For more information or to register a GM OnStar vehicle for the program, visit the RelayRides website.
Currently available on more than 40 MY 2011 GM models, OnStar soon will be available for installation on most other vehicles already on the road through local electronics retailers, including Best Buy.
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Had Huber decided to offer hundreds of fun applications for what would become Onstar, GM would surely have faced impossible competition from the eventual world of smartphones.
Using OnStar, GM car owners who sign up with RelayRides can leave the keys in the car and have renters unlock it by using a code on a smartphone, thereby saving the hassle of exchanging keys in person.
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OnStar, the GM subsidiary that provides navigation and safety systems for cars, took a terrible turn last week when it announced a huge change to its contract with its customers.
After a long career with GM, he served as vice president of OnStar for two years and then worked for a Seattle-based startup, before returning to GM in 2010.
Since last September OnStar has been offering GM owners a monthly e-mail message summarizing the health of their vehicles based on 1, 600 diagnostic checks done remotely.
Connoisseurs can also get forecasts and storm alerts on their cell phones, screen savers, and General Motors ' (nyse: GM - news - people )OnStar telematics service as well.
If more people knew the truth about OnStar, General Motors (NYSE: GM) could also be in trouble.
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E-GM will lead the charge with a dramatic expansion of the OnStar technology, including a voice-activated portal called MyOnStar Virtual Advisor.
While major carmakers such as GM (GM) and Ford (F) will be pushing advanced features like OnStar video services and efforts to monitor personal health in vehicles, for the average business these sorts of technologies will be non-starters.
These enhancements build on OnStar's existing portfolio of connected services, first introduced in GM vehicles in 1996.
One example: In 2005 OnStar detected and fixed a problem in the electronic ventilation system in GM's 2006 full-size SUVs.
Now GM is trying to do something about those costs with an unusual ally: its own OnStar subsidiary, the wireless satellite service that can open your car door when you're locked out or send an ambulance when your air bag deploys.
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