Media post: Becoming Ever More Connected with the Connected Car
You’d think the advent of the smartphone and its multifunctionality would be enough to blow the baby boomer’s mind. Especially when you consider how smartphones have streamlined and made efficient so many things that they were used to doing manually, with so much more effort and time just to achieve one goal. Now, smartcars or connected cars are becoming a regular part of our lives, with helpful functionalities boosting efficiency even more.
If you are driving a car or are considering purchasing one, you may want to consider upgrading it to more connected capabilities, or getting one that has the features already built in. Noted advantages follow.
- Traffic monitoring feature
Your car can be connected to a GPS system that lets it calculate estimated arrival times, as well as notify you if there are any delays on the route you are initially set to take, so that you can choose alternate routes. You can now be smarter than the traffic!
- Concierge service
If you are headed to an unfamiliar destination, your system can provide you directions, let you know information about the place you are going to, book things for you such as a parking spot, and show you relevant information such as which restaurants are nearby so you can book a table.
- Connect your smartphone for added coordination
Via an app on your smartphone, you can do a lot of things, such as:
- ask your car to start the engine even without you being physically there – no need to warm it up on your own and turn on the air-conditioning and wait – it’s nice and cool the minute you’re ready to leave.
- lock the car remotely.
- honk it from a distance, or let it flash its headlights in order to more easily locate it in a parking area.
- If you installed accessories such as underglow lights, which you can get more information on at xkglow.com, you can easily control them via your smartphone.
- An app can even park the car for you in the event that the parking slot proves to be too much of a challenge.
- Emergency services
In an emergency situation, the connected car can alert the proper authorities of your location and state, so as to provide immediate service when accidents do occur. No need to panic as the police or the paramedics will know how to get to you immediately without you having to worry about giving them directions or letting them know of your state.
- Wi-Fi hotspot creation
Many connected cars have the capability to create their own Wi-Fi hotspots, so that passengers can easily connect to the network and provide them with much needed entertainment while stuck in traffic or when on a long cross-country drive. This will also enable them access to the route they are taking, so they are informed of where they are going and how long it will take to get there, taking away the need to disturb the driver unnecessarily.
Many more additional features are in the works for connected cars. Soon enough, self-driving and self-thinking smart cars will be the future, eliminating much of the driver decision making needed today. Is this really an improvement or does it make the machine too powerful for you? Let’s see how we’ll all adjust when it finally becomes our reality.
