Porsche Showcases New Aha™ Integration at CES

For years, Porsche focused only on building the best driving sports cars in the industry and left many drivers wanting more technologically advanced entertainment options.  We didn't get bluetooth until 2009 and I don't think they even knew what an iPod was until around then.  Now we have one of the most advanced touch screen navigation systems with an incredible satellite radio integration.  We have A2DP streaming for bluetooth audio devices, full iPod integration, USB drive, 40gig hard drives and much more.  Our cars are becoming as much fun to sit in a parking lot listening to music as they are to drive.  And there is nothing wrong with that.  Personally, I'd still rather just turn the radio off and listen to the sport exhaust but I do enjoy streaming via bluetooth from my iTunes library or Pandora while going for a "spirited" drive through PCH or Mulholland.

This week, Porsche announced integration with the Aha system.  I have not yet had a chance to try it but I'm sure it will be as great as it seems.  Below the photo you can read Porsche's official pres release.

Las Vegas. Porsche now offers Aha™ as part of a new Online Services option, available across its entire product line. 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. The new feature is available on vehicles equipped with the latest generation of the Porsche Communication Management (PCM) system, which offers a variety of additional entertainment, navigation and information options.

The Aha experience starts with a customer using their Apple iOS or Android device to download the free Aha Radio app. The app allows customers to easily access and organize their favorite content from the web into personalized “radio”-like stations. This content can then be easily and seamlessly 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

With the Google POI feature, the results of an online point-of-interest search can be used as a navigation destination, and input directly into the PCM at the press of a button.

Production of vehicles equipped with the Online Services option has already begun. The feature is available across the Porsche lineup in the United States as a standalone option on vehicles equipped with PCM for $210.

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.

If you have any questions or would like to check this out in person when it's available, feel free to contact me.