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smart launches new mobility services: smart – always a step ahead

By | Published Tuesday, 6 March 2012

smart is supplementing its mobility offering with additional, customer-friendly services. From the summer of 2012 all smart drivers will be able to take advantage of exclusive services in many car parks and to avail of different kinds of rental vehicles to meet their needs at short notice. And all this at very favourable terms. In future the cooperation with APCOA and EUROPCAR will offer all smart drivers even faster, cheaper and more flexible mobility.


The new smart services will be successively introduced from the summer of 2012. The first offerings of the smart mobility package include the cooperation with Europcar, the leading car rental company in Europe, and the car park operator APCOA. In addition to preferential terms, the new mobility services offer straightforward, convenient and time-saving handling.

"In future finding a parking space for your smart will not only be even easier, you will also pay less for it. And if on occasion you want or need to use a larger car, then as smart driver preferential terms apply when you hire a car. Together with our partners APCOA and Europcar we are making life, driving and parking even easier and more convenient for all smart customers", says smart boss Dr. Annette Winkler.

The cooperation between smart and APCOA offers smart drivers flexible parking. No more having to look for small change before exiting, no more worrying about losing the parking ticket and no more queuing at pay machines. As part of the new service smart drivers will receive an RFID chip (Radio Frequency Identification), which identifies their vehicle when they enter and leave the car park. This greatly facilitates car park entry: the barrier opens automatically, there is no need to take a ticket. What's more, thanks to reserved parking spaces, smart drivers can always enter the car park, even if the sign says "full". Charging is then automatic via credit card or direct debit, whichever the customer prefers. Cooperation with APCOA will initially start in selected car parks in Stuttgart, Munich, Frankfurt, Berlin, Hamburg and Düsseldorf. Further cities in Germany and Europe will follow. "APCOA offers comprehensive urban parking services at very central locations. smart stands for perfect urban mobility together with easy and stress-free parking.", says Peter Schneck, Managing Director of APCOA Autoparking GmbH. "This cooperation therefore links the two urban brands in a logical and ideal way."

"smart is a great vehicle concept, especially in urban areas. On the rare occasions when more seats or more transportation space are needed, in future we will step in with our rental fleet", says Roland Keppler, CEO of Europcar Group "The extremely wide Europcar portfolio offers smart customers the right mode of transport for almost every occasion, which means that it is the ideal complement for everyday needs." What's more, these smart customers can use the express service at Europcar branches, saving them lots of time both when picking up and returning the vehicle. This represents real added value in terms of flexibility and spontaneity. The service will initially start in Germany, Italy, Great Britain, Spain, Portugal, Belgium and France and will then be gradually extended to further markets.
The new mobility services can also be used individually and are available to all smart drivers. They can be ordered free of charge via www.smart.com:

- To use the APCOA service an RFID chip must simply be affixed to the windscreen. A smart dealer will do this in a matter of minutes. In addition to added convenience smart drivers also receive a 15 percent discount on parking charges.

- The Europcar premium card is given to customers personally the first time they rent a vehicle at a Europcar branch. Customers register in advance online giving their address and credit card details. No further forms or applications are needed. In addition to guaranteed vehicle availability and express processing preferential terms apply – for example a 20 percent discount on vehicle rental.

With these services smart is continuing its success story as a comprehensive urban mobility concept.

About APCOA
APCOA is Europe’s leading parking manager and as a service provider for properties offers a complete service package related to parking. Currently the APCOA Group manages 1.3 million parking spaces at over 6,700 locations in 13 countries. The European headquarters and German branch are based at Stuttgart Airport.

About Europcar
Europcar is the leader in car rental services in Europe. Present in 150 countries, the company provides customers with access to the world’s largest vehicle rental network through its own operations, franchisees and partnerships. Through Europcar’s portfolio of brands, the company and its franchisees generated more than €3 billion in revenue in 2010, including nearly €2 billion in consolidated revenue. With 6,600 employees committed to delivering customer satisfaction and an average fleet of close to 200,000 vehicles, Europcar is conscious of its corporate citizenship responsibilities. Winner of the first World Travel Award recognizing the World's Leading Green Transport Solutions Company, Europcar also was honored with the Award in 2010 and 2011. Europcar is owned by Eurazeo.

Credits: Daimler AG

Copyright © 2012, Mercedes-Benz-Blog. All rights reserved.

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The new Mercedes-Benz A-Class is "always on": Mercedes-Benz puts the iPhone® on wheels

By | Published Thursday, 23 February 2012

Mercedes-Benz is making smartphones mobile and ensuring that such electronic assistants will in future be fully linked into the car's infotainment system. First off the blocks is the Apple® iPhone®, which Mercedes-Benz has now integrated comprehensively into the user experience concept of the new A-Class, as the first automotive manufacturer in the world to take this step. Thanks to a new "Digital DriveStyle App", developed in-house, together with the „Drive Kit Plus for the Apple® iPhone®“, drivers can now access all the key content of their Apple® iPhone® through the in-vehicle display and enjoy safe and convenient operation of the device via the Controller on the center armrest. The attractive 'look' is ensured by the revolutionary user interface design. In a further world premiere, Mercedes-Benz will enable access to the voice-based intelligent companion Siri™ in the vehicle. This allows natural speech input, without the need for specific commands, to send messages, select music tracks and check the weather forecast or stock prices, as well as to make appointments. All the iPhone® integration functions can be used even with the entry-level Audio 20 system.


