Crossing the boundaries: Cooperation across industries will fuel the connected car

A guest post by Brian Salisbury of Telecommunication Systems (TCS)

Connected car – these two words appear together more and more these days. Consider, for example, two events that took place in February: The Connected Car Executive Lunch organized by Fierce Wireless and held during the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, and the Telecom Council’s Mobile Forum: Connected Car meeting hosted by Marvell Semiconductor in Silicon Valley.

Speakers at these events came from mobile operators (AT&T Mobility, Orange, Sprint, Verizon), auto manufacturers (Ford, Hyundai, Nissan, Toyota), and platform and solution providers (Nokia, Pioneer, QNX Software Systems, TCS). No doubt about it, the car is now connecting industries.

Although these two events were held on different continents, the topics on the minds of attendees were very similar:

• Who “owns” the customer?
• Will the connection be part of the car, or brought to the car by its driver?
• How can the “wild west” of the Internet be safely incorporated into the car?
• What is the business model for such a multi-part solution?
• What will be the “killer app” for connected car, or is there no such thing?

The presentations and discussions were diverse, as each group sought to define their role in terms that extend logically from their own past experience, and that could provide them with some control over the outcome. Thankfully, every group shared the common goal of making sure that connected cars are safe cars, and that the introduction of new connected services doesn’t create driver distraction problems.

We are clearly on the verge of a new generation of services being extended into the car that can enhance many aspects of owning, operating, and riding in tomorrow’s vehicles. Those of us fortunate enough to be part of one of these groups will have some amazing opportunities to bring the best of our respective industries into this new space, and to build new relationships across industry boundaries.

For an example of how TCS is helping to enable the connected car, check out this post on the VW Polo that was showcased at Mobile World Congress — Ed.

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Here’s a little more about Brian and TCS:

Brian Salisbury is director of business development at TeleCommunication Systems, Inc. (TCS), where he is responsible for developing new business with OEMs, platform providers, and developers in the LBS ecosystem. Brian has worked in the mobile industry for more than 25 years, with most of that experience being in mobile data and location-based services, and within semiconductor, device manufacturer, and network operator companies.

TCS (NASDAQ: TSYS) is a world leader in highly reliable and secure mobile communication technology. TCS infrastructure forms the foundation for market leading solutions in E9-1-1, text messaging, commercial location and deployable wireless communications. TCS is at the forefront of new mobile cloud computing services providing wireless applications for navigation, hyper-local search, asset tracking, social applications and telematics.
 

Setting the Pace for Automotive Electronic Innovation

Welcome to the first installment in a series of guest posts from Paul Sykes of Freescale’s driver information systems team.

Recently, I traded in my MY2002 SUV for a new MY2012 vehicle. At the time, the MY2002 was quite advanced in its in-cabin electronics and styling, but wow — times have changed! Gone are the aftermarket satellite radio and PND that were attached, with wires dangling, at various places in my cabin.

The newest generation of vehicles offers complete and total integration, including new features that didn’t exist in 2002, such as USB/iPod interfaces, HD Radio, and a rear view camera.

But here’s the problem. I work in this great industry of automotive electronics and have some view of what’s coming in the next wave of vehicles. It’s both a blessing and a curse. Do I buy now or wait for the next model year? It’s like trying to time when to jump into your next cell phone or tablet purchase, only the time scale is a bit different.

The pace of electronic innovation has increased in this industry and you don’t have to wait 10 model years (like I did) to see it. It’s exciting to be a part of the supply base that is helping this industry move faster while maintaining some of the highest standards of quality and reliability over a long product life.

Fundamentally, at the heart of every embedded electronic vehicle system, incoming data needs to get processed and acted upon, using complex software algorithms. At Freescale, sensor and processor innovations make the future possible by doing these fundamental elements better, faster, and more reliably.

Ecosystem partners like QNX Software Systems provide many of the complex algorithms required to realize infotainment and instrument cluster systems. These same systems are often powered with Freescale i.MX processors.

In the latest generation, the i.MX 6 Series, Freescale has provided the most scalable line-up of products available. Scalability means not only performance and function scalability, but also pin-to-pin hardware compatibility across the entire series. This is one example of how the processor can help pick up the innovation pace. With hardware and software compatibility, system makers can develop more products to meet a broader range of market needs, in a shorter amount of time.


The Freescale i.MX 6 Series has been chosen to power the next-generation
GM OnStar system.

In future posts, I will offer Freescale’s perspective on many of the current trends in driver information systems as well as our product collaborations with QNX to bring unique value to the industry.

