GM to Offer Online, Calling, ‘Infotainment’ Services

General Motors Corp., anticipating a day when every vehicle will have a dial tone and an Internet connection, announced Wednesday three services to keep drivers connected while commuting.

Beginning this fall, GM will offer Personal Calling, a hands-free, voice-activated cell phone service, and Virtual Advisor, which will read e-mails and information such as stock quotes from the Internet.

Hardware for the two services will be included on all GM cars and trucks with OnStar communications service--currently available as an option or standard feature on 30 of 54 GM brands sold in the United States.

GM also will offer this fall a voice-controlled Infotainment System that integrates a color screen navigation system with radio, CD-ROM, Internet e-mail access and voice memo recorder on the 2001 Cadillac Seville and DeVille luxury sedans. To maximize safety, drivers will be able to read e-mail only when the vehicle is parked. Otherwise, e-mail and other information off the Internet will be read aloud while the vehicle is moving.

“We’re offering consumers multiple roads to the Internet, and an easier way to make cellular phone calls while driving,” Mark Hogan, president of E-GM, GM’s Internet business unit, told reporters on a conference call.

GM officials expected a high percentage of consumers with vehicles outfitted with OnStar to subscribe to the personal calling service, creating a significant source of new revenue and making it among the largest resellers of cellular services in the United States.

The service will be the biggest single user of the new nationwide wireless network created by Verizon Wireless, the new wireless company by Bell Atlantic Corp. and Vodafone AirTouch.

Prices for the three services have not been finalized.