Google + Yahoo + Mercedes = Nice convenience

By pandu

You must have been in one of those annoying situations while driving and trying to follow directions printed from the internet. The whole process is a hassle – from mapping the route on the internet to reading the directions while driving.

Well, the hassle-free days are finally here. No, the internet is not coming to your car yet. But you can now send those pesky directions from your computer directly to your car’s navigation system. You can if you own the 2007 and 2008 models of the Mercedes S and CL class vehicles. According to the San Jose Mercury News, the system was jointly developed by Mercedes Benz USA, Google and Yahoo Maps.

First, you map the route from Google or Yahoo maps on your computer or handheld device.

Next, you send it to your super cool Merc using the car’s TeleAid telematics system which is ordinarily used to connect with emergency roadside assistance.

Once in the car, you retrieve the route from the TeleAid system and start driving.

The TeleAid connectivity service costs $250 a year while the mapping and “send to car” feature in Google and Yahoo maps are free. You will also need to buy the “navigation and multimedia” package from Mercedes to use this service. The service has been jointly developed by Mercedes Benz USA, Yahoo and Google.

My favored luxury auto brand is BMW. But this simple enhancement totally makes me ditch the Bimmer for the Merc. Now if only I could make enough money to buy that Merc.