OnStar has renamed its upcoming stand-alone retail product. It will now be called OnStar FMV – For My Vehicle. Catchy.
However, there is a bigger change to the product. It will now come with an external microphone instead of one built into the rearview mirror. The mirror houses all of the technology needed for services like crash response, turn-by-turn navigation and locating a stolen vehicle.
GM spokeswoman Rebecca White says the move to an external microphone was made for quality-control issues. “As we’re developing this product to work on other manufacturer’s vehicles, there are things like vehicle acoustics that we have no control over. Therefore, we decided to use an external microphone that delivers best-in-class audio quality.”
That change is delaying the product a few weeks. It should be arriving at most stores in May and will be compatible with most popular models from the past 10 years, up to 90 million vehicles, according to GM.
Since I asked, GM confirmed that OnStar FMV will be compatible with my own 2010 Subaru Outback when it launches. However, a full list of vehicles isn’t available at this time.
