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Italian car maker and world’s largest software company join together to monitor emissions.
A new piece of software that is hardwired into the Fiat 500 can be accessed by Windows-based smartphones to help with keeping fuel consumption and emissions to a minimum, according to Microsoft.
Blue& Me has been built into the new Fiat 500, and is an-car Bluetooth system that uses Microsoft Windows technology. EcoDrive is one such function, which allows drivers to monitor their fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. Users can then set targets that are monitored and updated by the system every time the driver connects a USB, which has the ecoDrive program stored on it.
Another function is you can transfer music from your Windows media player to your mobile phone and pump it through your car’s stereo system via a voice-prompted hands-free function.
Blue&Me lets drivers control their music and mobile phone without having to take their hands off the steering wheel. By connecting your Windows Mobile phone to the Windows USB connection in the Blue&Me-enabled Fiat, users can access their mobile content and make calls while driving.
Using a selection of voice commands, or by pressing buttons on the steering wheel, you can search and listen to music on your mobile phone through the car stereo or dial any one of your contacts, by responding to the menu prompts by voice as you drive. Songs, contacts, menu options and other mobile features are accessed seamlessly, all hands-free coming off the steering wheel, letting you concentrate on the road rather than on the controls for your audio or phone functions.
