Microsoft 'Tellme' may rival OnStar
Seattle PI | at | by Mike
Microsoft has begun showing U.S. automakers an alternative to the in-car navigation and assistance now offered exclusively by General Motor's OnStar communications service.
The voice-recognition software, displayed at an auto industry conference Tuesday, allows mobile telephone users to receive spoken data from Microsoft's Tellme database.
Microsoft's service, which would connect through a Bluetooth-enabled mobile phone in the car, could challenge Detroit-based GM's digital subscriber-based wireless system, which costs as much as $324 a year and has nearly 5 million subscribers.