Apple’s Siri “Intelligent Assistant” Comes to Chevrolet Spark and Sonic LTZ / RS from 2013

The late Jim Morrison sang, “keep your eyes on the road, your hands upon the wheel”. These lyrics from The Doors’ “Roadhouse Blues” would make a perfect match for Apple’s new Siri app that, from early next year, will be available in two of Chevrolet’s city cars.More specifically, the company announced today that the Spark and Sonic LTZ and RS owners will be able to pair their cars’ standard MyLink infotainment system to Siri, provided, of course, they have an iPhone running Apple’s iOS 6.
According to Chevrolet, said Spark and Sonic owners can ask Apple’s “intelligent assistant”, as the Siri is named, to perform a number of tasks using nothing but voice commands. Moreover, the “Eyes Free” mode keeps the phone’s screen unlit so as not to distract them from driving.
All they have to do is pair their iPhone 4S (or later) with the MyLink radio via Bluetooth and then use the steering wheel voice activation button to start and end with Siri in Eye mode.
Here’s a list from Chevy of what Spark and Sonic drivers/iPhone owners can use Siri Eyes Free mode for:

• Make voice-activated, hands-free calls to Contacts on their iPhone
• Play songs in the iTunes library, and even switch music sources automatically from AM/FM/XM radio to iPod mode
• Listen to, and compose and send an iMessage or text message to a phone number or anyone in saved Contacts
• Access Calendar and add appointments
• Minimize distraction even more by keeping the screen of the iPhone from lighting up, even when Siri answers simple questions such as game scores or the dates of national holidays
• While in Eyes Free mode, Siri will not provide answers to complex questions that require displaying a web page.

“It says a lot about our commitment to small-car customers that Chevrolet has announced that Siri Eyes Free capability will be available in the Spark and Sonic well before the luxury brands”, said Cristi Landy, Chevrolet marketing director for small cars. “Siri complements MyLink’s existing capabilities to help deliver an incredible driving experience”, she added.


By Andrew Tsaousis

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