Hyundai Canada is rolling out a new piece of technology that is really going to shake things up for those looking for the coolest tech in their next car. Called BlueLink, it’s a connected vehicle system that gives you the following via an app and a telematics system connected by Bell:
Local Search: If you need some gas or coffee, you can have your car find you the nearest Esso or Starbucks.
Powered by Google, you can use your voice to say things like “find me a coffee” or “find me a gas station” to have the system find you what you need. All you need do is press the voice command button on the steering wheel. What’s cool is that when I demoed it, the voice commands worked flawlessly and the system displayed the opening and closing hours and offered to navigate you to the destination.
Vehicle Car Care Information: If you’ve ever wondered about the health of your car, you can check the health of your car on demand. You can also set up monthly health reports that will be delivered to you by e-mail. That way, you’re never in the dark about the health of your Hyundai.
All of this can be done via the app (which is available for Android, iOS, and BlackBerry, though the screenshots are from the iOS version of the app) or from the infotainment screen inside of the car.
Even if you don’t find anything amiss you can set reminders to make sure your vehicle is taken care of, and you can find your nearest Hyundai dealer should the need arise.
Automatic Crash Notifications: If the worst possible scenario should happen and you find yourself in an accident, emergency services can be automatically contacted.
As you can see from this picture, it will send your exact location in the form of longitude and latitude co-ordinates so that emergency services can find you if you can’t say where you are. It’s also great if you run into trouble in a rural part of Canada or you’re in an unfamiliar location. If however you need to get emergency services on demand, the rear-view mirror has buttons to immediately connect you.
Roadside Assistance: If you get a flat tire or some other mechanical issue while you’re on the road, the system can connect you to roadside assistance either via the app or via the button on the rear-view mirror. Here’s what it looks like from the app.
Find My Car: If you have a habit of misplacing your car in large parking lots, Hyundai can help you with that. BlueLink will show you your car’s location on a map and give you directions to get there. If you still need help once you get closer, you can flash the lights or honk the horn to lead you to your car. I’d like to show a screen shot of the Find My Car function from the app to highlight one key feature:
The Find My Car feature, along with many other features within the BlueLink app, is protected by a PIN that is independent of the phone’s PIN. The reason for that is that Hyundai makes the correct assumption that not everyone uses a PIN on their phone. Thus they have to take steps to ensure that your Hyundai is protected from someone with less than honorable intentions who happens to get their hands on your phone. This is a good call on their part as it shows that Hyundai really thought about security when it comes to BlueLink.
Remote Start: The really cool feature that you’ll love is remote start. Not only can you start your Hyundai remotely with the app, you can also set the cabin temperature and even turn on the heated steering wheel and save up to three pre-set configurations of your favorite cabin settings. Say one for winter, one for summer and one for spring/fall. I had a chance to demo this at Hyundai Canada’s headquarters recently and I was able to take this video of the iOS version of the BlueLink app starting a brand new 2018 Hyundai Elantra GT remotely:
On to of starting your car, you can also use the app to see if your doors are locked, unlocked, or open. Not to mention you can see if the trunk or hood is open or closed.
The most impressive feature of Hyundai BlueLink is the fact that you get to use it free of charge for five years which matches the length of Hyundai’s factory warranty. That’s a brilliant idea as it sets it apart from BlueLink’s competition who offer free service for much shorter amounts of time. Plus I imagine that you will be more likely to pay for it once the five years is up because you’ve been immersed in the technology for so long.
BlueLink is rolling in Canada out starting the the aforementioned 2018 Hyundai Elantra GT which is coming to Canada shortly. As Hyundai refreshes their lineup over the next couple of years, BlueLink will make appearances in those vehicles as well. If you’re in a market for a car, and you like to have your car as part of your connected life, you should take a look at Hyundai vehicles equipped with BlueLink as it clearly is going to make waves in the automotive landscape.
Microsoft Paint To Be Axed In Fall Windows 10 Update
Posted in Commentary with tags Microsoft on July 24, 2017 by itnerdIf you’re really attached to Microsoft paint, I have bad news for you. If you go to this link, you’ll see that Microsoft Paint is among the features to be deprecated by Microsoft in what is called the “Fall Creators Update” to Windows 10.
That sounds like a big deal, but I don’t think so. Here’s why:
With those in mind, I think that it’s safe to say that after a 32 year run, it’s time for Microsoft Paint to ride off into the sunset.
Now before I go, I would suggest that anyone who administers PCs for a living take a look at the link above to see what other features are being axed. The removal of Microsoft Paint may be trivial, but some of the other features that are being removed may not be for your use case.
Leave a comment »