Audi Connect – cars are evolving

For many of us our car is an extremely important part of our lives. If you drive  to work then you may well spend anywhere from half an hour to several travelling to and from the workplace. Travelling to see friends or taking the family on an outing can also have you behind the wheel for many hours at a time. Whilst the industry brings new innovations every year in the ‘standard’ aspects of modern cars (safety, fuel economy, power etc.), much of the convergence with our other favourite gadgets, mobile devices, both in terms of entertainment for passengers and driver assistance, has felt somewhat ‘tacked on’.

Ever since the smartphone went mainstream, users have been finding ways to incorporate their devices into their cars – using the inbuilt GPS rather than a standalone device, setting up semi-complicated Bluetooth systems to interact with built in stereo for taking calls etc. Manufacturers of  expensive higher end cars have taken notice over the years and features that compliment mobile devices have crept in; from the simple inclusion of connectors and docks for the most popular phones to fully integrated Bluetooth suites that recognise a wide variety of handsets and provide device specific actions. As with all technology, the more it is used and developed, the cheaper and more accessible it becomes until we have now reached the stage where the kind of add-ons once only seen in the most expensive of new cars  are becoming options for the more budget range of vehicles many of us used to have to hack together our own systems for.

The next stage of this technology is now being seen in Audi Connect. Currently available in the USA for select Audi models, Audi Connect provides a whole host of data services for the car through a dedicated mobile connection, currently being delivered via T-Mobile. The Audi dealer provides a SIM card for the car and you have a choice of paying either $450 up front for 30 months or $30 a month. At half the price, up front is clearly the better option and if you’re ponying up the cash for a new car then adding 450 to the bill will probably not seem like too much for the extra features you receive.

Audi Connect is designed to work seamlessly with the  built in touch MMI (Multi Media Interface) interfaces included in newer cars and provides much more than just simple GPS and navigation applications. Other features include real-time news, weather and fuel prices, access to Google Earth and Google Voice Local Search. Mapping and navigation is handled by Google Maps with street view support so you can have images of your destination or crucial landmarks displayed to help you find your way! Since last month, Audi have also included the INRIX Park Service, so if you are in a covered area, detailed information of car parks supported by the service will be available, again with street view able to locate the entrance for you.

Driver assistance is only half the story, with Audi Connect also providing a local WiFi hotspot for up to 8 devices. T-Mobile’s current 3G speeds in the US might not allow for too much heavy use tethering multiple devices, but it definitely shows forward thinking. If Audi can strike a deal with carriers providing LTE in both the US and other countries they may release Connect in in the future, then this a brilliant platform to grow on and could see potential copycats from other major manufacturers.

Information on Audi Connect has recently been added to the UK Audi website and enquiries can be sent to the 4 supported dealerships in the M25 vicinity via the M25Audi local site and blog, so full service may be round the corner here in the UK.

Would you pick up the Audi Connect service or something similar in a new car? Are there particular features you would like to see supported? Do you have a dream setup in your car and if so what would it include? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below

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