The New RF One, Cool New Stuff - Enhanced OnStar
Posted by Andy on August 6th, 2007
So you may or may not care that I got a new truck last Friday.
So far I absolutely love the thing. No complaints what-so-ever!
One of the many things that influenced my decision to upgrade from my old truck (not to mention go with the new body style over the “classic” cheaper version) was the new technology.
My old truck had a Generation 1 version of On-Star and that was on life support with techno-crows circling. It was an analog version that was scheduled for the ash heap as it relied on analog cell service to function. Given the move to digital service, On-Star was going to drop support and coverage in the next year or so for my old truck.
The New RF One has a digital version of On-Star that will last (as long as the current standard technology does). One of the new fancy schmancy features for me was the available vehicle diagnostics which I enrolled for at no cost.
On-Star will send me an email of how my truck is doing. It will communicate with my truck through the On-Star link and diagnose any potential problems and update me on when my next routine service would be needed or an issue arises among other things.
Well the New RF One has a gadget-widget-do dad of some sorts that monitors tire pressure, and On-Star will now tell me when the tires are low in the monthly diagnostics report.
Here’s a sample of that from the email I got just a few short hours after setting up the new On-Star account.
(AAA’s Note to self: remember to air up rear tires when you get home tonight.)
I am not sure if it is the coolest thing in the world or not, but right now, it seems that way.
At the very least, I can hope one day everyone will have this option, and I will no longer have to be behind someone in traffic praying their low tire doesn’t blow when I am behind them and they take me and my new truck out in the process.
File this one under cool advances in technology
Sphere: Related Content
August 6th, 2007 at 7:39 pm
Just last week I was getting on the highway. Guy in front of me on the on-ramp was going 10 mph, I kid you not. In my rear view mirror I see a semi coming up on us quick, so I pull around the guy to pass him (and get out of the way of the semi). Just as I do that, this guy’s front left tear explodes, flies off the rim, and hits the grill of my vehicle.
I invented new cuss words that day. Unfortunately I was too busy worrying about not getting hit by a semi, that I didn’t pull off the side of the road and force this guy’s head through my grill to retrieve the remnants of his tire.
At the time I was just mad he took a vehicle he obviously knew (remember 10 mph?) to be below-par onto a highway. Now I’m mad he also didn’t have On-Star so it could tell him “Holy crap, you’re gonna die!!!”