Telematics environments for the connected car are de- fined as the use of wireless technologies and in-vehicle IT to relay information to and from vehicles, with the aim of improving the driver experience or providing additional information and analysis to the driver or third party.
figure it out by going to different stores and brands,” Aumo explained.
Dating, Not Married – OEMs Playing the Field Many eyes are on GM, because it is one of the only three
now. We need broader adoption of our services and we need to drive change in the automotive space,” Bhatnagar explained.
Nokia-Inspired Sand Box The elder of the bunch is the Connected Car Consortium (CCC), an outcome of a Nokia project formed in 2009. With rep- resentation of more than 80 percent of the world’s automakers and 70 percent of the world’s smartphone makers, the group has produced MirrorLink, an OS- and OEM-agnostic technology standard for car to smartphone connectivity. MirrorLink is designed for maximum interoperability between a wide range of smartphones and cars, ultimately giving con- sumers freedom of choice when it comes to using their favorite devices in their favorite cars. Drivers connect their phone with a cable and immediately gain access to phone applications via the car’s navigation screen and dashboard/steering wheel buttons. Based on non-proprietary technologies, it uses standard Inter-
net protocols for compatibility with a wide range of devices. It builds on technologies already common in a car, such as Bluetooth, USB, and Wi-Fi. A Universal Plug and Play (UpnP) facilitates controlled access to applications, and a virtual net- work computing (VNC) replicates the phone’s display on the navigation screen and communicates user prompts back to the phone. The CCC also has established standard certifications and safety guidelines to address driver distraction. The solution already has displayed successes through facto-
ry-fitted vehicles by Volkswagen, Honda, Toyota, PSA Peugeot Citroen, and it has been widely displayed at worldwide industry conferences for three years. “2014 is a pivotal year for MirrorLink. We have momentum
that is in the market and we will keep it going with industry cooperation,” said Antti Aumo, a technology industry veteran who currently serves as the CCC Marketing Director. The platform is the result of a membership working together openly in a democratic process to decide technology that serves the best interests of everyone in the system. However, neither Google nor Apple currently participate in this collaboration, despite the technology’s ability to support their devices. “If we look at it from the consumer perspective, we should offer them choice. But their service or technology choices poten- tially could lock them into one platform. My hope is to have an industry solution that doesn’t have the consumer trying to
OEMs that currently are working with Apple, Google, and Mir- rorLink to integrate smartphones into its wide range of brands. (Honda and Hyundai are the others.) With an 18-year history of telematics and infotainment expe- rience through its connectivity brand OnStar, GM has deep experience, and it already serves more than seven million cus- tomers worldwide in this vein. “Technologists need to understand the car is complicated.
They don’t know what we know about the car. We need to find a way to innovate with good risk. I don’t believe in handing over our key. We collaborate with everyone to see how they can help form the best experience,” said GM Chief Infotainment Officer Phil Abram during Telematics Detroit 2014. While it has yet to announce Apple CarPlay for its models, GM was among the first automakers to dip its toe into the Apple pool with the integration of Siri Eyes Free on the Chevrolet Spark and Sonic last year, and it is expanding that feature to some Buick and GMC models. Ford has also learned many lessons through its past relationship
with Microsoft that produced Ford Sync. While it hasn’t announced its future plans for Apple CarPlay, Executive Director of Connected Vehicles and Services Don Butler hinted to Ford’s mindset with technology partners. “We are the steward for our customers. It’s about protecting the
customer and their data. We will work with companies like Apple, but we can’t hand over all aspects of control. We’re not betting on a system to work in the long term. It will change. We need to get comfortable in a new environment of suppliers.” Butler’s reply was firm and to the point during the same session at Telematics Detroit 2014.
Cash and Land Grab at Stake Industry watchers certainly see the convergence as a street
battle for leadership, but it will be at a slower pace than a soft- ware update. It could be worth the wait, because the stakes are high for cash and consumer loyalty. Apple and Google have the advantage of pushing their solu- tions up through a mobile OS via hundreds of millions of devices. Whereas, open-source MirrorLink must work to build momentum one device maker at a time, and it’s working hard to find scale, according to an industry report titled Intertwined Innovation between Silicon Valley and Automotive by IHS Inc., a global information company with experts in supply chain management.
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