Hyundai tomorrow at CES will show the compatibility of its Blue Link with Google Assistant. Google Home is a voice-activated speaker powered by the Google Assistant that can provide real-time answers, activate streaming music services, smart home devices, and now, cars. Production availability is yet unstated.
The integration allows control of various functions of a Hyundai vehicle with simple voice commands.
These voice commands include “Ok Google, Tell Blue Link to start my Santa Fe and set the temperature to 72 degrees”, “Ok Google, Tell Blue Link to send the address of the Mandarin Oriental, in Las Vegas to my Sonata”, and “Ok Google, ask Blue Link to lock my car”.
“Our customers are finding smart home integrations like the one we are showcasing with Google Home to be very useful and convenient,” said Manish Mehrotra, director, digital business planning and connected operations, Hyundai Motor America. “We will continue to add layers of convenience to the Blue Link connected car system and our cars, making features like remote EV charge management, remote locking, temperature and remote start easier than ever while sitting on the couch and saying ‘Ok Google’.”
How It Works
To send commands to a Hyundai via the Google Assistant on Google Home, engineers developed a way to link a customer’s Blue Link Account with the Google Assistant voice activated services. Once a customer has successfully linked his or her account, Remote Service commands will only be sent to Hyundai vehicles after the Google Assistant prompts owners for their Blue Link Personal Identification Number (PIN).
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
