Porsche announced today the integration of Aha™ (a unit of HARMAN International Industries) as part of a new Online Services option. According to the release, Aha is a free service that seamlessly organizes and integrates your favorite content from the web between your phone and car, so you can easily access it wherever you go, including in your Porsche. It will be available as a $210 option on any Porsche equipped with the latest generation of the Porsche Communication Management (PCM) system.
To use the system a Porsche owner must first download the free Aha radio app for the apple iOS or Android device. The app allows customers to access and organize their favorite content from the web into personalized “radio”-like stations. This content can then be eamlessly enjoyed inside their Porsche though the same PCM interface used to control other typical entertainment and navigation functions.
Aha™ offers the following content options:
- On-demand music services, entertainment, news, sports, internet radio, podcasts and audiobooks
- More than 30,000 stations, with new content added all the time
- Read aloud access to social network feeds, including Facebook™ and Twitter™
- Traffic and weather reports
- Personalized restaurant recommendations
- Google POI search
Production of Porsches equipped with the Online Services option has already begun. A Porsche Cayenne GTS equipped with Online Services and Aha will be available for demonstrations to media at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas from January 8-11, 2013 at the Aha by Harman tent at the Central Plaza (# CP-13) at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
After looking on the Apple app store, it seems reviews are mixed regarding the app itself (vs. Porsche’s integration with the technology). However, it’s the app that drives the technology. After reading through the various reviews, I think we would take the risk and include this option. It’s only $210 bucks and it sounds like it has great potential. Even if it doesn’t work perfect yet, you can be assured that Porsche will force the issue with HARMAN if their are problems. Afterall, fixing issues with an app is as simple as updating it once a new one is available. If anyone of you has tried it yet let us know your thoughts.
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