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NEWS
Groceries delivered direct... to your Volvo
Telematics will soon allow Volvo owners to order shopping online, and shipped to the car... wherever it isIt's a question that really needed no answer – if indeed it was ever raised – but Volvo's eggheads have come up with a solution anyway...
Working backwards from the solution, the question must be this: How do I get my beer and ciggies for the week delivered when my angry girlfriend/boyfriend/husband/wife has changed the locks on my apartment/home/caravan and told me never to return?
Oh, and there's an intervention order in the mail too.
I don't have a postbox or an alternative love nest, so I have to live out of my Volvo for a week or two until the money from the Department of Social Services clears and I can pay a bond for a new abode.
And it will take me at least that long to find references I can actually use.
Furthermore, my Volvo has been impounded for unpaid traffic/parking fines, so I can't physically be on hand to take delivery of the grog and smokes.
But now, thanks to the homeless boffins at Volvo – who clearly saw an opportunity... and went for it – I can have my goods delivered to the car directly, provided they can get past security at the impound yard.
The latest marvel in telematics is to be demonstrated at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona early next week. Bundled with Sensus Connect, a system developed jointly by Volvo and Ericsson, the 'roam delivery' service employs digital key technology via a WiFi-connected smartphone or tablet to select the car as a drop-off zone. Once the delivery has been made, the digital key (ie: a virtual key), ceases to function. The feature allows the keyholder to monitor the time and duration the car is accessed to accept the delivery before being resecured. Sensus Connect also enables the vehicle owner to heat or cool the car remotely, as well as checking the fuel level.
"By turning the car into a pickup and drop-off zone through digital keys, we solved a lot of problems delivering goods to people, not places," says Klas Bendrik, CIO at Volvo Car Group.
"The test customers also indicated that the service clearly saved time. And there are benefits for delivery companies as well because failed first-time deliveries generate significant costs for companies. We are now further investigating the technology of digital keys and new consumer benefits linked to it."
And the next step in Volvo's march towards worldwide telematics dominance? The WiFi-enabled illuminating 'no junk mail' sign for your car.
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Written byCarsales Staff
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