New York Show Demo: Mercedes’ mbrace Telematics

OnStar may be the “Xerox” or Kleenex” of vehicle telematics systems, but Hughes Telematics is working hard to eclipse the General Motors platform with gotta-have-‘em killer apps. Since the mbrace nomenclature launched in November 2009 with a portfolio of 18 services, the service has expanded to 40 services–most of which are backward compatible with Mercedes telematics-equipped models going back as far as 2005. The aim, of course, is to help Mercedes-Benz cars forge as strong a bond with their users as iPhone and Android smart phones do.

Various of the mbrace suite of services can be accessed in five different ways:

1. By contacting an agent using the call button
2. Via Interactive Voice Response (IVR)–the call button provides menu-driven access to info about weather, traffic, etc.
3. Via the car’s human-machine-interface COMAND head unit
4. By connecting through the web portal
5. Through a new smart phone application available for free download from the iTunes store

The first two permit access to almost all functions while keeping eyes on the road and hands on the wheel for safety. As before, separate buttons summon emergency assistance (SOS) or help diagnose car trouble (the wrench button).

By logging in to the secure web site, you can lock and unlock the doors, program established routes for your local commute, which mbrace will assess for traffic flow, enter your home address or frequently visited places, and more. There is also a Send2Benz toolbar widget that places a Mercedes-Benz logo right on the toolbar. Highlight an address while searching for restaurants or other destinations, touch that button, and the address is sent to the car.

But it’s the smart-phone app that will most endear owners to their Benzes and make their friends jealous. Like the web portal it’s a secure app that shows an image of a key fob, allowing you to lock or unlock from your phone. In place of the trunk release button is a “locate” button that gives directions to help find your car in a big unfamiliar parking lot (or, presumably, if someone’s joyriding it).

Then there’s an Assistance page that provides

• roadside assistance
• a connection to the response cener
• financial client care
• and concierge services

The Send2Benz page allows you to

• search for locations, select, and send the address info to the car
• manually enter an address and send it to the car
• select an address from the smart phone’s contact list
• navigate to a friend’s location (the app contacts the friend’s phone, gets their permission to share the address, and programs the address into the nav system)
• link to the purchasing dealer, locate another dealer, schedule service, etc.
• and update mbrace account info

The mbrace hardware is currently installed on about 70 percent of Mercedes vehicles, standard on most, optional on the rest (like C-class and SLS). Any Mercedes with a digital telematics box (that’s most since the 2005-2006 era) can be fitted with most of the above functions. A few cars may not have door-locking capability, and a few others have nav systems that can’t accept the external address push. The charge for full concierge service is $520/year. A basic mbrace package is available for $280/year that excludes point of interest destination downloading, route assistance, traffic and weather info. As the next generation of smart-phone loving car-ambivalent buyers reaches the Mercedes-Benz price point, technology like this will be essential for inspiring brand loyalty.

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