In addition to its recent 7-year / 150,000km warranty announcement, Kia has created further interest with the announcement of its UVO in-car voice and touch activated communication and entertainment system. Developed in collaboration with Microsoft and based on Windows Embedded Auto software, the UVO (short for “your voice”) system incorporates speech recognition designed to keep a driver’s attention focused on the road ahead. Users are able to direct the system via short voice commands such as “Call Chris” or “Who’s playing?” and speech recognition profiles can be created for two different voices in several languages.
The UVO interface features a 4.3” full color touchscreen display that provides detailed information such as phonebook data, media content and vehicle updates. The 1GN built in hard drive enables users to import music from CD’s and USB connectable portable music players into its “Jukebox” which can then be sorted through by voice commands pertaining to title or artist. The voice commands of the UVO also extend to the incorporated satellite radio stations.
As the UVO system is open platform it can be integrated with a wide variety of mobile phones, music players and other devices and when the vehicle is in reverse the UVO doubles as a rear view camera. Kia is planning to incorporate the UVO in-car infotainment system into its Sorento SUV towards the middle of the year, with other models to follow suit.