Information Week reports Hughes Telematics has developed an internet-connected in-car information system that allows owners to lock or unlock doors, run remote vehicle diagnostics. send music from PC to car and locate their mobile Playstation to within an eighth of an inch [our guess]– all from the comfort of their home computer! The HAL9000 DriveConnected system is scheduled to debut in selected 2010 Chrysler and Mercedes models. Initially, DriveDistracted will use the cell phone network to work its wizardry. By 2012, Hughes plans to deliver broadband connectivity via satellite. Users will set up the system through a web site. Voice controls will run the show in the vehicle, with voice responses providing information. One of the system's big selling points: "teen tracking." Yes, primary caregivers at cocktail parties will be able to use their iPhone to pinpoint the car's location at any given time (at least until their computer savvy teens figure out how to feed HAL false data). To avoid privacy issues, an in-dash indicator will signal when the vehicle's being tracked. Needless to say, DriveConnected will also provide OnStar-like safety and security services. Just make sure it can't see your lips move.
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that’s creepy and is an awful idea. I see no good coming from this.
Just wait until the government makes this mandatory equipment…
Maybe they’ll add an ethanol detector that will alert the po-po to your location if you try to D&D…
Explain this to me. Now that Chrysler and Mercedes are “separate” they are doing something together?? SYNC will have a 2 yr exclusive. About right for electronics these days. Then BIG BROTHER really takes over. Thanks Germany
And you guys laughed at GM’s self-propelled automobiles.
@ Juniper:
My guess would be that this technology has been in the making for quite some time and that both companies have too much money invested in the development for either one to just walk away from it. Still, I’m sure that Daimler is appropriately enthusiastic that they still have to suffer Chrysler’s presence.
Juniper Explain this to me. Now that Chrysler and Mercedes are “separate” they are doing something together?? Development began when they were conjoined and both still want to offer the technology.
Sayonara Sync ??? Are you assuming Microsoft (Ford) is going to stand by and have their butts kicked in this space IF there is money to be made? I think not.
umterp85 :
Sayonara Sync ??? Are you assuming Microsoft (Ford) is going to stand by and have their butts kicked in this space IF there is money to be made? I think not.
I agree. It is like the volt/prius argument. Microsoft/Ford have a system in production while this new system is only in development. I doubt that Microsoft is just sitting on the sidelines watching things change.
What on earth are you talking about Frank? This has nothing to do with Sync.
THIS is a answer to OnStar, with some slightly different features. This was announced long ago by Hughes.
SYNC is a means to connect your iPod to your car stereo and control it; and a means for handsfree cell phone use.
They do two different things. Hughes is telematics. Sync is portable device connectivity.
Admittedly Ford is doing a terrible job of explaining what SYNC actually does in its marketing, but I don’t see this having any impact on Sync — you could have both in a car.
And if you think the ability to effect a very cumbersome and incredibly time consuming transfer of your PC music archive to your car via satellite connection negates the need for portable device connectivity, then ask buyers of the Chrysler MyGig if they’ve thrown away their iPods and Cell phones.
umterp85 Why not they let their butts get kicked with the cars they let rot on the vine. Why should this be very different.
Microsoft will probably do what they usually do and copy the competitors product in an inferior way and use their market advantage to sell the crap.
This tracking stuff is a bad idea that I feel the governement will find a way to make mandatory in the future. Probably with a tacked on milage tax and a maximum yearly milage to “save the environment.”
“Open the trunk bay door Hal”
“Hal?”
“Open the trunk bay door Hal”
“I’m afraid I can’t do that, Dave.”
Two things:
1) I’m a teenager. My parents don’t nanny me. Given this technology, they probably wouldn’t use it, even if they could figure out how. That’s just their parenting style. And I love it. Not because it allows me to go drinking or smoking all the time (I actually do neither) but because it provides a great environment to begin learning about adult life while still safe at home. What’s the point of sending a kid to college when he’s 18 if you’ve been treating him like a 10 year-old since he was, well, 10? If you don’t trust your kid enough with the keys that you have to watch his every move with your overpriced iPhone, don’t let him get his license! Driving is a privilege for teenagers, not a right.
