Honda is bringing to market its first signature suite of connected apps named as HondaLink for 2014 Civic car drivers in the US. Great news is that these connected apps will be powered by HERE Maps’ cloud based services.
Two of the four apps in Honda’s HondaLink in-car connectivity solution include dynamic content services of weather, navigation, traffic and local search. All are powered by the HERE Platform’s comprehensive cloud-based services that include 3D maps. At launch, iPhone 5, 5S and 5C will benefit from all the features HondaLink offers as HERE continues to deliver the world’s freshest maps and location experiences across multiple screens and operating systems.
In select 2014 Civic models, Honda introduces a new Display Audio touchscreen interface that uses the familiar pinch, swipe and tap functionality of a smartphone. Display Audio equipped with navigation or used with the HondaLink Navigation App will give Civic customers the option to zoom in on a congested road in order to identify the exact location of an accident and where the traffic then picks back up to normal speed. This leverages HD Traffic from HERE in a customizable format that can be adapted to the driver’s viewing preferences. Those that choose a ‘brought in’ connected design can take route information with them as they leave the car.
This is really great news for Nokia and HERE division in particular keeping in mind Nokia’s recent thrust on connected cars. It is good example of automotive industry’s preference of HERE Maps as the mapping solution provider. Only thing which looks odd in above announcement is the limited availability of “HondaLink” to only iPhone 5, 5S and 5C owners, but knowing US market it is hardly a surprise. Even Android devices are not mentioned as compatible for now, so availability for Lumia devices may take some time.
[embedit snippet=”madsr”]
