“A guy who uses his truck for work will want to know how his laptop can stay connected on the job site up to 50 feet away,” is what a Certified Technology Expert working at a GM dealership told Automotive News when describing the relevance of OnStar’s new 4G LTE and built-in Wi-Fi hotspot that is rolling out in select 2015 model-year Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC models. Another example: “A mom with three kids will need to connect three separate devices so they can use tablets.” Whatever happened to the magnetized mini-board games?
At any rate, it will be up to Certified Technology Experts working at dealerships, along with GM’s own Connected Customer Specialists, to woo customers into the technology, thereby creating a fairly strong competitive advantage. And aside from Audi and its 2015 A3, GM is the only other automaker that has 4G LTE with Wi-Fi in its vehicles. Heck, it’s not even fair to compare the two, as the German brand has far fewer features, is not as tightly-integrated, and has a far narrower scope than GM-OnStar’s 4G LTE with Wi-Fi.
Comments
Wasn’t Chrysler group doing it as well or was it just on ram?
All this is well and good, BUT…… reading tons of complaints on how the simple NAVIGATIONAL system fails to work properly and how it tells you to turn right and in fact you should turn left, but half the time it won’t even recognize an address. Am getting ready to spend a substantial amount of money on a top tier $$$$ Chevrolet and am deeply concerned regarding this apparent issue. WiFi is cool, there’s no doubt, but can GM at least get the Navigation right? Also, what’s with the $30. ongoing monthly subscription fees for On_Star in order for the rather costly Infotainment system to continue to work properly? Really?
Not only is GM “only other automaker” doing this, they’re the ONLY one doing it across their product line.
Only one minor issue with this story: doesn’t the vehicle have to be turned on for this system to work? The GM publicity photo seems misleading. Who would park their car next to a sidewalk cafe and leave it running with their back to it while they surf the Internet?
AT&T service is horrible. And to pay extra to them? Why not just create a wifi hotspot with your cellphone?