By Drew Johnson
Thursday, Jul 19th, 2012 @ 9:55 am
 
Looking to keep up with Ford's SYNC and Toyota's Entune, Honda has announced the launch of a new in-vehicle infotainment system. Dubbed HondaLink, the new system will launch this fall in the all-new 2013 Honda Accord.

Using HondaLink's smartphone application, owners can preset content on their phone and then have that information readily available for their next drive. Using that smartphone as a link to the cloud, HondaLink gives owners on-the-go streaming access to services like news, weather, music and even social media sites like Twitter and Facebook.

"HondaLink will enable customers to put away their phone and still stay connected to the people, music and media they love," said Vicki Poponi, assistant vice president of product planning for American Honda. "By creating an intuitive and customizable user interface, HondaLink allows drivers to access digital content as easily as choosing a radio station."

Owners can access the content of HondaLink via voice recognition, steering-wheel mounted controls and in-dash audio system controls.

HondaLink also represents the first OEM system to make use of Aha by Harman. Aha allows HondaLink users to listen to newsfeeds from Twitter and Facebook, stream audio from sites like Pandora and access location-based personalized restaurant listings from Yelp!.

Honda is also rolling out HondaLink EV, which will be available in the Fit EV and upcoming Accord Plug-In Hybrid. HondaLink EV includes a few extra goodies for owners of electric vehicles, including the ability to remotely view the state of charge, initiate charging, and activate the air conditioning and heater to pre-condition the vehicle while connected to the grid to maximize battery range on start-up.


  

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