Siri To Power Mercedes-Benz Car Systems

redletterdave writes "Mercedes-Benz unveiled plans on Monday to use Siri, Apple's AI personal assistant exclusive to the iPhone 4S, to power its electronics system called 'Drive Kit Plus,' which will essentially let drivers access their iPhone apps while driving using voice commands. With Siri, Mercedes drivers will have a hands-free solution to listen to music, change channels on the radio, send texts, or make calls. 'Drive Kit Plus' will also come pre-installed with a number of social networks, so drivers will even be able to update their Twitter accounts and post messages to Facebook. Siri will also be integrated with Garmin's GPS system, so drivers can navigate and get directions with simple voice commands. With this move, Mercedes-Benz earns the distinction of being the first carmaker to integrate Apple technology into its vehicles' in-car systems."

Comments

In Scotland too?

[phonewebcam]

Spock: "Fascinating"

How About Frigging Drive Kit Plus

[Anonymous Coward]

The world does not need more self-absorbed iPhone users talking to the wannabe AI in their phone.

Re:How About Frigging Drive Kit Plus

[Fluffeh]

The most interesting thing in this article for me is lifespan. If I buy a phone with a funky feature I expect that feature to be active for the life of the phone - two to five years. However, if I buy a car, I would expect that all the features keep working for the life of the car - which is a lot longer. What is going to happen if in five or ten years time, Apple decides that Siri wasn't the right direction and makes something else? It comes back to the old DRM needing to be supported for the life of the product. What would happen to all the cars with this embedded if the servers were turned off?

Having said all that, something like Siri is probably the last thing I would want in a car, I am even discouraged by car commercials that offer "Built-in iPod docks" and the like. Too much lock-in for a specific product and brand.

Re:How About Frigging Drive Kit Plus

[ackthpt]

The world does not need more self-absorbed iPhone users talking to the wannabe AI in their phone.

You say that now, but when they have flying cars, I'm certain you'll be all over that like 681 Chinese on an iPhone gas stove.

Re:How About Frigging Drive Kit Plus

[russ1337]

This is why the car should support *integration* with phones and not *duplicate* phones functionality. Connectivity should be in the most future-proof possible way. This could be mic and headphone jack, USB (for charging), & Bluetooth.

Let the phone do the hard work and provide a means of integrating the phone.

You might need to modularise the interface so it can be swapped out every few years as the 'standard' phone interfaces change.

Re:How About Frigging Drive Kit Plus

[theurge14]

People can do that now with existing cars. A single dock removes three cords and Bluetooth. I know that for you or others that's no big deal, but for many others a single dock is preferable.

Re:How About Frigging Drive Kit Plus

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

The world does not need more self-absorbed iPhone users talking to the wannabe AI in their phone.

Haterade Addicts think about the iPhone more than Apple fanboys do.

Re:How About Frigging Drive Kit Plus

[ColdWetDog]

Also what's the advantage of this over getting an iPhone 4S and sticking it on the dash?

More room for the bobble head Jesus.

USA! USA! USA!

Re:How About Frigging Drive Kit Plus

[icebike]

This is why the car should support *integration* with phones and not *duplicate* phones functionality. Connectivity should be in the most future-proof possible way. This could be mic and headphone jack, USB (for charging), & Bluetooth.

Let the phone do the hard work and provide a means of integrating the phone.

You might need to modularise the interface so it can be swapped out every few years as the 'standard' phone interfaces change.

Excellent advice.

And the same for Navigation systems. Factory Nav is always way over priced, hard to update, and obsolete by the time it rolls out the factory door.

There needs to be (probably already is) an interface design spec where you simply plug in the device you want from Tom Tom, Garmin, or Magellan and it puts the devices display on the car's touch screen.

But why would the auto makers do this when they can continue to charge you 2000 dollars for a nav system that cost them $150?

Re:How About Frigging Drive Kit Plus

[icebike]

But the single dock only applies to Apple. Nobody else uses it.

With Android now some 47% of the market its time to start using a more standardized approach to this than relying on a single proprietary dock.

