OnStar Virtual Advisor Provides In-Car Access to Internet Information
LAS VEGAS, Oct. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM) turns
vision into reality this week with driving demonstrations of OnStar's Virtual
Advisor -- a commitment made one year ago at the SEMA show here.
"Today we are delivering on the commitment GM President and CEO Rick
Wagoner made a year ago -- to provide Internet connectivity in production
vehicles," said OnStar President Chet Huber. "GM is ushering in a new era of
automotive communications that is destined to change the role of cars and
trucks for the American driving public."
OnStar's Virtual Advisor combines wireless technology with state-of-the-
art voice recognition and text-to-speech technology to provide personalized
Web-based information, including e-mail, stock quotes, news, sports, and
weather. With the push of one button, the information is delivered to
customers over the vehicle's sound system speakers. There are no screens to
look at or keypads to push. Virtual Advisor will be available in 32 of GM's
54 2001 models beginning in the Northeast region in the December timeframe and
nationally in the first quarter of 2001.
"Today's busy consumers spend about half a billion hours a week in their
vehicles -- and they want to stay connected and easily access the information
they need," Huber said. "Just as important, they need to be able to do so
with their eyes on the road and their hands on the wheel."
With OnStar, General Motors has led the industry in delivering
communication and information services. GM recently took that commitment a
step further by creating "SenseAble driving," a program that combines
technology, research and education to help address the issue of driver
distraction. In addition, GM is the world's only automaker to announce a set
of guiding principles to govern the design and use of telematics technology in
its vehicles. They are:
* Minimize eyes-off-the-road, hands-off-the-wheel time.
* Minimize the number of steps required to perform a task.
* Create a common interface in how consumers interact with the system.
* Utilize a lockout protocol to prevent the use of systems that create
unnecessary and excessive attention demands on the driver.
In addition to Virtual Advisor, OnStar this fall will begin offering
Personal Calling, which allows customers to use speech recognition technology
to place hands-free, voice-activated calls on a nationwide wireless network.
The phone is embedded in the vehicle; again, there is no handset to hold or
keypad buttons to push. Subscribers will purchase cellular time from OnStar
through a selection of pre-paid packages. There will be no access fees,
roaming or long distance charges. Conversation is heard through the sound
system speakers.
"These new services respond to customers' demands for enhanced
communications services delivered in a mobile environment," Huber said. "With
more than a half million OnStar subscribers using our services today, this is
just the next step in making tomorrow's passenger cars and trucks truly
communications platforms."
Driving demonstrations of Virtual Advisor and Personal Calling are
available by contacting OnStar/Saab representatives in the Saab display within
the General Motors display on the SEMA show floor.
OnStar will be factory installed as standard or optional
equipment on nearly one million General Motors cars and trucks by the end of
the year 2000, and is projected to be available on four million vehicles by
the end of the 2003 calendar year. For more information on OnStar, visit the
Web site at www.onstar.com |
