Mercedes-Benz has revealed a smart watch that can communicate with the German manufacturer’s models and display information such as the car’s fuel level, location and whether the doors are locked.
The device, created by Pebble Technology, is part of a new technical tie-up forged by Mercedes and the Silicon Valley-based company in the lead-up to the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas next week.
Pebble’s smart watch works with Mercedes-Benz’s existing Digital DriveStyle app and effectively becomes a ‘second screen’ for a smart phone. When the driver is away from the car, a host of diagnostic information can be called up, while in the car, the smart watch can be configured to vibrate to alert its driver to potential hazards such as accidents, road works and other obstructions.
Users can customise the smart watch buttons to activate Digital DriveStyle features like reporting hazards, auto-routing, Siri activation, remote-controlling media, or quickly showing nearby traffic conditions.
Pebble Technology was established via the Kickstarter crowd-funding initiative. Its smart watch retails in the United States for $150 (about £90).
The partnership between Mercedes-Benz and Pebble Technology will give the German car maker early access to technology that could pave the way for its future vehicles to become fully integrated with other devices such as watches, laptops and phones.
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Safety
What a waste
Just as useless a gimmick as having a "media" system in the car that can read your e-mails as you drive or that lets you connect to the internet as you drive, presumably so that you can update your Facebook page or go on Twitter - still I suppose it will keep most Mercedes drivers happy, just the sort of showing off they probably like - seems dangerous to me, but then I prefer to concentrate on my driving when I'm on the road, maybe I'm old fashioned.
Don't Panic