After a long period in which car manufacturers declined to say when they’re planning to implement Siri Eyes Free in their vehicles, Opel announced that Apple’s driving assistant will make its way to Adam, an entry-level city car.
Things seem to have changed in the past two months. As I wrote then, the future of Siri Eyes Free appeared to be rather dark, as many of the manufacturers that had initially signed a deal with Apple were backing off. It looks like General Motors, through its German subsidiary Opel, will eventually take care of its part of the deal. Opel Adam, an entry level city-car named after Adam Opel, the founder of the company, will feature Siri Eyes Free among its many optional extras.
Many expected Siri Eyes Free to make its European debut as part of more expensive cars, so the fact that Opel Adam will be the first car to feature it might have shocked some. No worries, BMW and Ferrari said this week that they would include Siri Eyes Free in some of their cars. Still, for the moment we’ll have to be satisfied with GM’s offering.
Judging by the things shown in the promo videos, Siri Eyes Free will be turned on by pressing a button found on the steering wheel. Upon doing so, the drivers would be able to browse through their audio library, dictate e-mails, have text messages read to them, and even get directions. Of course, the features do not stop here. For all the multimedia content, the Opel Adam equipped with Siri Eyes Free features a dock that supports a wide variety of Apple products, among which the more important are: iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPad 3, iPad 4, iPad mini and fourth-generation iPod touch.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hqxmpX9Q0o&w=600&h=338]
After all, picking an affordable car as the first vehicle to come with Siri Eyes Free in Europe might have been a wiser choice than most think. At a price starting at $15,000, Opel Adam could become very popular, and with it, Apple’s assistant, too.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-WmjpVifkE&w=600&h=338]
My problem with Siri Eyes Free (and with Siri, in general), is that the voice sounds very artificial. If I were to drive a car packing Apple’s driving assistant, I would become rather irritated by the unnatural voice coming out from every speaker.
If you liked this post, please check the details that delayed the implementation of Siri Eyes Free and Siri’s references to the classics.
