Skip to main content

A ride worthy of 007? GroundLink car-calling app targets young professionals with secret agent commercials

groundlink executive transport

For those unfamiliar with GroundLink, it’s a connected car service headed by old-school executives with aspirations of evolving their successful limousine service into an app-based taxi service. But GroundLink’s repeated efforts to escape the shadows of its rival Uber have failed time and time again. Now the company may have finally done it by silently launching a series of clever YouTube commercials. We have to give the taxi service the credit it deserves: The company appears to have found its niche here and settled into a groove.

The first video, “Groundlink: Executive Transport,”  taps into a man’s primal desire to live the double life of James Bond himself. The main character peels back his disguise as a successful business executive to reveal a combat-adept spy. All the while, his wife is oblivious to his double life. Another video, “WTF is GroundLink” strikes a humorous note while hinting at GroundLink’s new strategy.

Using GroundLink’s app, the taxi service will pick you up from just about anywhere. Are you about to be stranded in the middle of a desert thanks to the perils of living the life of a spy? Not a problem. You can even track the status of the car’s route in real time. If need be, GroundLink’s drivers will serve as your getaway driver in the heat of escaping a gunfight, doing it in style, and you even get a choice between a gas guzzler or a hybrid car. Best of all, what happens during the spy life stays in the spy life, and GroundLink won’t be spilling your secrets.

On a more down-to-earth note, it’s apparent that GroundLink is nuzzling up to the upper echelon of the career-minded professionals. We’d say that the urban business executives searching for a simple limousine app and service primarily fit the bill, while the young, tech-savvy crowd that GroundLink had tried so desperately to enamor has been left behind. With Uber’s service dominating in just about every facet of the tech community’s needs, it’s a smart move.

“GroundLink: Executive Transport”

“WTF is GroundLink”

Francis Bea
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Francis got his first taste of the tech industry in a failed attempt at a startup during his time as a student at the…
I record interviews for work. These are my favorite free recorder apps
The iPhone 14 Pro and Google Pixel 7 Pro's voice recording apps running together.

The Voice Recorder app on a phone (left) and the Voice Memos on another phone Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

Before you head to the app store on your phone to buy a voice-recording app, take a moment to consider the apps that may already be installed on your phone. Why? In my experience, they're likely all you really need. I’ve recorded interviews and voice-overs for work for years, and I’ve found the two best examples come preinstalled on your phone already, so they’re entirely free to use.

Read more
The best Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 cases: 10 best ones so far
Two Galaxy Z Fold 5 phones next to each other -- one is open and one is closed.

Samsung’s next-generation foldable is here with the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5. This iteration has some notable improvements, including a new hinge design that eliminates the gap from previous generations when the device was folded. You also get a 6.2-inch HD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X display on the outside while having a 6.7-inch QXGA+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X display on the inside, with both screens having a 120Hz refresh rate. In other words, they're about as nice as you could ask for.

The Galaxy Z Fold 5 is made with premium materials, and the triple-lens camera system packs in a 50MP main shooter, 10MP telephoto with 3x optical zoom, and a 12MP ultrawide lens. There’s a 10MP selfie camera on the front cover, and a 4MP camera on the inner display. You also get a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy chip inside for the best performance and power efficiency.

Read more
Google Pixel Tablet just got its first big discount and it’s worth a look
Google Pixel Tablet on its charging dock.

Tablets are a dime-a-dozen these days, with offerings from all the great brands including Apple, Samsung, Lenovo, and more. So, if you really want to stand out in a sea of similar tech, you need to do things a little differently. That's what Google's Pixel Tablet offers. How? It comes with a unique speaker dock that can be used to both charge the device and offer room-filling sound -- almost like a smart speaker add-on. Better yet, when your Pixel Tablet is docked it benefits from the Hub Mode, turning the device into a smart display, with digital photo frame support, smart home controls, and hands-free Google functionality. Of course, it could set you back at full price, normally $499 unless you find it included in a roundup of the best Google Pixel deals. Well, guess what? Thanks to a Best Buy Google Pixel Tablet deal, you can get it today for $439 and save $60. Hurry, though, it's part of Best Buy's recent 48-hour sale so it won't stick around for long.

Why you should buy the Google Pixel Tablet
Okay, okay, so in our Google Pixel Tablet review, Joe Maring did give it less than stellar remarks, but he called out its reliable fingerprint sensor, comfortability during use and excellent speaker dock. Honestly, how many tablets come with a matching speaker dock that transforms the entire experience? This tablet also marks a "lot of firsts" for Google, as it's the first tablet from the company in nearly five years, the first Android tablet in eight years, and can be converted into a smart home display with the speaker dock. All of which are notable milestones.

Read more