Chrysler showed the first Dodge and Jeep vehicles to...

Chrysler showed the first Dodge and Jeep vehicles to sport its next-generation Uconnect system at the New York International Auto Show this week. Chrysler CEO Reid Bigland called Uconnect Access, which premiered last year in the 2013 RAM 1500 pickup and SRT Viper, drivers’ “hands-free ticket to Internet radio listening and wireless technology.” Uconnect is built on the Aha radio platform from Harman, which announced the Internet radio upgrade for Aha-equipped 2013 vehicles at CES. Streaming radio apps available on the Uconnect systems include iHeart Radio, Pandora and Slacker along with Aha Radio and its 30,000 Internet radio stations, according to literature. A custom vehicle app for iOS, Android and BlackBerry users lets Uconnect subscribers open doors and remotely start vehicles via their smartphone, said Joni Christensen, Chrysler head of marketing, Uconnect Systems and Services. The system’s embedded 3G module can serve as a Wi-Fi hotspot for an additional fee, she said. Chrysler is talking to Sprint about 4G chipsets, but “ubiquitous coverage with 3G was the right answer at this time,” she said. The Aha system includes in-vehicle hands-free communication with the cloud using voice-recognition and voice-to-text for text messages only. E-mail voice to-text isn’t available on the system at this time, Christensen said. The hands-free communications require Bluetooth MAP (Message Access Protocol) support, which Christensen said isn’t supported by iOS phones. An Apple support community page for Uconnect users shows numerous issues iPhone phone users had with trying to integrate with Uconnect, we found, even though Apple’s iOS 6 release was reportedly going to support Bluetooth MAP when it was released last fall. Christensen said Chrysler’s priority at the outset is to focus on “driver-relevant” apps and give drivers “vehicle-appropriate controls” using voice commands, touchscreen or a steering wheel button. “Our aim is not to have people tempted to use the apps on their phone,” she said, saying the app rollout is slow because “we have an extensive testing process.” One of the distinctions of the original Uconnect is that “people loved it because it was so easy to use,” Christensen said. “We want to maintain that promise to our customers.”