Hyundai’s luxury Genesis division is making it easier than ever for its tech-savvy customers to communicate with their cars. The automaker has developed a smartphone app that successfully merges Google Assistant with a customer’s Genesis Connected Services account. Thusly matched up, the vehicle owner can control various functions through text or voice commands via Google Assistant.
Genesis Connected Services is not unlike similar programs offered by other luxury automakers. It’s free for three years on the G80 and G90 sedans and provides a variety operational and safety functions, including automatic collision notifications and SOS emergency assistance. Navigation assistance and map updates also part of the package, as well as a range of direct vehicle functions like remote start, locking the doors, and should someone take an unauthorized joyride, Genesis Connected Services will step in to shut the car down.
At this point you might be wondering where the advantage is with the new app, since these things were already app-controlled. The difference here is that, with Google Assistant functionality, text or voice commands can be used not just through a phone but any device running Google Assistant, including Google Home. That means you can simply tell Google to start the car, set the AC to maximum freeze, and plot the quickest course to Vegas, all from the comfort of your sofa. And it will be done; no phones, no typing, no problems.
If that sounds a bit too easy – as in your prankster buddies might think it funny to activate the horn in the dead of night, Genesis has thought of that. Aside from procedures required to link specific accounts with Google Assistant, a personal identification number is required before commands will be carried out.
Genesis says the new app is available now for Google Assistant. For those who are technologically challenged or paranoid about Google Assistant stealing the car for a midnight joyride, Genesis will offer demos of the system at the WIRED Stored in Santa Monica, California from August 23 through September 4.
Source: Genesis
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GENESIS ANNOUNCES NEW GOOGLE ASSISTANT COMPATIBILITIES
- Genesis owners can now use the new Genesis app for the Google Assistant to remote start, lock or send a destination to their car via voice commands on Google Home, eligible Android phones or iPhones
- Commands can also be sent silently using a smartphone keyboard with the Google Assistant
- Experience exclusive demos of the Genesis app for the Google Assistant and other smart features at the WIRED Store in Santa Monica, CA from August 23 – September 4, 2017
FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif., Aug. 16, 2017 – Genesis Connected Services is getting a lot more powerful with the introduction of the Genesis app for the Google Assistant today. All Genesis vehicles are equipped with three years of complimentary Genesis Connected Services, which allows connectivity into the car with technology like Remote Start with Climate Control, Destination Search powered by Google®, Remote Door Lock/Unlock and Stolen Vehicle Recovery. The Genesis app for the Google Assistant allows control of various functions of a Genesis vehicle with simple voice commands or smartphone keyboard inputs.
What It Does
This new integration provides owners with the flexibility of sending common remote commands to their Genesis vehicle three different ways:
- Voice commands via the Assistant on Google Home
- Voice commands via the Google Assistant on eligible Android phones or iPhones
- Text commands via the Google Assistant on a smartphone
Owners have the ability to send the following commonly used Genesis Connected Services commands to their vehicle via the Google Assistant:
- Sending a destination to the car’s navigation system
- Remote Start with Climate Control
- Remote Lock & Unlock
- Remote horn/lights
How It Works
To send commands to Genesis Vehicles via the Google Assistant on Google Home or a smartphone, engineers developed a way to link a customer’s Genesis Connected Services Account with the Google Assistant voice activated services. Once a customer has successfully linked his or her account, Remote Service commands can be sent to Genesis vehicles only after the Google Assistant prompts owners for their Connected Services Personal Identification Number (PIN).
If voice commands are not an option in a certain situation, the Genesis app allows owners to send commands via the Google Assistant keyboard on their smartphone. For example, say you are in a crowded concert hall and cannot remember if you locked your car:
All of these features, in addition to the recently launched Genesis Virtual Guide, will be available to demo at the second annual WIRED Store in Santa Monica from August 23 through September 4, 2017. The luxury pop-up, presented by Genesis, offers a chance to experience new product demos blending the smart home with the smart car, and is the exclusive demo site for new smart features of the 2017 Genesis G90 — the Genesis flagship sedan, which focuses on combining human-centered luxury with cutting-edge innovation. For more information on the WIRED Store please visit http://store.wired.com or follow @WIREDInsider.