...from an e-mail newsletter from Mobilocity:
GM's OnStar Partners With Fidelity <http://dailynews.yahoo.com/htx/ap/20010214/bs/onstar_fidelity_1.html>
As part of a deal unveiled this week, Fidelity will offer all subscribers of in-vehicle OnStar's Virtual Advisor with access to quotes and market information, already available in the Northeast and to be rolled out nationwide in April. The service eventually will be expanded to allow Fidelity clients to retrieve their account balances and do wireless trading. The OnStar service uses voice-activated, hands-free software allowing drivers to keep their eyes on the road as the information is read to them. Terms of the partnership were not disclosed.
Our Take: Considering that financial institutions have traditionally been among the earliest movers into any given data channel, this type of deal is hardly surprising. As businesses based on the exchange of information, banks and brokerages have always viewed emerging communications channels, from ATMs to cars, as additional ways to reach and service customers around the clock. By default, these companies have become the trailblazers in establishing benchmarks for the usability of various Internet terminals. In this light, Fidelity’s approach to in-vehicle services should be an interesting development, or rather experiment, to watch. There is little arguing with the appeal of up-to-date financial information while driving, but determining the manner in which it is offered will be far trickier. Services will need to be designed with two types of users in mind: one who is behind the wheel and another who is either waiting in traffic or along for the ride as a passenger. It is clear that highly visual data services will not be well suited to an attention-deprived driver. Instead, drivers may be better served with voice-enabled technology. Fidelity already seems to be on top of some of these issues by stressing its “hands-free” service. However, offering only voice services may be frustrating to other passengers who are looking for more conventional “hands-on” access. These users will be looking for an experience that has more in common with the PC-based channel. While the best manner in which to resolve this dilemma remains unclear, the one certainty is that companies such as Fidelity will help pave the way.
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M-Business Insights, Issue No. 47, February 21, 2001
by Mobilocity (www.mobilocity.com), the leading m-business builder
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