CAR TECHNOLOGY AT Consumer Electronic Show

Speaker 1:                           Welcome back to Good Day Kentucky. The Consumer Electronics Show kicks off each new year by showcasing the latest innovations and advancements to hit the technology industry. Connected Car technology is a hot topic at CES this year. And we have technology journalist Paul Hochman, who has teamed up with Verizon Connect to discuss how Connected Car solutions can empower you with information and help you better manage your car and life, from the road.

Hochman is the former Today Show tech guru, who currently writes insightful tech articles for numerous technology magazines. In fact, his articles have been called “a must read” by The New York Times. Welcome to the show, Paul.

Paul Hochman:                  Thank you; thanks for having me.

Speaker 1:                           Well, thank you for being here. Let’s go ahead and get right into it. What are some of the top technology trends being showcased at CES this year?

Paul Hochman:                  Well, that’s a great question. And the answer is, there are hundreds of trends. And that’s the difficulty. The great thing about coming to CES, and  the hard part is that it’s hard to pick out what’s really developing. You have automated driving, you have internet of things. All kinds of stuff.

But to me, the biggest and coolest trend is the trend towards simplicity. In other words, what consumers have long complained about, which is all this great technology makes it complicated to live. There’s some trends out there, there’s some partnerships and some product companies that are actually introducing simplicity to the mix.

A great example of that. As an announcement, you’re one among the first to hear in the world, today, Verizon has actually partnered with Google to make driving in the car simpler. So that’s a trend I think that’s very exciting.

Speaker 1:                           It sounds really interesting. What is the new feature, Hum, by Verizon is announcing today at the show? We heard about this.

Paul Hochman:                  Yeah, this device right here is called the HumX. It’s about the size of a deck of cards, and you can see a little spring here. It goes right on your sun visor. And the cool thing about the device itself is that you can get access, live, to a bunch of services.

If a little warning light comes up on your dashboard, and you’re wondering, “Geez, what does that light mean?,” you can tap a button. And lo and behold, you can get live access to a mechanic.

Or if you’re in a crash, this detects the crash. And if you don’t answer the call that comes in, they’ll send emergency vehicles right to your location. That’s great. But the simplicity part, and the partnership with Google, the exciting part is now, Google Assistant is built in.

For example, I’m driving along, and to make it simpler in my car, I’m driving along. Oh my gosh, my wife’s and my anniversary’s coming up, and I want to be reminded. I tap one button, and I say, “Add my anniversary and my wife’s anniversary to my calendar.” And it will automatically be added by Google Assistant.

Or, I’m driving along to the store, and I realize that I didn’t add eggs to my shopping list. Tap a button, say, “Add eggs to my shopping list.” And lo and behold, when I get to the store, if I added the calendar event for my anniversary, or if I added the shopping list event, those are all on my Google Assistant device.

I’m looking at my phone, for example, my smartphone, there it is, automatically. So that reduces distractions on the road. You don’t look down, you don’t take your eyes off the road.

Speaker 1:                           Exactly! Less distractions and it keeps your eyes on the road, keeps it safer for the drivers, and for the other drivers as well. That is awesome. How can a Connected Car solutions help drivers on the road? We spoke about the safety features. What else would you say?

Paul Hochman:                  Sure. I think number one is reducing distractions; that’s great. Another way is it’s not even on the road. You’re just about to get on the road. Another way this works is it’s a two-way street. Say you’re at home, and you remembered looking at the gas gauge, going, “I think it was getting low, but I don’t remember, and I’ve gotta go to work, and I’m a little late.” Not that we’ve ever been late to work.

And you can actually say, “Okay Google,” to your Google Assistant device, “Ask Hum if I have enough gas in the car to get to work.” And lo and behold, it’ll tell me if the tank is, because it knows how far work is. It’ll ask me if the tank is filled enough to have gas in it. So to my way of thinking, that simplifies a lot of stuff. Not just on the road, but even before you get on it.

Speaker 1:                           Wonderful, wonderful. And where can we go for more information, Paul?

Paul Hochman:                  Sure. Go to hum.com. Find out more about pricing and program information. Or you can go to the Verizon Wireless store to get a HumX device.

Speaker 1:                           Awesome. Thank you so much for being with us today. We really appreciate it. Thank you for all the high-tech tips.

And you’re watching Good Day Kentucky. So keep it right here.