When I heard that Mercedes was planning to integrate the Pebble and Google Glass Sauce smart wearable devices, the heart burst into tears: Emma, ​​the German carmaker, finally found Silicon Valley Start, so this must be personally try it!
However, before the author of this "play while driving" some scoffing nose, on the one hand taking into account the wearable device connected to the vehicle system smart enough? On the other hand is really think of such a gadget in the end can Set off much storm drops it? After a test drive Mercedes-Benz CLA a week later, unfortunately, these doubts I did not get the answer, but Mercedes this "dare to be the first to eat wearable car prices" The spirit is also worth the extra points.
Watch control of the car's wonderful combination
My trip to biracial encounters started with the connection to the iPhone and the Lightning Connector hidden in the front of the glove box. This ingenious design prevents the driver from interfering with the phone while on the road and the 7-inch display in the gauge's area will immediately be transferred to the software interface of the Mercedes-Benz Digital DriveStyle, provided that your iPhone is also equipped with this application.
After that, DriveStyle became the car's entertainment and navigation platform, seamlessly extending the iPhone's functionality to the car's center console (currently DriveStyle only supports iOS devices). The next step is to connect Pebble to the iPhone via Bluetooth adapter so that it becomes the peripheral control device for the entire vehicle system. Do not think that playing a few cool to the end of the matter, the driver had to turn a front and vice driver in the middle of the analog pointer knob to complete the entire setup process.
First move the pointer to the "Media" category, then peel "Aux" out of the submenu, which is why Pebble is embedded in the car's onboard ecosystem. It may be a bit more complicated to set up for the first time those potters who "catch the urgency" of the IQ, but you will find the process easy to follow in the first two cycles. Everything was ready to start the engine, a tiny car logo appeared in the upper left corner of the Pebble watch screen.
However, DriveStyle and Pebble did not want to stop there, but the combination of the two Mercedes-Benz CLA machine interface was redefined. In fact, DriveStyle itself is like a domineering invaders, the first thing that came to light after the boot is the navigation interface of the car system, there are three seemingly paradoxical classification of "social media" and "destination", and each Under the category also contains a variety of different functions of the app.
Mercedes-Benz CLA
The appearance of Pebble seems to be to free drivers from messy DriveStyle. The first thing a driver can do with Pebble while driving is to quickly find the app you want. Achieve completely without leaving the front of the road, by pressing the watch on the right of the three settings button, the control display will appear on the pre-set of any of the three app. Imagine: Just tap the watch a few times, whether it is Google's navigation map or Apple's voice assistant Siri, can be called that is, move that go.
Mercedes-Benz demonstrated at the CES conference in February this year that the Pebble was seamlessly connected to the Mercedes-Benz car system, but it is regrettable and ironic that Pebble is designed to reduce driver distraction but now In addition to the usual features of the car, the network is connected via paired wearables and there seems to be more work to do in the car.
Digital anxiety critically ill patients
Using the three buttons on the Pebble for software use on the DriveStyle may seem a bit simplistic to replace traditional simple knob controls, but once you get used to this top-down, jargon is called " Daisy chain "device connection, I am afraid it can not stop yo.
While waiting for the traffic lights to feel bored, I think that you should try out DriveStyle's social features, and actually look at all the fun videos that friends recently posted on Facebook and Twitter, and I share. It's really cold to use these social media while traveling, and why? Because of the weird sound of the kind of machine that comes out of the system speakers, I was very upset and was still tweeting about your friends. If DriveStyle can read text messages or emails received by the phone, that feeling is better, but Joe's main apparently iOS does not give DriveStyle the appropriate permissions.
If this does not work, it seems that I can only enhance my driving experience with Pebble. When I tried to open the Glympse app with Pebble, the result was so hard to work for a long time that the guy just showed a shortcut to the software on the screen, and I had to poked a stamp to use it. !
At this point, I was tossing DriveStyle and DriveStyle tossing farther and farther. I started looking for my wife's e-mail address in the phone's phone book with the center console knob and set a 30-minute deadline. For a while, the wife who has returned home points out the link in the email, and the newly opened map page details my driving directions so she does not have to call me for a minute and call me back home. This feature may seem very useful, if you are "strict", then congratulations, similar to "where are you?" "I am 5 minutes home" such a chirping dialogue can be saved.
