Free turn by turn demo next Friday

[Bruce Nunnally]

DETROIT – OnStar is kicking off the holiday shopping season with a special gift for its subscribers. “Black Friday,” the Friday after Thanksgiving, the biggest shopping day of the year, with many stores attracting customers with special deals and steep discounts. While some find themselves inundated by the bargain-hunting chaos, OnStar is providing peace of mind by opening up its navigation services to anyone with an OnStar subscription on “Black Friday” (November 27, 2009).

“We understand that these are challenging times for our subscribers, and everyone is looking for bargains on their holiday gifts,” said Rich Martinek, OnStar Navigation Service Line Manager. “We think opening up our services is a great way to help our more than 5.5 million subscribers navigate through the commotion while traveling store-to-store.”

To use Turn-by-Turn Navigation, all a subscriber will need to do is press the blue OnStar button. They can then request a route to a specific address, or ask an advisor to help them find a point of interest (POI), like the nearest shopping center or restaurant. Advisors have access to an up-to-date POI database of more than 13 million locations.

“Having live advisors is the difference between OnStar and all the others that are just little boxes, said Laura Armstrong, OnStar Subscriber. “Talking to someone is what makes the absolutely difference. You feel a lot safer knowing that you’re actually just a button press away from someone, live.”

OnStar Turn-by-Turn Navigation uses GPS and an enhanced wireless data network to deliver voice-guided directions through the vehicle’s speaker system without requiring manual destination entry which allows users to keep their hands on the wheel and eyes on the road.