Honda ‘Smartphone as Brain’ tech coming soon
By Ben Purvis
Has written for dozens of magazines and websites, including most of the world’s biggest bike titles, as well as dabbling in car and technology journalism.
20.12.2019
Honda is to demonstrate its new ‘Smartphone as Brain’ technology for motorcycles at the Consumer Electronics Show in January and plans to have the interconnected, cloud-based system in real-world use in the near future.
The Japanese firm bought software developer Drivemode in October, and the firm’s existing iOS and Android app gives a pretty clear indication of the sort of tech that will be incorporated into future Honda products. The idea is to create seamless integration between your bike and your phone, allowing you to use bar-mounted controls and Bluetooth headsets to call, text and navigate, with voice recognition to further simplify the system.
Honda’s plans for Drivemode are shown in a video (see it here) that shows riders and drivers in constant contact with each other. Although presented as a utopian vision, the idea of being constantly bombarded with calls, texts, alerts and directions while riding may be less welcome if you enjoy a bit of peace and quiet. Here’s hoping that Honda doesn’t forget the off switch…
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