AT&T wants to help you manage not only your travels but also your home and security all from one central place -- the car dashboard.
The wireless services provider is aiming to provide consumers with essentially life automation by connecting its Digital Life home management systems to its AT&T Drive service via an app and voice recognition technology.
For automakers, the car platform provides a bevy of services they can include in vehicles in what AT&T claims as an innovative and customized approach.
Consumers will have the ability to handle various home and car related tasks, from setting the house thermostat to closing the garage door to locking up the house.
"The integration of Digital Life into the Drive platform shows how by combining the car and home, we're forward-thinking about the kinds of features consumers will come to expect from their cars," said Chris Penrose, senior VP, Internet of Things, AT&T Mobility, in an announcement. "We're offering the best solutions by further mobilizing people's lives."
According to AT&T half of the world's drivers say they would switch to a different vehicle if it offered connected services they find useful.
"Being able to access and manage your home from the car is an example of how we're continuing to innovate and offer our customers unique and convenient ways to monitor their homes, protect their families and simplify their lives," said Kevin Petersen, president, AT&T Digital Life.
The new automation connected services push comes as consumers are increasingly embracing digital features and services that tap apps and smartphone devices, from everyday living to healthcare needs. It also illustrates how the Internet of Things evolution is hitting homes, the workplace and the roadway with interconnected devices now ranging from the days of when a PC workstation served as the prime IoT channel. The technology now lets drivers get that coffee machine programmed while stuff in traffic and can alert consumers at work when there's a water pipe issue in their home.
AT&T said it had about 20 million connected devices from cars to cargo ship container sensors in 2014, up 21 percent from the year earlier.
Companies, such as wireless carriers and automakers, are striving to build in new technology to compete and expand user base. Providing faster easier approaches to every day tasks offers consumers the opportunity to spend more time with family and gain better work balance, says AT&T.
"Once you've told your home when the car is (for instance) within 20 feet of the house to please open the garage door, put the lights on, turn the alarm off, move the thermostat up, you can have those inanimate objects, the home and your car, really taking care of you," says Glenn Lurie, chief executive of AT&T Mobility.
