Our Paul Tullis has a piece for Edmunds Inside Line on telematics - the technology that gave us OnStar -- and the competition among its successors. From the story:
For more than a decade OnStar effectively ruled the telematics market, even initially outsourcing its services to other automakers. Despite that dominance — or maybe because of it — telematics technology remained dormant for years, with OnStar adding occasional safety features like stolen-vehicle tracking and convenience services such as navigation and hands-free calling.
But recently, telematics has undergone a renaissance of sorts, and suddenly OnStar has lots of competition. Ford, Hyundai, Lexus, Mercedes-Benz and Toyota have introduced new offerings in the past two years, while OnStar and BMW have added significant new features to their existing systems. And thanks to the popularity and capability of smartphones, the new breed of telematics systems are set to change the way people interact with their cars.
Web-enabled smartphones and their attendant apps are providing drivers with more features and a closer connection to their cars — and, for automakers, a closer connection to their customers. And it's just getting started. "The floodgates are on the verge of opening wide to enable you to do virtually anything in your car," predicts Roger Lanctot of Strategy Analytics, a market research and consulting firm.
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