This seamless integration of the Apple® iPhone® into the vehicle, in conjunction with the new revolutionary user interface design, means that Mercedes-Benz is now able to offer the Facebook generation its natural home on four wheels, in the form of the new A-Class. Along with Facebook, Twitter and so on, the "Digital DriveStyle App" developed by Daimler offers further services and content to suit the digital lifestyle and will be available to download free of charge from the Apple® iTunes® store. Its highlights include:

- Personalised internet radio by AUPEO! Personal Radio, which offers radio stations that compile an individual program for listeners and recommend similar music by genre or artists based on personal taste.

- The advanced navigation software from Garmin, with internet-based real-time traffic information, online POI searches and 3D map display, all of which work even in combination with the entry-level multimedia system Audio 20

- A socially interactive experience involving "sharing", "posting" and the integration of music and other content from social networks including text-to-speech.

- An intuitive 'Car Finder' which automatically stores the vehicle's location. Pedestrian navigation makes it completely easy to find your way back to the car.

- Access to the voice-based intelligent companion Siri™.

New here is also the contextual and location-based display of menu content under the headings "Social", "Media" and "Places". The basic logic behind this was presented by Daimler for the first time in January of this year at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. Appearing under the heading "Social", for example, are the various friends and latest news from the social networks.

The user interface design is unique and revolutionary. Transparent symbols are illuminated in red to create three-dimensionally arranged navigation levels. Within the three-dimensional illustration provided by this menu structure, the user can move intuitively between the various functions in fluid, animated transitions. The user interface concept was designed and implemented by designers and engineers in the Mercedes-Benz research and development center in Palo Alto, California/USA. Enlarging the display of content on the screen to an appropriate format for use in a vehicle and allowing it to be controlled through the ergonomically positioned Controller on the center armrest makes operating the system both safe and easy.

The iPhone® is connected through an interface developed by Mercedes-Benz Accessories GmbH. This allows content to be fed directly from the graphics output of the device to the display of the vehicle. At the same time, the iPhone® is both powered and charged automatically while it is being used.

Full iPhone® integration is not only possible in conjunction with the COMAND Online multimedia system. All functions, including navigation, can also be used even with the entry-level Audio 20 system. Mercedes-Benz is thus making it possible for the A-Class's younger target group in particular to continue their digital lifestyle seamlessly inside the vehicle. Both the "Digital DriveStyle App" and the "Drive Kit Plus for the Apple® iPhone®" will be making their debut in the new A-Class, which will be celebrating its world premiere at this year's Geneva Motor Show, and are also planned to be available from autumn 2012 for the B-, C- and E-Class.

Always at your service: the voice-based intelligent companion Siri™

As the first automotive manufacturer to do so, Mercedes-Benz will be introducing Siri™ in a vehicle with easy access to it from the “Digital DriveStyle App”. While conventional voice recognition software demands the use of specific spoken commands, Siri™ understands natural speech patterns and will even ask questions in return should more information be needed in order to complete a given task.

Siri™ is a function of the latest iPhone® generation, 4S, and acts as a personal assistant. Given verbal instructions, for example, it will access the personal calendar to make or decline requests for appointments or meetings. SMS text messages can be dictated or read out, and emails sent. Siri™ can also be used as a convenient way of accessing the complete range of music stored on an iPhone® or to request the latest weather forecast.

Always up-to-date: COMAND Online with Cloud technology and Mercedes-Benz App Shop
Safe and convenient access to the internet on the move is already available in a whole series of Mercedes-Benz models: the fully integrated multimedia system COMAND Online was introduced in 2011. As well as innovative applications such as Google Local Search including Google Street View and Panoramio, Mercedes-Benz is the only manufacturer to offer the option of sending individually preconfigured routes from Google Maps on a PC to the vehicle. The internet connection that is required for the functions in COMAND Online is established via a mobile telephone Bluetooth link and a secure Virtual Private Network (VPN).

Mercedes-Benz is firmly convinced that the future lies with cloud computing. The software used in the COMAND Online applications is not stored in the vehicle, but runs off the Daimler Vehicle Backend. The advantage of this is that applications can be continually updated in the cloud, and new applications released to Mercedes-Benz customers, without the need to visit a workshop.

In this sense on March 31st, 2012 a new Mercedes-Benz App to access News will be available to COMAND Online customers.

Additionally, Mercedes-Benz Apps for COMAND Online will be offered soon in the new Mercedes-Benz App Shop. The first two Mercedes-Benz Apps to become available in the App Shop will be the Parking Finder and Morningstar Finance, that offers access to stock prices.

It is planned to introduce a dozen or so new applications each year. To this end, Daimler has set up App Development Groups in both Palo Alto, California/USA, and Bangalore, India.
Credits: Daimler AG

Copyright © 2012, Mercedes-Benz-Blog. All rights reserved.

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