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OnStar Corporation
Type Wholly-owned subsidiary
Founded 1995
Headquarters Flag of the United States Detroit, Michigan, USA
Key people Chet Huber, President
Website www.onstar.com

OnStar Corporation is a wholly-owned subsidiary of General Motors which provides subscription-based communications, in-vehicle security and diagnostics systems throughout the United States and Canada. A subsidiary, in business matters is an entity that is controlled by a bigger and more powerful entity Michigan ( is a Midwestern state of the United States of America. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the President is a Title leaders of Organizations companies, Trade unions universities, and countries. A website (alternatively web site or Web site, a back-construction from the Proper noun World Wide Web) is a collection of Web pages General Motors Corporation ( GM) ( is a multinational automobile manufacturer founded in 1908 and headquartered in the United States. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page OnStar services are only available currently on vehicles manufactured by General Motors, however service was available for a short time on vehicles produced by Acura, Audi, Subaru and Volkswagen through a licensing agreement. General Motors Corporation ( GM) ( is a multinational automobile manufacturer founded in 1908 and headquartered in the United States. Acura (アキュラ Akyura is the luxury vehicle division of Japanese automaker Honda Motor Company. AUDI AG, ( Xetra: NSU commonly known as Audi (aˈʊdi is a German Automobile manufacturer which produces Audi branded cars with headquarters is the automobile manufacturing division of Japanese transportation conglomerate Fuji Heavy Industries Co The service is available for all vehicles that have the factory-installed OnStar hardware. A factory (previously manufactory) or manufacturing plant is an industrial Building where workers manufacture goods Typical PC hardware A typical Personal computer consists of a case or chassis in a tower shape (desktop and the following parts Motherboard

It consists of both communication, through AMPS (primary) or CDMA (secondary) mobile phone networks (usually Verizon Wireless, Sprint Nextel and/or AT&T Mobility (via AMPS) in the United States and Telus, Bell Mobility and/or Rogers Wireless (via AMPS) in Canada), and location information using GPS technology. Code division multiple access ( CDMA) is a Channel access method utilized by various radio communication technologies Cellco Partnership, Doing business as Verizon Wireless, owns and operates the second largest Wireless Telecommunications network in the Sprint Nextel Corporation ( is a Telecommunications company based in Overland Park, Kansas. AT&T Mobility LLC (usually branded AT&T, and formerly named Cingular Wireless LLC) is the wholly owned wireless subsidiary of AT&T Inc Telus ( TSX: T TA NYSE: TU is a national Telecommunications company in Canada that provides a wide range of communications products and Bell Mobility is the division of Bell Canada which sells Wireless services in Canada. Rogers Wireless, formerly known as Rogers AT&T Wireless is a Wholly owned subsidiary of Rogers Communications. Basic concept of GPS operation A GPS receiver calculates its position by carefully timing the signals sent by the constellation of GPS Satellites high above the Earth Drivers and passengers can use its audio interface to contact OnStar representatives for emergency services, vehicle diagnostics and directions. OnStar equipped vehicles with an active subscription will also contact representatives, based out of Troy, Michigan; Charlotte, North Carolina; Tondo, Manila; Makati, Philippines; and Oshawa, Ontario in the event of a collision where the airbags are deployed. Troy is a city in Oakland County in the US state of Michigan. The City of Makati, or simply Newer models will contact OnStar in any type of collision whether airbags deploy or not. This new service is called Automatic Crash Response (ACR) and is designed to greatly enhance emergency response efforts.

When a driver presses the Red OnStar Emergency button or Blue OnStar button, current vehicle data and the user's GPS location are immediately gathered. This information is then sent to OnStar. OnStar Emergency calls are routed to the OnStar Center with highest priority. Two centers exist to receive emergency calls: Charlotte, North Carolina and Oshawa, Ontario; and all centers are open 24 hours a day.

