewhat of a
misnomer, providing more than radio as we commonly know it today. The
service includes access to favourite podcasts, internet radio, on-demand
music, personalized traffic reports, restaurant recommendations, and
audio updates from Facebook and Twitter.
But what of Australian
consumers, diddled as we are by expensive data download plans (compared
to most other similarly set up countries) as well as coverage issues
inherent with a geography versus population mismatch as big as our
horizon, how will HondaLink work locally?
Well don’t you worry
about that, at this point in time Honda has no plans for HondaLink to be
installed in cars shipped to and sold in Australia. "HondaLink is a
system set up by American Honda for customers in the United States,”
company spokesperson Lindsay Smalley said “It is another great example
of how Honda is taking a lead in investing in new technology. If there
was such a system designed for Australia, we would definitely consider
it."
Source;
http://www.itwire.com/science-news/automotive/56054-honda-puts-its-head-in-the-cloud
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