It might be HDMI, or Bluetooth, USB, or something else. But it should be an industry standard.
Ideally, I shouldn't have to take my phone out of my pocket when I get in the car, I should have phone, maps, and music all linked to the car automatically via something like Bluetooth 3.0 or something.

Cars aren't the only thing that people will want to link to their phones. Houses and offices could use such an interface. Cables and docking are so yesterday.

Re:How About Frigging Drive Kit Plus

[justforgetme]

The funny part is:
Mercedes are planning to ditch their own efforts on voice control - a research that has been
ongoing since the late 90s and has cost them untold billions - in order to replace it with a
system that has less localization and (and this is the killer really) that needs to be on-line in
order to actually process speech.

I really do tend to like the Germans but they sure messed up on this one.

Oh No

[prichardson]

For me, Siri is unusable. I don't know if it's my voice or accent, but it rarely understands me, that is when the service is even up. A lot of the time, Siri is 'unavailable' presumably because Apple's servers are getting hammered by requests. I found the google voice recognition stuff to work a lot better. The only thing Siri has going for it is a rich set of commands.

Re:Oh No

[PessimysticRaven]

Sadly, the word you're looking for is "enunciating."
Saying it "like it's spelled" is what got us into the issue in the first place!

Re:Oh No

[CRCulver]

Try annunciating.

I tried telling my iPhone that it was highly favoured with the Lord, and, behold, it shall conceive in its womb, and bring forth a son. Unfortunately, nothing happened. Maybe I should have more clearly enunciated?

Re:Oh No

[Lambeco]

Help I'm a rock.

I have discovered the root of your issue. Have you tried not being a rock?

Re:Oh No

[Deorus]

Your experience is completely opposite to mine. I'm Portuguese, meaning not even a native English speaker, and Siri understands me perfectly. Furthermore, I seldom experience service downtime, so I would attribute that to your carrier.

Also, how the hell is this insightful?

Re:Oh No

[an unsound mind]

"Set me a wake-up alarm at 9am". And Siri dutifully sets "me a wake up" alarm at 9am.

Siri could be smarter. Siri could also understand me with accuracy that doesn't force me to hover my finger over the edit query button.

Re:Oh No

[ColdWetDog]

Don't paper over the issue.

Re:Oh No

[macslut]

I have a convertible and Siri works great for me, even on the freeway with the top down. It works because my iPhone is integrated into the system. No cables, just Bluetooth. When I give it a command, it mutes whatever else I happen to be listening to (whether it's music from the iPhone itself, the radio, SD card, or thumb drive). If you're using your iPhone independent of your car system, 1) you're doing it wrong, and 2) Siri won't work with the music cranked up.

Re:Oh No

[Deorus]

As far as the Siri's implementation is concerned, everything else stops when Siri is expecting input. If they are integrating / implementing it in a car, I would expect the rest of the car's equipment to follow the same rule.

Re:Oh No

[Huge_UID]

My college sophomore son grabbed his apartment mate's 4s and said "Wake me up at 3am and remind me to masturbate". He was awoken at 3am by his roommate yelling at him.

Great...

[epp_b]

So, now, it won't work *and* it'll sound like a female's prison warden.

Experience

[omganton]

As someone who's been in a traumatic car wreck due to another driver being distracted, I have absolutely no desire to talk on the phone, send texts or update my social networking while I'm driving. There is nothing happening on my phone that's more important than my life, and I'd rather ignore a phone call or postpone my next twitter update rather than see my femur sticking through my lower intestine. You can call me whatever you want, but car accidents are caused by distractions, and people die. These are massive, powerful, destructive machines, and I'm sick and tired of seeing self-righteous, inconsiderate pricks with their head in their phone doing 75 down the highway.

Re:Experience

[omganton]

Although driving by it's self is inherently risky, it can be done safely with the proper precautions. Car accidents can be reduced to mechanical failure.malfunction and unforeseen medical emergency if everyone just paid attention and respected the drivers they share the road with. Driving while talking on your phone, updating your social networking, or sending/reading texts (hands-free or otherwise) is a distraction and by definition cannot be done safely.

