Anyone who’s ever had to suffer through the erratic touchscreens and unnatural voice commands with which today’s overly complex automotive multimedia systems punish its users has likely pondered why they can’t be engineered to operate as intuitively as Apple’s iPhone. To that end, Honda announced it's bringing “Siri,” the iPhone’s voice activated “intelligent assistant” to select models this year as a dealer-installed accessory.
To be initially offered on the 2013 Honda Accord, Acura RDX and ILX, Apple’s “Eyes Free” system will allow drivers to access Siri from a Bluetooth-connected 3rd- or 4th-generation iPhone via a steering wheel-mounted button.
Users will be able to ask Siri questions and initiate commands in natural language without taking their eyes off the road; the system even blanks out the iPhone’s screen to minimize distraction. Siri can be used to call people, select and play music, hear and compose text messages, get directions, read notifications, find calendar information and add reminders, all on a hands-free basis. The system won’t, however, be able to handle complex issues that would only be solved by displaying a Web page, or perform tasks like changing the radio stations on the car’s audio system or adjusting the climate control.
Chevrolet previously announced it would bring Siri’s Eyes Free system to the youth-oriented Spark and Sonic subcompacts sometime in 2013 as well. Either way, specifics are still pending regarding when the Eyes Free interface will be available and how much it will cost.
Even though Siri has her quirks on the iPhone, this still marks a step in the proverbial right direction. We can only hope that Apple manages to worm its way deeper into tomorrow’s cars and builds a truly easy to use alternative to clumsy and confounding infotainment arrays like the MyFord Touch and Cadillac CUE systems that would govern all of a car’s operations, and not just iPhone integration.
