Mercedes-Benz Unveils Telematics System

Mercedes-Benz has launched mbrace, an annoyingly non-capitalized but significant revamp of its existing Tele Aid remote assistance system. Tele Aid was similar to GM's OnStar service. The new mbrace system now offers stolen vehicle tracking, crash notification, and voice-enabled navigation, as Car and Driver reports. mbrace also offers Mercedes Concierge, which at an extra cost, lets drivers call up an operator to make restaurant reservations, find nearby events, or otherwise act as a glorified personal assistant.

BlackBerry and iPhone owners also see new improvements with mbrace. With an accompanying mobile app, mbrace lets drivers find their car's location, as well as lock and unlock the doors. The app displays the car's location on a map, so you can find it in a parking lot or on a forgotten side street.

Mercedes-Benz is including six months of free mbrace service, along with three free months of mbrace PLUS--which includes Mercedes Concierge and is, annoyingly, completely capitalized. After that, mbrace costs $280 per year, while PLUS costs $520 per year.