GM launched a cute little national billboard campaign that reveals a new, one word billboard each day. On Monday, January 31, when all 17 words are revealed, a sentence will be formed. The campaign revolves around the FindTheMessage website, which craftly reveals each word so you can try to figure out what the message is.
Unfortunatly, a lil' over a week ago the message was cracked due to some poor programming techniques and the first line to the message was (gasp) revealed. It reads "This is the last time you will ever have to feel alone on our nation's highways" which, still leaves a lot of room for guessing.
The original speculation is that it's an announcement that GM will offer OnStar in all of its vehicles. Others speculate that this has something to do with XM Satellite Radio because the contest is sponsored by XM. And out of the two, the OnStar announcement sounds pretty reasonable - right?
But what if it's a combination of both XM and OnStar? What if AutoWeek's article jumped the gun a bit before the big announcement could be made? Could the FindTheMessage campaign be a big announcement about OnStar / XM Satellite Radio integration? Wouldn't be too far of a guess considering how this campaign has been handled so far.
But let's add a bit more to the speculation. With a recent Patent Application by GM. Below is a diagram from GM's patent on MVCS (mobile vehicle communication service) 100.
According to the patent application, MVCS 100 is implemented as an OnStar system, and as an XM Satellite Radio system. The application is for a "system for pulling information from a mobile vehicle within a mobile vehicle communications system." This, combined with XM and OnStar would be pretty kickass technology - and definitely worth a detailed and hype-driving announcement like FindTheMessage.
"This is the last time you will ever have to feel alone on our nation's roadways. Because everyone should hear these words."
Just food for thought. :)
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