Got an iPhone? Then you could soon be hearing Siri’s dulcet tones from a whole new range of Chevy cars. After Chevrolet’s success using MyLink to connect drivers with Siri in the Sonic and Spark, it has decided to expand the program to include the 2014 Camaro, Cruze, Equinox, Malibu, SS, and Volt.
So just what does piping this bossy little robot through your car’s computerized brain get you? Mostly you get exactly the same sorts of things you could by talking directly at your phone: Talking, then waiting for Siri to give you something you didn’t ask for, and then repeating yourself slowly and more clearly.
In all seriousness, Chevy reports that you can now access your stored music, switch between iTunes radio and AM/FM/XM, send voice to text messages, access your calendar, and, of course, make calls.
Most importantly, though, you can do all of this without touching or even looking at your phone; which, despite the image from GM showing someone clearly staring at their phone and not the road, is the entire point of this sort of system.
Though, given the difficulties inherent with talk to text, my guess is some pretty hilariously messed up text messages will be sent.
Even if you don’t have an iPhone, you can get many of the same capabilities through Chevy’s RemoteLink Mobile App, which interfaces with GM’s OnStar system. Unfortunately, after six months OnStar isn’t free anymore; so you are quickly going to be eating into the savings you got from not buying an iPhone.
Chevy’s partnership with Siri may seem rather groundbreaking, but it’s not. In fact, Siri is coming to nine automakers in the next few years. GM, though, was just the first to the party. Recent surveys have shown, customers trust tech companies a heck of a lot more than they trust automakers when it comes to high tech wizardry. In this sense, manufacturers are wise to partner with tech giants early, rather than be squashed by them down the road.