2) Ford’s SYNC will come back to haunt them whether this system ever comes to market. Ford’s contract is only good for 18 months before others can use SYNC.
Kevin:
What on earth are you talking about Frank? This has nothing to do with Sync.
Read the last paragraph of the linked story.
They do two different things. Hughes is telematics. Sync is portable device connectivity.
And from what I understand, DriveConnected will eventually provide both functions.
Frank Williams :
January 8th, 2008 at 2:02 pm
Juniper
Explain this to me. Now that Chrysler and Mercedes are “separate” they are doing something together??
Development began when they were conjoined and both still want to offer the technology.
Actually they are still connected. Daimler owns almost 20% of Chrysler so that they will have access to their technology and parts (like the Phoenix V6 & DSG). Mercedes will use them where appropriate but will never, Never, NEVER admit to it. Did I mention they will never admit to it?
@B-Rad > Excellent attitude! Now if only you could teach the same to most of the other drivers on the road! ;-)
My parent’s never babied me either – they couldn’t wait until I got my license and could shlep my younger siblings off to lessons/practice, etc, etc – of course, this was country living, so I’m not sure if city living would have provoked the same reaction – since my daughter is but 1.5 years old, my wife and I have a while to figure it out for ourselves…
In regards to the main article; the two systems will definitely have some overlap, but the Hughes system seems to offer a bit more information about the vehicle rather then just infotainment features… Not much of this is new; I had control over the iBus system in my BMW 5 years ago – lock/unlock doors, roll down windows, read gauges all from my laptop. While I technically could have also tracked the vehicle, I never did install anything to send GPS coordinates back to my house… oddly enough, I tired quickly of the technology and have since returned everything to stock form.
Read the last paragraph of the linked story.
You mean the paragraph where there writer explains what Sync does, which is entirely different from everything discussed throughout the preceding article?
I wouldn’t be surprised if a Hughes system years down the road does have Sync-like features — why not? It’s just Bluetooth A2DP. Any fool can stick a bluetooth chipset inside a radio. There will be a hundred approaches to doing that. Maybe Hughes will team up with Microsoft and both focus on their own expertise — Hughes for communications and Microsoft for the edge software.
But you picked a provocative headline that is simply not in touch with reality. Ford is going to abandon whatever it’s chosen now, because maybe 5 years from now there will be another system also available in the worldwide automotive market, with a lot of expensive yet dubious features many people will definitely not want?
Look, just because you THINK of a catchy headline doesn’t mean you should actually USE it.
Kevin,
Good point, just as with the “Wild Ass Rumor” columns. Are we seeing some journalistic sensationalism?
Anyway, the SYNC is here, DriveConnected is not. Give the edge to FoMoCo. I understand the disagreement with Ford’s statement that SYNC is selling cars…I doubt it is. But, Ford does have a good gadget that is actually in the market. Word of mouth is better than any advertising (I usually don’t go pee in the middle of a conversation with friends).
If you get into an accident, will it sing “Daisy”?
Kevin : Look, just because you THINK of a catchy headline doesn’t mean you should actually USE it. 1996MEdition : Good point, just as with the “Wild Ass Rumor” columns. Are we seeing some journalistic sensationalism? Normally, I remove comments on TTAC's editorial stance or style from the comments section and ask the poster to discuss any and all issues with me off-line via email. In this case, upon further consideration, I’ve decided that you both have a point. The headline for this post unfairly suggested that SYNC would sink in the face of this Chrysler/Daimler's new system. I’ve removed the words “Sayonara SYNC” from the headline, and taken “Stick a fork Ford’s SNYC. It’s done.” from the lead. As for WAR (Wild Ass Rumor), I reserve the right to publish information which is important, but cannot be easily confirmed.
This immediately conjures up the vision (for any Lexx fans out there) of you, the driver, dealing with “790”.
RF,
You are a shining example of integrity. Integrity means more than just being honest, but you know that. Too bad there are so few of us left who do.