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GM relaunches OnStar with WiFi, news podcasts and more to challenge Ford SyncSep 15, 2010 (Detroit Free Press - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- General Motors' OnStar is fighting back. Next year, GM will provide in-car access to Pandora online radio, Stitcher news podcasts and WiFi. Voice-activated Facebook, texting, e-mail and MP3 player control also may come soon. Consumers already have heard about many of these technologies -- from rival Ford's Sync, which links to cell phones and iPods. Among digital devotees, Sync, first launched in 2007, has left OnStar's blue button in the dust. But that will change, GM says. "You can argue that we haven't marketed it, we haven't advertised it, we haven't communicated it," said Micky Bly, executive director of GM's hybrids, electric vehicles, batteries and infotainment. "That communication starts today." Even with better marketing and new technology, OnStar faces hurdles. The safety-and-security brand hopes to convince regulators it can offer voice-activated Facebook and messaging access safely. Don't expect to see OnStar abandon the blue button or its core safety and driver-assistance services. Once GM catches up in infotainment, executives say, the help provided by OnStar's built-in phone module will distinguish it from automated, cell phone-based Sync. GM adds apps in bid to catch Ford, Microsoft's Sync Post-bankruptcy General Motors had a technology problem. While GM had dazzled consumers with its OnStar safety advisers in 1996, in the following decade Ford leapfrogged its rival, using Microsoft's Sync system to access smartphones and music players by voice command. "In the 1990s, up until the early 2000s, we led in this space," said Bly. "We kind of slowed down. We didn't really bring in that 'Wow' factor." Under the leadership of Chris Preuss, former head of GM's public relations staff, OnStar has a comeback plan. Early next year, it is to launch MyLink applications to Pandora online radio, Stitcher podcasts and WiFi. After that, it may offer voice-activated control of Facebook, texts, e-mail and Web searches. Today, OnStar launches a marketing campaign to link new technology to its well-known blue button. The new offerings will be available in 2011 models. Owners of older GM cars won't be able to upgrade. For now, the new features will only be available to OnStar subscribers, who pay $199 annually for safety features or $299 for extra services such as navigation. But new infotainment features, such as MyLink or the voice-activated Web searches coming in the next 15 months, will likely be available for a lower price or even in a non-subscription package, Preuss said in an interview. OnStar's safety and adviser services would remain subscription-based. Ford's Sync costs $395, with some features requiring a $60 annual subscription after the first three years. OnStar's new menu is designed to coordinate GM's telematics and infotainment strategies. In years past, GM's engineers were responsible for infotainment such as Bluetooth. OnStar focused on safety and security. Chairman Ed Whitacre and CEO Dan Akerson, both veterans of telecommunications businesses, said OnStar was undervalued and undermarketed, Preuss said. So Preuss and Bly visited Google, Microsoft and Apple this year, looking for technology to expand infotainment services. The strategy led to the new "Live On" ad campaign by Campbell-Ewald, which says the brand is "safely connecting you in ways you never thought possible." Even more is coming. Within the next couple years, GM may provide voice commands for MP3 players and navigation systems, Preuss said. OnStar is also in talks with online phone company Skype, Twitter and Cisco Systems, the network provider. Offering more smartphone-based features will not distract OnStar from billing the blue button as a symbol of service and safety. OnStar's built-in phone module is always in the vehicle, and Sync users can't benefit from their automated 9-1-1 call if they forget their cell phone. OnStar is developing a program that would send a driver who is out of the vehicle a text if a tire goes flat. And OnStar's safety network uses human advisers who have priority access to 911 call centers and can provide first-aid guidance until help arrives. Despite its emphasis on safety, OnStar could face opposition from federal safety regulators. U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has said he is opposed to cell phone use while driving because it is a risky distraction. Preuss said GM will work with the government because OnStar aims to solve problems, not create them. Still, he said, "the discussion in some circles has gotten to the point that any device or any connectivity in the car is a hazard, and I think the data shows that's not the case." Preuss said GM is leaning toward preset replies to e-mails and texts, as Sync's newest version allows, although GM is also testing dictation technology internally. To see more of the Detroit Free Press, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.freep.com Copyright (c) 2010, Detroit Free Press Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com, e-mail [email protected], or call 866-280-5210 (outside the United States, call +1 312-222-4544). |