Starting 2009, General Motors will equip new vehicles with Stolen Vehicle Slowdown. This allows police to remotely slow down the vehicle. The service is also expected to help reduce the risk of property damage, serious injuries or fatalities resulting from high-speed pursuits of stolen vehicles. Customers can opt out of that function, but critics doubt that this decision will be honored in all cases. It could also give someone who hacked into the system control over the car. [1]

Verizon Wireless currently offers the "Nationwide Plan with OnStar," which is a bundle plan between Verizon Wireless service and OnStar service. [2] With this plan, the Verizon Wireless phone is the "primary line" and the OnStar device is the "secondary line. " This plan is actually based around the "Family SharePlan," with rates starting at $69. 99 USD for 700 minutes. [3]

Contents

History

OnStar was founded in 1995 as a collaboration between GM, EDS and Hughes Electronics Corporation Each of the founding companies brought a specific area of expertise to the enterprise: GM brought vehicle design and integration and a distribution system of millions of vehicles, EDS brought much of the systems development and information management and customer service technologies, while Hughes contributed communications and satellite technology and automotive electronics. Hughes Aircraft Company was a major aerospace and defense company founded by Howard Hughes. A software development process is a structure imposed on the development of a software product Information management ( IM) is the collection and management of Information from one or more sources and the distribution of that information to one or more audiences This article is about artificial satellites For natural satellites also known as moons see Natural satellite.

In 1996, then GM North America Operations President Rick Wagoner officially launched OnStar at the Chicago Auto Show. The Chicago Auto Show is held annually in February at Chicago 's McCormick Place convention complex OnStar delivered its first product and service to the market in 11 months - in the fall of 1996 for model year 1997 Cadillac DeVille, Seville and Eldorado models. "DeVille" and "De Ville" redirect here For other uses see Deville. Seville ( Spanish: Sevilla, see also different names) is the artistic cultural and financial capital of southern Spain.

In April 2006, GM notified approximately 500,000 of their OnStar customers who have analog service that their service would be terminated effective December 31, 2007, because starting February 18, 2008 the FCC will no longer require US cell phone systems to operate in analog mode. Stories without links will be removed'. News stories must be in English An analog or analogue signal is any continuous signal for which the time varying feature (variable of the signal is a representation of some other Events 406 – Vandals, Alans and Suebians cross the Rhine, beginning an invasion of Gallia. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 3102 BC - Epoch (origin of the Kali Yuga. 1229 - The Sixth Crusade: Frederick II Holy 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Customers who purchased a prepaid, non-refundable, non-transferable 1-year OnStar Safe & Sound subscription were scheduled to receive an equipment upgrade. If the vehicle is from the 2003, 2004, or 2005 model year, an adapter costing approximately $200 (includes a one year subscription) can be installed at the customer's expense. An adapter or adaptor (both spellings in use in UK and US English[http//www If it is older, it will simply no longer be usable. [4] A law firm in Pennsylvania representing some of the affected customers sought to have a class certified for a class action lawsuit for damages claimed in the cancellation of OnStar service. [5]

Advocacy

OnStar advocates tout it as an essential safety tool. GM commercials have compared it to seatbelts and airbags, as the next major technology for safe driving. A seat belt, sometimes called a safety belt, is a Safety harness designed to secure the occupant of a Vehicle against harmful movement that may result from The benefits, they say, include its ability to aid police in tracking down stolen vehicles; contacting emergency medical services in case of an accident (should the driver request this or be non-responsive); notifying drivers of potentially dangerous mechanical problems; emails are sent to owners that give a diagnostics of their vehicle every month if subscribed to; and unlocking doors for drivers (after verifying authorization over the phone) should their keys be misplaced or locked inside their car. Emergency medical services (abbreviated to the initialism "EMS" in many countries are a branch of Emergency services dedicated to providing out-of-hospital OnStar's basic subscription also includes Roadside assistance, as well HFC (Hands Free Calling) which is integrated into the OnStar system and operates in the same way as a regular cell phone does except that it is operated through voice recognition. Automatic Crash Response allows emergency advisors to provide emergency medical services (EMS) with additional crash information such as rollover status, direction of impact, which airbags have deployed (front, side etc,) and the Delta V-Force which is a medical measure of the intensity of an impact. All this information allows EMS to respond to the crash with appropriate equipment.

Advertising campaign

GM promoted the service with radio commercials demonstrating how it would work. It provided the recording of someone interacting with OnStar in various scenarios designed to show its utility. The commercials stated that these were recordings of actual instances of customers using the services, and gave the date on which they occurred. Scenarios included: someone whose airbag had deployed receiving a "check-in" call from OnStar, someone contacting OnStar to have his car unlocked when the keys were inside, and someone in an accident receiving help through OnStar in contacting emergency services that may presumably have otherwise taken longer to summon. The purpose of the last was to show how OnStar could provide the exact physical location of a caller in distress to Emergency Services, and remain on the line after Emergency services disconnects to ensure that if a caller's physical condition were to deteriorate, Emergency services could be promptly updated.

