Ever wondered just how powerful smartphones are? Or how they could be integrated into your car? OnStar in the US is working with Google on new Android smartphone apps that are claimed to work seamlessly in the new Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid.
The mobile application will provide Volt customers with new ways of using your sat-nav. For instance, when you’re out and about you can find a restaurant, speak to your phone and send the address to your car remotely so it’s ready to drive to dinner without having to fiddle with the sat-nav onboard when you first climb in.
The Android smartphone and cars
How does it work? A new navigation tab has been added to the home screen of the existing Chevrolet Volt mobile app on the Android smartphone. It uses voice recognition to set your destination of choice and communicates with your car remotely.
You can choose whether to send this information from your Android phone to your Volt, and have OnStar send the instructions to your car ready for the next time you start the vehicle. The owner is also given the option to have voice-guided directions to their vehicle via Google Maps (in case you’ve forgotten where you’ve parked. We’ve all done it, haven’t we?
Sounds like a cool bit of kit, but don’t get too excited. It won’t be available on the Volt app at launch, you’ll have to wait for the 2.0 version.
Detailed video shown below of how it all works.