SOCIAL BUSINESS

Smart Navigation Beats Out Social Media

R. Colin Johnson | Date: 08-04-11 | Comments

As more and more automobile owners conduct business and pleasure from their "connected car," navigation apps and Internet access continue to outpace social media and even streaming radio in popularity.

For the ultimate mobile platform--our automobiles--smarter drivers continue to desire "serious" navigation and Internet services over social networking and even streaming radio.

"We were surprised to find that social networking came in last in popularity among the connected-car services offered today," said Dominique Bonte, Group Director of Telematics and Navigation at ABI Research. "Navigation was more important than all the other categories--more important than streaming radio and more important than social networking."

Automobile makers have been touting infotainment--the integration of audio, video entertainment capabilities into cars--as well as at-the-wheel access to social networking services like Facebook and Twitter. But according to ABI Research, smarter drivers continue to be most concerned about arriving at their destination without any snafus. Top of the list were smart-navigation services like GM's OnStar and Ford's Sync, both of which allow users to find their destinations on their home computers or smartphones using Google Maps or Mapquest, then upload those destinations to their automobiles from their computer.

ABI Research surveyed 1,500 respondents in the United States, England, France, Germany, Japan, and China asking about their use or non-use of connected-car services, including smart navigation, Internet access, MP3 player integration, in-car WiFi, Internet telephony, radio/video streaming, concierge services, location searches (such as for close-by restaurants), downloading services, making reservations or ordering tickets from the vehicle, reading email out loud, and social networking. In most of the countries surveyed, popularity of those services was in the order mentioned--with social networking dead last. China was the only exception where concierge services, such as remote keyless entry, were the most popular service.

BMW, for instance, offers an in-car Facebook and Twitter updates services via its iDrive option, allowing drivers to access their accounts, view posts on the dash, and respond to them by choosing from a set of predefined responses. In-car Internet radio streaming from services like Pandora can also be managed from the dash in many cars. Nevertheless, respondents ranked both social media and radio streaming as low priorities, despite the overwhelming popularity of these services for both home-computer and smartphone users.

"We were very surprised that social media and radio streaming ranked so low, but our conclusion is that there is still a lack of familiarity with these in-car services," said Bonte. "People are most familiar with the navigation and security aspects of the connected car--that's what they know best. What the industry needs is a leader to show them the way--the way Apple has shown people what is possible for smarphones."

Bonte predicted that Ford's Sync, which offers more Internet services than GM's OnStar, as a possible Apple-like connected-car champion.

R. Colin Johnson has been writing non-stop daily stories about next-generation electronics and related technologies for 20+ years. His unique perspective has prompted coverage of his articles by a diverse range of major media outlets�from the ultra-liberal National Public Radio to the ultra-conservative Rush Limbaugh Show.

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