Driver to Smartwatch: Start My Car, Lock My Car, Find My Car

Now a smartwatch can connect you with your car. Starting early in 2015, Hyundai owners will be able to connect with their cars using smartwatch wearable devices and the Hyundai Blue Link smartwatch app.

Hyundai will debut and demonstrate the Blue Link smartwatch app at Pepcom’s Digital Experience and at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES).

Pepcom’s Digital Experience takes place before CES on Jan. 5 and Hyundai’s exhibit at CES will be open Jan. 6-9, 2015.

Hyundai’s cloud-based Blue Link platform allows features like remote start and service information to be quickly accessed through devices like smartwatches and smartphones. Hyundai partnered with Station Digital Media to develop the Blue Link smartwatch app.

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“Connecting to your car through a smartwatch and voice recognition was previously something seen only in science fiction movies. Now, we can provide this capability to owners of Hyundai vehicles equipped with Blue Link,” said Barry Ratzlaff, executive director, customer connect and service business development, Hyundai Motor America.

The app is easy to use, says Hyundai. The wearer simply taps an icon or uses voice commands to execute remote functions. The Blue Link smartwatch app allows Hyundai owners to remote start, lock and unlock doors as well as find their car in a crowded parking lot.

Pushing the microphone icon on the watch activates the voice function, where the driver can execute commands such as “Start my car,” “Lock my car” or “Find my car.”

The Blue Link smartwatch app must be paired via Bluetooth to an owner’s smartphone that contains the Blue Link mobile app. Remote functions can then be executed from almost anywhere in the U.S. as long as the user’s smartphone has a Bluetooth and cellular or Internet connection.

Hyundai representatives will be demonstrating the Blue Link smartwatch app on Samsung, Motorola, Sony and LG smartwatches. Android Wear users can download the app from Google Play for free starting in the first quarter of 2015.