There is also a difference between hands-free and having a passenger in the car (even a blind passenger). At any point in a conversation with a passenger, you can tell them to shut the fuck up and let you drive, at which point the passenger can take care of themselves until further notice. They also have some form of sensory input that allows them to interpret the situation at hand and assist you in either shutting up or providing relevant information to the crisis at hand. A hand-free device, Siri powered or otherwise, cannot interpret your current situation. If your trying to navigate through congested traffic and need to concentrate, Siri might still be reading you the list of texts you asked for, not realizing it was 20 texts long. Siri might not understand you when you ask it to stop, and it has no sensory information that it can accurately and efficiently relay to you.

Re:Experience

[pseudofrog]

I can see why you would think that, but the science doesn't confirm what you're thinking. I know of at least three potential explanations:

1) You don't feel the subconcious pressure to keep talking when someone's in the car with you. It's not considered "awkward" to shut up for 3-10 seconds in the middle of a conversation when you're driving. It feels awkward to do this on the phone.
2) It's far easier to understand someone in the car than someone over a cell network. Phones demand more brainpower.
3) You have a second set of eyes in the vehicle with you. Well, not so much in your example.

My guess is the the first reason I outlined is the biggest issue. Often when I'm driving with passengers I'll pause mid-sentence for some time while doing something that requires my full attention and nobody says anything or thinks twice about it. When on the phone, pausing that long prompts "Hello? Are you there? Did I lose you?" from the person I'm talking to.

I think if you did a test comparing people holding a cell-phone shaped device up to their ear while talking to a passenger to people actually talking on a cell phone, the former group would score higher. But the performance degradation of talking on a phone, in my opinion, is too great to be explained by having one hand occupied.

Just what I would want.... not

[markdavis]

Great- just what I would want in my next car, a non-changeable link to a totally proprietary technology that also will not work unless in a cell/data carrier area.

I was already pissed that my existing car had an ipod-only connection, and like most vehicles, the software is never updated. And of course, it only works with CERTAIN models of the iPod and nothing newer or older.

I have enough lock-in in my life already!

"Siri, what was that noise . . . ?"

[PolygamousRanchKid]

"Sir, while you were using your 'solution to listen to music, change channels on the radio, send texts, or make calls,' you crashed your car, Sir. You have now transformed a 200,000€ automobile into scrap, Sir."

"Shall I call an ambulance, Sir?"

Really /.?

[wbr1]

Siri to power...

Siri is an interface, she doesn't power jack shit. That's like saying the steering wheel and accelerator power the car, or KDE powers the computer.

Wait.

[drolli]

A car has a lifetime of up to 20 years (mercedes are known to have a long life). A car has enough power to power on-board computer which can do voice recognition. A car often travels far, sometime trough mountains without reception, maybe to foreign countries with different data service provider, who may, or may not have the right roaming agreement.

And still they are putting something in which is based on a could service , which may vanish at any time when it does not pay off any more?

Well done.

Re:Wait.

[Deorus]

It's a usability aid. Doesn't hinder you in any way if it's not there, but can help you a lot when it is.

# I'm driving ...

[fahrbot-bot]

... so drivers will even be able to update their Twitter accounts and post messages to Facebook.

No good can come of this.

Re:Don't leave the city...

[Deorus]

I find Siri to be quite useful, actually. Want to type a note in plain sunlight where your face's reflection is more visible than the contents of the screen? No problem, have Siri do it for you! Wanna set up a date / reminder / alarm? No problem, Siri can do that without even taking the phone out of your pocket. Wanna call someone? Just ask Siri, it's a lot more efficient than searching for their contact in the Contacts or Spotlight. Wanna switch playlists while listening to music? Just tell Siri which to switch to! Call it whatever you wish, but your feelings about voice recognition in general and Siri in particular are irrational.

Bandwidth

[Calydor]

What I want to know is who foots the bandwidth bill.

Siri works by sending each and every command to the cloud and getting replies back, right?

