Yelp is now established and mainstream enough to be included in BMW's Online/in-car content. Yelp reviews and related content will shortly be available to BMW owners "who subscribe to the optional BMW Assist Convenience Plan and have a navigation-equipped vehicle capable of receiving the BMW Online service." This means select BMW vehicles (see below for list) and is available in the US only for now. However Yelp's international coverage makes it probable that the partnership will roll out more broadly if it proves successful in the US. Yelp offered some screens of the BMW in-car search o [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Local | Search Engines: Maps & Local Search Engines | Search Features: Cars | Yelp

Bing has landed its first deal to provide in-car search capabilities with today's announcement of Toyota Entune at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Entune is Toyota's new navigation system, a combination in-car hardware and mobile phone application that will be available in select Toyota vehicles later this year. Entune features Bing for Mobile (with Bing Maps) as one of its featured apps, giving drivers access to Bing search results via the dashboard's touch screen or by using Bing for Mobile's voice search capabilities. Users will first need to download the Entune app to th [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Mobile | Google: Cars | Microsoft: Bing Cars | Microsoft: Bing Maps & Local | Microsoft: Bing Mobile | Search Features: Cars | Top News

There's "send to car" and "send to TomTom;" now there's "send to Garmin" (GPS devices). As with TomTom devices, Google Maps and routing can now be sent directly to Garmin personal navigation devices. Click the "send" link above the map and this window appears: Separately, Garmin said it's integrating Google Maps content and local search into its Garmin Mobile subscription service. Yahoo has similar deals with car OEMs and with personal navigation device maker Dash. [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Local | Google: Cars | Google: Maps & Local | Google: Partnerships | Search Features: Cars | Search Features: Send To Phone

TomTom, the maker of personal and in-car navigation devices that just won a bidding war ($4.2 billion, 2.9 billion euros) with competitor Garmin for digital mapping provider TeleAtlas, has announced a partnership with Google. Google Maps will now give users the option to send maps or business listings to TomTom devices. Google (and Yahoo) already offer "send to car" for BMW and Mercedes cars. MapQuest has a similar deal with GM's On Star telematics system. Here's a video demonstration of how it works: According to Google, the system should be live now in the US, Europe, Middle East [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Mobile | Google: Cars | Google: Maps & Local | Google: Mobile | Search Features: Cars | Search Features: Send To Phone

Google CEO Eric Schmidt said at one point that one of the reasons Google wanted to get into radio advertising was that the company couldn't reach users during the morning or afternoon commutes. That's all changing very quickly. Both Google and Yahoo have almost simultaneously announced in-car mapping and local search functionality. As an extension of its earlier "Send to Car" Maps partnership with BMW, Google has introduced in-car local search for BMWs in Germany. Here's a video that partly illustrates the functionality. Google has also expanded the Send to Car Maps functionality to Italy [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Mobile | Google: Cars | Google: Maps & Local | Google: Mobile | Google: Outside US | Google: Partnerships | Search Features: Cars | Search Features: Send To Phone | Yahoo: Cars | Yahoo: Maps & Local | Yahoo: Outside US | Yahoo: Partnerships

General Motors' OnStar Division and MapQuest have announced a partnership (see the video and related info on how it works) that allows OnStar subscribers to plan their trips via MapQuest and then send those directions to their cars. The service is called "Web Destination Entry" and will reportedly be made available to roughly 2 million OnStar equipped vehicles in 2007 and 3 million more by 2008. Users plan trips via MapQuest and then, effectively, "send to car" (as they would their mobile phones). Directions are downloaded and played back via voice, turn-by-turn. Up to five destinations c [...]

Related Topics: AOL: MapQuest | Channel: Local | Search Engines: Maps & Local Search Engines | Search Features: Cars | Search Features: Send To Phone