Honda North America has announced a new iPhone app for owners of Acura automobiles. Acura-i is an app that allows you to communicate with your car and vice versa. While the app is specifically designed for 2015 models that will have a more comprehensive suite of sensors, it will also work with 2013-2014 models in a limited capacity.

Acura-i or Ai is a comprehensive human-to-car-to-human communication application that, when properly configured will allow the driver to communicate directly with their car as if they were communicating with a human. A natural voice Siri-like interface will be available later this summer which will allow you to name your car and assign gender to it. It will also have a full complement of intelligence including human and gps. With full Bluetooth compatibility and internet access, a driver could carry on hours of conversation with the app in a male or female voice selected from a wide range of voices encompassing many racial and ethnic backgrounds.

Ai will also have the full Acura service manual available and loaded and also available through the voice communication so your car can actually guide you through maintenance or inform you of anything that is about to fail. Your car will even text you if it hasn’t been driven in a while and the battery needs charged.
Ai has a personal mode setting where the car will call or text you for no reason at all other than to communicate and will be able to track you with the Find Friends app if enabled. So be careful when lusting after looking at other cars at dealerships while your Acura sits in the garage. Nothing is worse than a jealous Acura.

The Ai app will be available from the Apple App store in early May. The non-voice app will be priced at $7.99 while the natural voice version priced at $11.99. There are no plans for an Android version at this time.

 

BFD. And why are they going to charge for it?

 

This damn attitude they have toward Android may keep with with Audi. Tired of Apple being crammed down my throat. It would be one thing if Apple had 80% of the market, but it does not and car makers are alienating the large installed base of Android users, who IMO typically are more techie.

 

Hmmm... it's April 1st.

 

good one

Here is a link to the Honda - Google alliance

http://www.businessweek.com/articles...ndroid-to-cars

 

I freaking hate April 1