OnStar Shows Off In-Car Video Chat And Video Streaming

Somewhere in Washington, a lobbyist wanting to remove all forms of distraction from our vehicles is having a seizure right now. OnStar is showing off a new system that is designed to stream video chats and calls to your vehicle using 4G LTE technology. If using a hands free calling system is too much of a distraction in the eyes of the NTSB having a video call going in the car is going to cause some strokes at safety HQ.

The OnStar video call system for vehicles was shown off last year as a preview and was in conjunction with Verizon. At CES 2012, OnStar will again be showing the system off, this time the voice chat will be in a Volt. OnStar has tipped that the system will support cloud streaming of information and entertainment. The saving grace may be that the system is being pushed for back seat passengers.

The hard tech specs for the system aren't offered. There are two potential ways that streaming of this sort could go down. One is that the car could connect with a smartphone to provide the data service needed for streaming and download. The other is that the car could have its own 4G modem inside. Either way, people that don't live in one of the few 4G areas won't see as much benefit out of this as those in 4G areas. Parents with kids that go long long road trips would really appreciate this sort of system.

[via MotorAuthority]