GM’s upgradable in-car infotainment system
Deciding if you want satellite navigation in your brand new car is something you have to do at the point of purchase, after which point there is no turning back. General Motors revealed a new system at CES today which allows customers to “activate” satellite navigation at any time after they buy.
When confronted with the option of satnav in your new car it’s normally a matter of several thousand dollars, and when compared to buying a Garmin or TomTom unit from the local retail store it’s hardly surprising so many people just don’t bother.
If you’re like me though, you drive around thinking “hang on, I’ve got a big colour touch screen here in the car, can’t they just enable the Sat Nav function now?” Well, GM showed off a new in-car infotainment system which could be taken to your local dealer and with the push of a button and software activation, have satnav up and ready to go.
There was no discussion of price, so leaving that aside it’s really just the concept of automotive companies understanding that the ways of the past where cars were configured and final at the point of order are a thing of the past. Software updates should mean these sorts of decisions are available on any range of software based functions.
It’s a positive move for the automotive industry, hopefully GM’s local arm Holden will introduce the same here in Australia in the 2013 Commodore.
I’m not confident we’ll see it that soon though!
