Hyundai has unveiled a new smartwatch app that will present users with a new way to interact with their Hyundai cars. The Blue Link smartwatch app is available on Google Play for use on Android systems, and the company says an Apple Watch version will be available soon after that smartwatch hits the market.
Speaking in a press release, Hyundai Motor America executive vice president Frank Ferrara said, “Now you can remote start your car with your smartphone, smartwatch, laptop, desktop or tablet. It is like being James Bond 007 or Scotty in Star Trek.”
That might be pushing it a little, as there really isn’t too much else to do using the Blue Link App; beyond remotely starting the car, the user can also remotely stop it, lock/unlock the doors, flash the car’s lights, and honk the horn. Whether user’s find it easier to use a smartwatch app to do these things rather than press a button on a traditional key remains to be seen, though the app’s voice command utility could prove appealing.
In any case, it’s a sign of where things are heading. It seems that the Internet of Things is opening up many new possibilities in how we interact with increasingly connected devices, and the automotive aspects of this are already starting to emerge. For example, Nuance Communications has been promoting their Dragon Drive platform, a voice command system that is meant to be built into smart cars. And if the Apple Watch manages to popularize the smartwatch as many expect it to, we could soon see much more expansive iterations of the kinds of apps that Hyundai is starting to pioneer with its Blue Link.
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