Verizon Hum turns your vehicle into a connected car

Those of us with older cars often feel envious of those with nifty connected cars, featuring OnStar and other similar services. We may not go and purchase new cars just to get those features, but Verizon has just announced a new product that could ease your dumb car pains. They call it the Hum.

What exactly is this thing? Well, it’s actually a bundle with a couple products. The first component is a module that connects into your OBD (on-board diagnostics) port. Most vehicles from 1996 or later have it. This plug has CDMA and GPS antennas, allowing users to access their vehicle information remotely.

The second device is a Bluetooth-connected speaker that clips to your visor and serves as a speakerphone. You can connect your phone to it and make your typical calls, but it does a little more than that. The cool part is that users can also contact concierge and emergency services, just like OnStar subscribers would be able to. All of this information is also accessible from the Hum application.

That’s the gist of how the hardware works, but we haven’t told you too much about what it does. You will find the price could be very much worth it if you spend a good amount of time driving around.

Hum features:

• Incident alerts – Hum will contact emergency services when an incident is automatically detected.
• Discounts – subscribers can get discounts on thousands of places.
• Parking location – I hate when I forget where I parked my car! With the Hum app, you can easily find your vehicle.
• Auto health – near real-time diagnostics for your vehicle.
• Maintenance reminders – the Hum app notifies you whenever it’s time to get some work done on your automobile.
• Roadside assistance – 24/7 help for flat tires, dead batteries, towing and more.
• Mechanics hotline – have a bigger problem? contact ASE-certified mechanics for expert advice.
• Theft assistance – GPS provides accurate information on your car’s location at all times.

Now, what’s the catch? There’s really no catch, you just have to pay for the hardware and a monthly fee. The Hum bundle costs only $120 and you get a 30-day free trial. After your testing period, the monthly price is set at $14.99 for a single vehicle. If you want to add this solution to multiple cars, you can pay $12.99 per automobile, with a limit of up to 3.

We wouldn’t say this is a bad deal, really. Sure, the monthly charges may add up, but it’s always better to be prepared for when something unexpected does happen. Not to mention, being able to keep track of your car’s performance can save you a bunch of cash in the long run.

Interested? Just head over to the Hum website and sign up. How many of you are looking for something like this? Also, would any of you recommend any other similar services? Hit the comments and share your 2 cents!