General Motors Corporation has expanded its relationship with speech recognition company Nuance Communications Inc., which manufactures the engine for the automaker's OnStar Virtual Advisor - a voice-enabled hands-free Web service for the car. The service has been gradually introduced in the Northeast and will roll out across the U.S. later this year. Users of the service, which started four years ago as a safety feature on Cadillacs, will be able to get stock quotes, news and sports as well as have their e-mail read to them, according to GM officials. Nuance supplys the powerful engine that allows users to use natural speech to request and get information, make transactions and contact people. With the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) currently investigating the role of driver distraction in accidents, and possible legislation curbing in-vehicle devices on the horizon, speech recognition is seen as a crucial component in the development of telematics systems. General Magic Inc., a Nuance partner, developed and will host the services. But now General Motors and Nuance have a more direct relationship to research other uses for voice recognition, according to OnStar spokesman Todd Carstensen. OnStar Virtual Advisor will be bundled together with the regular OnStar service, a 24-hour assistant center available with the touch of a button, according to Carstensen. Using the satellite global positioning system (GPS), an OnStar staff person can tell where a car is located, give directions, dispatch emergency personnel if needed and provide other services. OnStar Virtual Advisor, along with a hands-free phone-like service that operates through voice commands, will be available through a pre-paid fee arrangement. OnStar equipment is currently built into 32 of GM's 54 models. One year of safety service is either included in the price or is part of an option package on some models. After that, the safety service costs $199 a year and additional services can cost up to $399 a year. OnStar currently has about 750,000 subscribers and is adding about 4,000 to 5,000 each day, according to Carstensen. GM is targeting four million vehicles by 2003, according to Ronald Croen, CEO of Nuance. With that many cars and users, OnStar probably will end up voice-enabling much of the information people want to access, including directions, local restaurants and weather conditions, according to industry analysts.
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