Honda News: Honda Unveils HondaLink

[William Maley]

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William Maley

Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com

July 20, 2012

Honda has revealed their new HondaLink infotainment system which will be appearing in the 2013 Accord and Fit EV.

As we reported last month, HondaLink will use will feature Aha Radio, a cloud-based digital content service that uses data from a smartphone to provide a variety of music, news, podcasts, other traditional audio content, and reading of facebook and twitter updates. (Because everyone wants to hear an update on someone's relationship status or what they're for lunch today. (Steps off soapbox))

Also, HondaLink will provide Pandora Internet Radio and voice-to-text messaging that was first introduced on the 2012 CR-V.

There is another version of HondaLink called HondaLink EV that will allow the driver to check driving range and locate EV charging stations, as well as remotely initiate charging, view the state of charge and activate the air-conditioning and heater. HondaLink EV will be on the Fit EV and the upcoming Accord Plug-In Hybrid.

William Maley is a staff writer for Cheers & Gears. He can be reached at [email protected] or you can follow him on twitter at @realmudmonster.

Press Release is on Page 2

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New Cloud-Based HondaLink™ Connected Car System Helps Drivers Put Away Their Phones While Maintaining Intuitive Access to Their Favorite Media

HondaLink™ provides first-ever OEM application of Aha™, delivering robust digital content via preset smartphone app

July 18, 2012

TORRANCE

Honda today unveiled HondaLink™, a new in-vehicle connectivity system that will debut this fall on the all-new, ninth-generation 2013 Honda Accord. Featuring the first automotive OEM application of Aha™ by Harman, HondaLink will provide a personalized experience connecting drivers to thousands of cloud-based news, information and entertainment feeds from around the world, using an intuitive, audio-system based interface.

"HondaLink will enable customers to put away their phone and still stay connected to the people, music and media they love," said Vicki Poponi, assistant vice president of product planning for American Honda. "By creating an intuitive and customizable user interface, HondaLink allows drivers to access digital content as easily as choosing a radio station."

Honda's intuitive new HondaLink smartphone application allows owners to preset content on their phone. Once in the car, consumers can enjoy personalized content accessible via voice recognition, steering-wheel mounted controls and in-dash audio system controls. With a tethered smartphone serving as a conduit to a wealth of cloud-based media, HondaLink creates a unique, connected driving experience.

"Honda's strategy is about leveraging the cloud to bring a wealth of new information and services to Honda owners," said Charles Koch, American Honda manager of new business development. "This is the next evolution of the connected car and the connected customer."

Through the Aha service, for example, HondaLink users can listen to Facebook and Twitter audio newsfeeds, podcasts from NPR, location-based personalized restaurant listings from Yelp!, and access internet music services such as Slacker. The service is free and instantly accessible from the cloud.

Aha delivers a user-friendly experience requiring infrequent smartphone software updates, with in-vehicle content and channel access updating simply and automatically throughout the vehicle life. And content available from HondaLink will grow as the system continues to expand its services for Honda owners. HondaLink will also incorporate Pandora internet radio and voice-to-text SMS text services with pre-programmed responses, which Honda introduced on the 2012 CR-V.

HondaLink EV

The HondaLink family also includes HondaLink EV, specifically designed for the all-new Fit EV all-electric vehicle and the upcoming Accord Plug-In Hybrid. Owners of these electric vehicles will have access to unique applications designed specifically to maintain connectivity to their vehicle. The HondaLink EV application will allow the user to remotely view the state of charge, initiate charging, and activate the air conditioning and heater to pre-condition the vehicle while connected to the grid to maximize battery range on start-up. HondaLink EV will launch with the Fit EV, which will be available for lease in California and Oregon beginning on July 20, 2012.

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[G. David Felt]

It is interesting that this seems to be an evolution of the iMID system found on Honda Civic GX CNG cars. Just expanded to cover their new EV version and to get more Honda Auto's with the Bluetooth phone and satellite access for navigation, road conditions and weather.

So question begs to be asked, Why drag this out? Why do a version for the CNG, now call it something different and role this out to the EV Fit car and the Accord. Why not just role it out to all auto's so that people can buy with this technology rather than drag it out. GM does well with having their OnStar and XM/Sirius on all auto's.

Honda wake up and realize, this needs to go into all auto's now.

[A Horse With No Name]

Exactly....and I like how on star is available on everything....

[G. David Felt]

Exactly....and I like how on star is available on everything....

Yes, I have OnStar on every one of my GM auto's as well as my XM radio. I rarely listen to local radio any longer when I can listen to my favorites on sat.

Edited July 31, 2012 by dfelt