Order and pay for a coffee with a tap on the dash

Friday, 19 October 2018

General Motors wants you ditch your phone and communicate directly from the dashboard. Are you ready for that?

The car of the future will have powerful communication technology on board, that is something that is beyond doubt.

It will also be essential technology as cars become more autonomous, as the advanced communication abilities will help manage the traffic mix of tomorrow, while also changing and adapting to the way we communicate while on the go.

Personally, we love the easy integration phone mirroring systems like Android Auto and Apple CarPlay bring to our lives and cars, effortlessly (well, most of the time) merging the main functions of our phones into the car's systems, but the car makers don't.

Car manufacturers are hoping new connected systems like GM's Marketplace will tempt you into giving up your phone in the car altogether.

While they have long employed the driver's phone and a Bluetooth connection as the major technology for certain convenience features, companies and analysts view this as an inelegant and increasingly limited solution.

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Bluetooth connections and cords are increasingly being viewed as inelegant and limited solutions for connectivity.

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Plus the car manufacturers hate giving that much control to outside entities, particularly ones that are as massive and intrusive as Apple and Alphabet (Android and Google's parent company), who are also shaping up to be their direct competitors in terms of autonomous technologies - Apple is widely speculated to be working on an autonomous car, while Alphabet is well advanced on developing the tech via its Waymo subsidiary.

As a result car makers are starting to bet heavily on the idea that if our cars have the technological muscle to keep us connected, we might just park our phones when we get in and communicate straight from the dashboard in the future.

Built-in 4G modems make a direct connection to the world of communications, cutting your phone out of the loop in your car.

And for the owners of some General Motors vehicles in the USA, a taste of this future is already here.

Since December, GM has quietly equipped about 3 million cars with an in-dash system it calls Marketplace - a system that communicates directly with merchants, allowing the driver or passengers to order and pay for a variety of products and services straight from the car's touchscreen.

And some big-name vendors have signed up to, with McDonald's, Shell, Mobil, Dunkin' Donuts, Applebee's, Delivery.com, IHOP, Parkopedia, Priceline, Wingstop, TGI Fridays, Office Depot and Yelp (for restaurant reservations) all getting on board.

But GM have been very quiet about the rollout of the new system, with currently only about 75,000 people having signed on, and no mentions of it in any instruction manuals or brochures, because it wants to allow time to sign up more merchants and, most importantly, refine the system.

Marketplace integrates with GM's infotainment system and the company says it uses advanced machine learning from real-time interaction data - such as location, time of day and a driver's 'established digital relationship with third-party merchants' - to offer a highly personalised experience.

For example, if the car is running low on fuel, Marketplace can provide directions to the nearest gas station, take care of the payment and even turn on the pump when you get there.

Marketplace uses a 4G LTE modem that can connect to a cellular network, something GM has more experience with than most other manufacturers, as the company's vehicles have been equipped with modems since the OnStar system - that Holden will be launching in New Zealand next year - made its debut in 1996.

Using the connectivity that comes with the current OnStar system, GM is adding Marketplace to millions of existing 2017 and 2018 model-year cars, trucks and crossovers in the USA that have compatible infotainment systems, with a separate data plan from OnStar not required to use it.

'Our average customer spends 46 minutes per day on the road driving,' said Santiago Chamorro, GM's vice president for Global Connected Customer Experience.

'Leveraging connectivity and our unique data capabilities, we have an opportunity to make every trip more productive and give our customers time back. Marketplace is the first of a suite of new personalisation features that we will roll out over the next 12 to 18 months to nearly four million U.S. drivers.'

The driver or front-seat passenger can interact with Marketplace via the car's touchscreen while, according to GM, voice command technology is in development.

Actions that require 'considerable involvement' and could distract a driver - such as booking a hotel room - can only be carried out when the vehicle is stopped, with only limited options available when the car is moving - for example, a Starbucks customer can order from the car while it is being driven, but only a few choices, based on previous orders, will be displayed.

But it's not just General Motors that is making the push away from your mobile, other car makers are taking advantage of modern in-car communication as well - in some markets BMW Connected now allows vehicle owners to speak to Amazon's Alexa voice assistant from the car, using the car's onboard modem, with no phone required, while Mercedes-Benz has just launched its 'Mercedes Me' system that features a voice assistant and machine learning.

Audi has just added a feature called Traffic Light Information that communicates with traffic lights and can tell drivers how long they will have to wait before the light turns green, albeit only in a few cities that have installed the necessary hardware.

While Holden is launching OnStar here next year, Marketplace will remain a US-exclusive for now. But the future is coming fast - are you ready to ditch your phone?