Criticism

Critics raise questions about whether police or others could make use of OnStar's tracking, whether legally or illegally, for surveillance or stalking. Police are agents or agencies usually of the executive, empowered to enforce the law and to effect public and social order through the legitimatized use of force Surveillance is the monitoring of Behavior. Systems surveillance is the process of monitoring the behavior of people objects or processes within systems for conformity ---- Stalking is the obsessive following observing or contacting of another person or the obsessive attempt to engage in any of these activities Privacy advocates worry that innocent citizens may be hassled by the authorities due to false alarms. A false Alarm, also called a nuisance alarm, is the Phony report of an emergency causing unnecessary panic and/or bringing resources (such as fire engines At least one group, OnStar Privacy, has dedicated a website to privacy concerns of the service.

Concerns have also been raised about what could be done with the data collected and stored by a vehicle's MVEDR, which is analogous to the "black box" recorder on airplanes, although an MVEDR is not as sophisticated and does not currently function as a digital audio recorder. MVEDR is an acronym for Motor Vehicle Event Data Recorder It is also called EDR or Vehicle Black Box Overview Fixed-wing aircraft range from small training and recreational aircraft to Wide-body aircraft and military cargo aircraft. For example, privacy advocates worry that auto dealers could use data to suggest that the user engaged in reckless driving and therefore violated the terms of the vehicle’s warranty, or insurance companies could use said data as the basis for denying claims. In commercial and consumer transactions a warranty is an Obligation or guarantee that an article or service sold is as factually stated or legally

Voice-monitoring capability is marketed as OnStar Hands-Free Calling. [6] The use of this type of capability by law enforcement is subject to legal debate and some technical impediments. [7] OnStar maintains that it is unable to "listen to, view, or record the content of calls". [8] However, a 2003 lawsuit revealed that systems such as OnStar can be used for eavesdropping on passenger conversations. [9]

OnStar maintains that it is committed to maintaining the privacy of its customers. OnStar is only aware of the present (and previous) position of the vehicle when its OnStar equipment calls OnStar with data updates (or certain other circumstances). OnStar will release information about a vehicle only for marketing research, to protect the rights, property, or safety of any person, in exigent circumstances, to prevent misuse of their service, when legally required to do so or when subject to a valid court order, or in various other circumstances.

Hardware

GM is currently deploying OnStar Generation 7 hardware that includes enhanced services and diagnostics. OnStar hardware is currently manufactured by Continental AG, although early models were made by Delphi and Motorola. Continental AG ( internally often called Conti for short is a worldwide leading manufacturer of Tires Brake systems Vehicle stability Delphi is an Automotive parts company headquartered in Troy Michigan, USA. Motorola Inc ( is an American, multinational Fortune 100, Telecommunications company based in Schaumburg Illinois.

However, it remains to be seen whether OnStar will remain a stand-alone vehicular gadget, in view of the fast-changing mobile world. OnStar is one of the dashtop mobile devices that tends to point to an all-in-one convergence, as mobile technology evolves. Dashtop mobile equipment collectively refers to wireless mobile devices mounted on the vehicle dashboards GPS navigation, MP3 players, HD radios, satellite radios, and many other emerging vehicular gadgets and gimmicks are on the way to convergence. [10]

References

  1. ^ "Device can remotely halt auto chases" Chris Woodyard, USA TODAY, 2007-10-09
  2. ^ Verizon's website
  3. ^ Verizon's website
  4. ^ "OnStar Goes Digital, GM to Drop 500,000 Subscribers." Benton, Joe April 10, 2007. Consumeraffairs. com. Retrieved May 1, 2007
  5. ^ "Class action sought for OnStar suit." Times-Leader, Pennsylvania, May 1, 2007. Retrieved May 1, 2007.
  6. ^ OnStar's website
  7. ^ Refuse and Resist.org
  8. ^ OnStar's privacy policy
  9. ^ Court to FBI: No spying on in-car computers
  10. ^ Automotive gadgetry is converging to the center of the dashtop

See also

External links and sources

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