At next month's Geneva Motor Show, Mercedes will show off the next A-Class and with it, its updated COMAND infotainment system. The user interface has undergone a complete overhaul, ditching the black and beige color scheme for a sharp, modern, three-dimensional design and a range of new features and functions, nearly all of which are centered on the iPhone 4S.
More intriguingly, Mercedes is the first automaker to support and integrate Apple's Siri voice-recognition technology, allowing users to make appointments, send text messages and emails, get weather status and access all their songs through voice commands.
While all these features will be limited to the Euro-only A-Class at first, Mercedes says that the iPhone-integrated COMAND Online suite of services will be coming to the B-, C- and E-Class models this fall.
Apple has often been called, for better and sometimes for worse, the luxury automobile of personal computers. Now it seems that metaphor has influenced reality as Mercedes-Benz has announced plans to integrate the iPhone and Siri's voice control functions into its new A-Class vehicle, according to a PSFK report.
The Mercedes-Benz new A-Class vehicle will seamlessly merge iPhone 4S functions into the car's in-vehicle display via Daimler's Digital DriveStyle App and COMAND Online multimedia system. While docked in the car, the iPhone 4S will receive an automatic charge and offer access to the device's content as well as social networking applications, including Facebook and Twitter.
The new Digital DriveStyle app allows drivers to stream AUPEO! radio (Europe's equivalent to Pandora), connect with Facebook and Twitter to read out status updates, find your car in a crowded parking lot and get real-time traffic data and point-of-interest searches through a new Garmin navigation system. All of which is available with the entry-level "Audio 20" setup.
But the biggest win here for Apple is the fact that Mercedes-Benz is the first carmaker to offer Siri as a part of its voice control systems. Using Siri, drivers will be able to send SMS text messages and emails while traveling, check location and weather, schedule appointments on-the-go, as well as select from the full menu of music available on their iPhone 4S. This hands-free, mobile control of a device that many consider their primary computer gives us our first real glimpse at what traveling with a virtual assistant feels like.