In addition, while driving, I found that the Places app, supported by Google services, is quite practical from a certain point of view. Unlike some traditional map navigation systems, with a bunch of stupid and hard-to-operate features and various menus, Places is easy to search for "interesting small places along the way," allowing users to search directly for keywords like coffee Words, although you may have to turn the knob to select the letters one by one, but the system also provides automatic completion of the function, if you want to enter some lengthy words, then this function is very good. As a result, Google-backed Places is superior to the car's built-in navigation system in terms of user experience. But DriveStyle has a flaw so I can not let go, after finding the software can not be opened automatically by voice recognition system, I fall!
But then again, the long cycle of automotive products, and the speed of replacement of electronic products is obviously not an order of magnitude. If you want to replace OEM hardware manufacturers, machine interface and software applications, I am afraid that the electronics industry has at least the next generation or even the next generation of products. Take the author test drive this Mercedes-Benz CLA, the car network using the 3G standard, but connected to the iPhone is using 4G LTE network, you see Chou Chou this gap is how much? The current DriveStyle platform App applications updated at any time in the future With the development of technology and the increasing degree of car openness, third-party software developers are expected to add driving software through the Kit Kit interface at any time.
Shock was knotted
Mercedes-Benz CLA these days test drive and found wearing the only effect is Pebble can drive on the right side of the watch using the three shortcut buttons to operate the vehicle system software applications, which made my heart really whispered: Mercedes-Benz such a handsome How did I hook up with Pebble's "stupid" stuff? Before I understood it, I had to swing around CLA and all of a sudden Pebble on my wrist began to vibrate, and the LCD showed " Slow walk carefully. The original significance of DriveStyle and veteran navigation device Garmin Here, through the GPS can record the driver's location and the speed limit in the area. If the speed exceeds 10% of the speed limit, the Pebble will vibrate and the warning will be displayed simultaneously.
Pebble's reminder mode
In fact, in addition to the shortcut keys on the right side of the watch, different vibration mode is one of Pebble's basic functions. When the driver receives a text message and e-mail, receive the phone, through the vibration type can be easily judged. Benz uses this creative reminder method to enhance driving safety. Assuming accident or road construction in the front section, you can still know what kind of countermeasures should be taken, even if the line of sight does not leave the road.
Although I did not encounter any traffic accidents or road construction disturbances during the test drive, I only experienced Pebble's "Speed ​​Alert". This approach is really very effective, and Mercedes-Benz and any service provided before, and even compared to other automotive products, have achieved "a dominance" scale. Feel a delicate hand wrist tremor, and then light on the brakes, to do a good human-computer interaction.
There is also a button on Pebble that allows drivers to report and share current traffic information to other users. However, just like other Pebble functions, it is also necessary to use the knob of the car's center console, which increases the driver's distraction to a certain extent and may himself "suffer tragedies" when reporting a traffic accident. According to Mercedes-Benz's official announcement, if the driver parked the car on the curb, lifted the hood and placed a warning sign, the system will automatically report the fault information to other DriveStyle users. Pebble expects this functionality to be integrated into the localization services of Waze and other brand models in the future.
Strong insertion of smart wearable devices
When you reach your destination and switch off your engine, the logo on the top left of the iPhone screen changes from car to pedestrian. From the moment you lift your foot and leave your car, key information, including your car's current location, length of travel, remaining fuel, car model, and VIN number, is immediately transmitted to Pebble. However, although I really like these features, but in fact it is to satisfy my curiosity only, and no substantive help.
In addition to experiencing the intimate contact of Pebble and Mercedes-Benz CLA, I also tried wearing Google Glass for about 5 minutes. Outside the diagnostic capabilities provided by Pebble, Google Glass lenses clearly show the route from your parking location to your destination. This is the author's chance to experience Google Glass for the first time, so to speak a bit embarrassed: I've been crunching how to wear comfortably, really spent a lot of time. This contrast, I still like Pebble can directly read the car's fuel capacity and tire pressure.
In addition, Google Glass gives priority to access the car's on-board system. After the engine is fired, whenever Google Glass tells you your destination through the voice recognition system, a "turn-by-turn" walk plan is first available on both lens displays , Followed by the on-board system display will appear simultaneously driving route navigation path. In theory, these wearables basically did not strike, which also made driving and living boundaries become increasingly blurred.
Nowadays people's attitudes towards wearable devices have not been as negative as ever. Whether car makers or consumers are realizing that these wearable devices and car marriages will bring disruptive driving experiences. The future, I think there will be a lot of car prices will take the initiative to join the experimental camp of Mercedes-Benz, but have to admit that a week later, when returned to the Mercedes-Benz CLA and Pebble, tumbled with an inexplicable inner feelings: , Lord is still the best "pure driving pleasure" This mouth ah!