14 DAY TRIAL // Onstar has some new competitors in its midst, it seems as though Microsoft is joining forces with Fiat and introducing their software with the Italian car maker. Microsoft and Fiat Auto give drivers a new hands-free option for using their cell phones, according to the companies.
According to Jim Bak, a spokesman for Microsoft said the Italian automaker Fiat plans to show off three new cars outfitted with a Windows-based system that uses Bluetooth technology to enable users to control mobile phones and other devices from the dashboard and steering wheel. The system, called Blue&Me, is based on Microsoft's Windows Mobile for Automotive software. The event is scheduled for February 28, at the 2006 Geneva Motor Show in Switzerland.
Microsoft and Fiat first announced their partnership to provide the Blue&Me system in June 2004. Bak added that the Blue&Me enables motorists to use a "push-to-talk" button on the steering wheel to control Bluetooth mobile phones with voice commands. The phone conversations are transmitted through the car's stereo system, he said. Blue&Me also includes GPS (global positioning system) navigation and will talk users through driving directions turn by turn. Additionally, a USB (Universal Serial Bus) port on the dashboard allows a user to connect a media player or storage device for playing music through the car's stereo system. Users can control the stereo with voice commands through the same steering-wheel button that controls their mobile phones, Bak said.
Blue&Me also gives drivers the ability to contact Fiat for information about car trouble, Bak said. For instance, if a "check engine" light is illuminated, a driver can use a steering-wheel control to access a Web service from Fiat called VConnect that lets users communicate with the company to find out what is causing the problem. Fiat can send a text message back to a motorist through a screen on the instrument panel of the car that will let them know what's wrong with the automobile and whether it needs immediate attention, he added.
Blue&Me will support eight different languages, including U.K. English, Italian, Spanish, French and German, and more than 140 mobile handsets at launch. The software can be updated in the future to support new handset technologies as they evolve so the system can still be used with new phones, Bak said.
The first cars with the system that the companies will demonstrate in Geneva will be the Alfa Romeo 159, the Fiat Grande Punto and the Alfa Romeo Brera, according to Bak. He finished off by saying that Fiat plans to roll out the system in Europe on cars across all of its brands, including Fiat and Alfa Romeo, through the rest of the year. Could this partnership be as productive as the Intel/BMW deal?