RideLust

Actually, your insurance company does...

At first glance, the new telematics system developed by State Farm Insurance and Hughes Telematics, called In-Drive, looks like a good thing, especially to parents. It offers the same emergency crash response, roadside assistance and stolen vehicle location service as competitors like OnStar, but for a lot less money. You can even get vehicle diagnostic alerts and service reminders, and parents can use it to track where a car is driven, or at what speed. If owners can get data on locations and speeds, doesn’t that mean that your insurance company can, too? Read More…

Hyundai has long sought to give buyers peace of mind with their warranty coverage; now the automaker is giving owners even greater security with the launch of their OnStar-fighting Blue Link system. Like GM’s OnStar, Blue Link can provide automatic crash notification, give the driver a “panic button” for emergency situations and offer roadside assistance. Just like OnStar, it can unlock your doors or even help police track, slow and immobilize a stolen vehicle. However, Hyundai wasn’t content to simply match features offered by OnStar, so they’ve one-upped the pioneering telematics service in several areas. Want to flash your lights and horn, or get notification when your keyless entry panic button has been tripped? How about sending your current vehicle location to social media friends? Want to send voice to text messages while you drive, or get messages about how other drivers or valets are treating your vehicle? Depending on the Blue Link Package selected, it can do all of this and more.

Read More…