For years now we've been hearing about the dawn of the age of the "connected car." This week General Motors finally announced details on how it will be taking the phrase literally with its planned roll-out of new models that will come with an optional OnStar 4G LTE connection.
GM-owned Chevrolet announced in advance of the start of the 2014 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas that its 2015 Corvette, Impala, Malibu, and Volt would be the first models to be available with a built-in connection to AT&T's high-speed network in the United States. Later, the Equinox, Silverado, Silverado HD, Spark and Spark EV will be getting the LTE option, and in Canada, where AT&T currently has an LTE data partnership with Rogers, the Chevrolet Trax also makes the connected lineup.
LTE connectivity in vehicles from GM and other automakers isn't a brand new thing, but this announcement from Chevrolet looks to be the biggest mass market deployment of the wireless broadband access by a vehicle brand so far.
LTE-enabled GM cars will also have Wi-Fi hotspots to keep every laptop, phone, tablet or whatever other device in the vehicle connected. Chevrolet hopes that the broader data pipes into the auto will also boost the value of its MyLink infotainment system and its built-in AppShop.
Apps announced today for the system include Vehicle Health, iHeartRadio, Priceline.com, The Weather Channel, NPR, Slacker Radio, TuneIn Radio, Cityseeker, Eventseeker, Glympse and Kaliki.
Source: GM
When people drive cars, most drivers can barely do that well. Keeping a car between two lines is only the start of driving. Now you add in cell phones and other distractions, and people crash, they kill other people. The last thing people need is connectivity in a car. If anything, cars need to return to simple interactions, like knobs. Not screens which take the focus off the road, and people then crash.
The interconnected car is all marketing and a terrible idea.
People keep cars for 5-15 years. They update their smart/connected devices every year or two and often what is in their pocket is their gateway to the world even in the car; be it traffic information, nav, HUD, music, dash-cam features, etc. Give me a car with replaceable modules for wireless and dash display or even just a dumb display that my smartphone screen can use and I'll buy your car. An LTE modem in a GM car is not innovative or worth reporting. This is an "also ran" feature.
I love my Infiniti M37 technology package. Intelligent cruise control and blind spot monitoring are a god-send until my car drives itself but I don't even touch the built in nav/display since Waze came out nor do I use the built in music hard drive. I'd be surprised to find anyone that does.