Hobbyists modify GM's OnStar system
OWNERS CAN AVOID CARMAKER GIANT'S FEES FOR GPS SERVICE
By Sandeep Junnarkar, New York Times
Posted on Thu, Dec. 25, 2003
Ray and Elna Kawal hit the open road in the fall on an 8,000-mile trip in
their 2002 Chevy Tahoe with General Motors' OnStar navigation system serving
as their North Star. From their home in Sequim, Wash., across to Denver and
Chicago, down to Mexico and then homeward through Arizona and California,
the Kawals followed directions to tourist destinations, hotels and their
friends' homes using OnStar's Global Positioning System navigation -- just
the kind of business GM covets for its subscription service.
But in this case, the automaker didn't make a penny from the 6-week
excursion.
That's because Ray Kawal, a 57-year-old retired engineer, had pried the
OnStar unit from behind the glove compartment and customized it to work with
his laptop and commercially available mapping software. His wife read him
directions right off the laptop that sat between them. The modified unit was
no longer connected to the OnStar network, over which representatives could
have provided the same service for a fee.
"My wife was basically doing a lot of what the OnStar service person would
do," Kawal said. "Many of the things OnStar wants you to pay for, you can
take the unit out and do it yourself."
Other road warriors are quickly discovering this as Web sites and message
boards spring up with step-by-step instructions on removing and
personalizing OnStar's navigational and communications components. While
there are no estimates on how many people have customized the device in
their cars, those who are proficient at adapting the system are helping
friends and family members do so, and some are beginning to parlay their
skills into a weekend business.
Bruce Radloff, OnStar's chief technology officer, pointed out that owners
who tamper with the system risk voiding the warranty on the OnStar unit --
and more critically, the warranty on the entire car. Yet he acknowledges the
temptation.
"From my own perspective -- and GM may feel differently -- once someone buys
the car, I guess their desire to modify it and make changes to it is up to
them," Radloff said. "But why would you take that kind of risk of
invalidating your vehicle warranty when you can go out and buy a GPS
receiver for a couple of hundred bucks these days?"
The question goes to the heart of a principle long embraced by
technologists. Edward W. Felten, a professor of computer science at
Princeton University and a leading voice for this philosophy, defines it on
his Web log as the "freedom to tinker" ethic. This calls for the "freedom to
understand, discuss, repair and modify the technological devices you own."
Tinkerers seek little justification to deconstruct any technology. A common
reason given for fiddling with a device is simply that it's there. These
technologists believe that a bit of tweaking will inevitably unearth some
innovative uses.
It was this curiosity that led Pete Carter, a 28-year-old computer engineer
at an online brokerage in Omaha, to plug a GPS unit he had bought for his
father into his own laptop just to see how it would react. To his surprise,
the laptop picked up the device without requiring any additional software.
He figured that the components used by OnStar's GPS unit were probably the
same and resolved to put his theory to the test. After the challenge of
prying the unit loose from behind the dashboard, Carter faced a more
daunting task. He had to switch the unit's programming language to one
accepted by commercial mapping software and then solder a connection
compatible with his laptop.
Once he succeeding at harnessing the GPS capabilities of his OnStar system,
he created a "Tap Into OnStar" website http://members.cox.net/onstar/ to
help others modify their units.
When a driver requests directions from an OnStar representative, his GPS
data is routed over an analog cellular network to OnStar computers. The
agent then reads back the directions over the same cellular network. The
price for this service, which also includes emergency services and hotel and
restaurant recommendations and reservations, is about $420 annually, or $400
if paid upfront.
For some, the success such hobbyists have had in tapping into their personal
OnStar units evokes the hacker who seeks to break into a networked system
simply out of curiosity. Security researchers have even raised the specter
that as more cars come equipped with OnStar navigation systems, hackers will
be tempted to try to exploit the technology to locate OnStar users.
http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/business/7569678.htm
Michelle