The cell companies keep yapping about how limited the mobile network's bandwidth is, which is why mobile data plans are so costly.

So who will be paying for this, and what happens when Car-Siri (Carrie? Now THERE is a scary thought!) exceeds its monthly allowance and dips into costly overtime?

Apple's way behind here...

[narcc]

Apples a bit late to the automobile integration game.

It's no secret that RIMs QNX car application platform *actually* powers over 20 million vehicles on the road. They've already taken integration to a whole new level:

QNX lets BlackBerry PlayBook become in-car controller

The QNX car app platform can power your vehicle’s in-car monitors, including the speedometer and the entertainment unit. [...] you can easily bring things like Pandora or even YouTube to you in-car entertainment unit as well as have realistic maps or song album covers overlaid next to your speedometer.
[...] The BlackBerry PlayBook can then be used to control the climate in the car and you can also get the media from the device over to your car’s entertainment unit with just a few clicks.
QNX also showed off how BlackBerry Traffic can be integrated into the in-car unit via Bluetooth and this provides live, turn-by-turn navigation with an emphasis on how long it will actually take you to get there

RIM's strong relationship with Porche is no secret either (see the Porche designed BlackBery 9981) Concept Porsche Shows Off RIM QNX

QNX shows off its versatility, powers OnStar accessories

Police are also starting to use RIM's in-vehicle technologies: Cop Conference Features BlackBerry PlayBook As Law Enforcement Tool Some details: Serving and Protectingwith a BlackBerry PlayBook

It keeps getting better New QNX Platform to Transform the Automotive Experience

You could say that less than impressed with Siri in the Mercedes after seeing what RIM is doing in the same arena with their technology.

Re:Apple's way behind here...

[ackthpt]

Apple may be late, but the way some people listen, they'll believe Apple invented it.

Re:Apple's way behind here...

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

More accurately, you'll believe that people exist that will actually say that.

Re:Apple's way behind here...

[Deorus]

Apple was late to the cell phone and music player markets too...

Re:Don't leave the city...

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

Personally, using voice commands for operating anything inside a car doesn't really interest me. It's probably a generational thing, but using voice commands to control anything makes me feel like a douche. It's nothing but a higher-tech Clapper.

This is a little OT, but I was sold on Siri the moment I said "read me that last text message". It actually tells you the message and you don't need to look at your display. It's as close as I've ever seen to Captain Picard asking the Enterprise's computer a question.

I really can't wait for version 2. Siri right now feels like a poor beta.

It works great on bikes, too...

[rocket rancher]

Personally, using voice commands for operating anything inside a car doesn't really interest me. It's probably a generational thing, but using voice commands to control anything makes me feel like a douche. It's nothing but a higher-tech Clapper.

Hmmm...not everybody drives cars, dude. I think Siri is fan-fucking-tastic because my daily driver is a Ducati 1098. Suddenly, with Siri, I can actually do more than queue up a new playlist or make/take calls with the Sena SMH10 comm system in my helmet. Much beyond that, I would have had to find a spot to pull over so that I could get to the touchscreen interface on my iPhone. With Siri, I can text my pals, pull up (and edit!) my calendar, get turn by turn directions even easier than on my very-motorcycle-friendly Garmin Zumo 660, and even jump in vent and chat with my guildies if I want to, all without having to stop, or even having to take my eyes off the road, which I still sometimes have to do with the Zumo, despite it's well thought-out interface. If Siri is a glimpse of the future of voice interfaces, I'm liking it.

Re:Oh no!

[jrumney]

This could be a dangerous approach of Apple to cars... so they will soon patent stuff like, maybe, the car wheels.

Don't worry, they won't patent all wheels. Just ones with rounded corners.

and further to your point..

[schlachter]

Mercedes sometimes stay in use for much longer than 10 yrs. I routinely see Mercedes on the road that are 20+ yrs old. What happens then?

wake me up tomorrow at 8am

[schlachter]

When I ask Siri to wake me up tomorrow at 8am....and it's 12:10am or something like that...I don't get an 8am alarm for the morning...but for two days out! It takes tomorrow very literally.