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Here’s a little more about Paul and the Freescale Driver Information Team:

Paul has more than 15 years’ experience in the semiconductor industry, including product development, program management, and marketing positions. For the past several years, Paul has lived in Michigan and focuses exclusively on the automotive telematics, audio/infotainment, and instrument cluster application spaces.

Freescale’s Driver Information Team is driving the global strategy and product development for solutions to address the multitude of applications in the rapid growth and innovation area of Driver Information Systems. This includes instrument cluster, graphics displays, audio and infotainment, and telematics.
 

What the connected car is really all about (and what we need to do about it)

Recently, I was invited to participate in a webinar that highlighted hits and misses at Mobile World Congress. It occurred to me that some of you might be interested in what I had to say — at the very least, I’d earn points with Paul Leroux, our editor, for spontaneously offering up a blog post. :)  So here's what I said... almost verbatim.

First, a quick intro on QNX: Many will know us as the wholly owned subsidiary of RIM whose software platform powers the BlackBerry PlayBook. But we also provide the de facto standard platform for all types of in-vehicle infotainment and navigation systems. And it’s from this perspective that I offer these comments.

My primary observation is regarding the evolving dialogue surrounding the connected car and what I think it represents. Three years ago we were here with Alcatel-Lucent, showcasing the first LTE connected concept car, based on a Toyota Prius. This car proved so popular that we had to hire a security guard to help manage the traffic. Now, three years later, there are a number of connected production vehicles to be seen, including a QNX-based BMW 7 series in the GSMA’s connected home exhibit. And the announcements this year focused not so much on broadband connectivity per se (it's here, people expect it), but on the integration of the smart phone with the vehicle.

At QNX, we talk about the personalization of the in-vehicle experience, as people want to bring in their own devices, their own music, their own contacts and other content — and experience these in the vehicle setting. For instance, Ford not only announced the B-Max vehicle, but used MWC as a platform to launch Ford Sync for Europe. Toyota and Samsung, meanwhile, announced support for Samsung Mobile Car Application for integration of phones to the car's head unit. So if step one was getting a broadband connection to enable a consumer experience in the car, and step two is about personalizing that experience, what’s next? 

I think that, ultimately, the connected car is all about the consumer, and this is how revenue will be generated in a way that connected telematics on its own could never do. You could be an automaker interested in improving how to service a car and its owner after the car has driven off the dealer's lot. Or you could be a carrier interested in extending your offer beyond connectivity to deliver value-added services. Or perhaps you’re a small business trying to get more people in the door. In each case, the car represents a new frontier. And it offers the added value of context – not only do you know if someone is available and where they are, but you also know that they are driving a vehicle. 

The next few years are going to be very exciting as the automotive and mobile industries converge to address this opportunity. Think about the brands involved: Companies like Audi, BMW, and GM on one hand and the likes of AT&T, Verizon, and Vodafone on the other. They’re mutually dependent — neither group will be successful without the other. Automotive needs to leverage the investments being made for smart phones, be it device technology, network infrastructure, or developer communities. Meanwhile, the mobile industry has to consider the nature of automotive in terms of safety, security, and liability, not to mention product life cycles. 

It's safe to say that automotive is just the first example of this type of industry convergence and transformation. All of the carriers are looking at M2M as a huge untapped market opportunity. And within the classic embedded market, there are an almost infinite number of market segments, truly an example of the Long Tail. 

It will be exciting to watch how mobile transforms those markets and vice versa — what will mobile look like in 5 years from now? I don’t think we can easily predict it; after all, it's not going to be like anything we’ve seen before. But I can’t wait to find out.

So there you have it. If you'd like to hear the entire webinar, you can register here to access the archived version.

A quick tour of the QNX CAR 2 application platform

If you're looking for a quick, two-minute intro to the QNX CAR 2 application platform, you've come to the right place.

In this video, Kerry Johnson, automotive product manager at QNX, takes us on a tour of the platform, including its home screen, media player, application area, HTML5 support, phone app, and acoustic processing.

Ready? Then hit the Play button and let's get started:



In case you didn't know, the QNX CAR 2 platform forms the basis of the QNX concept car, a specially modified Porsche 911 that demonstrates what to expect in next-generation car infotainment systems. Earlier this year, the platform drove home with a 2012 Best of CES award, in the Car Tech category.
 

TCS showcases hybrid navigation system in VW Polo

The Porsche 911 concept car that won the 2012 Best of CES award wasn't the only QNX-outfitted vehicle at Mobile World Congress this year. Our friends at TeleCommunication Systems (TCS), who provide hybrid navigation software for the QNX CAR application platform, showcased a VW Polo running the same QNX-powered navigation, maps, and local search capabilities as the Porsche.

Like the Porsche, the Polo featured a retrofitted infotainment system in place of the factory radio — and TCS did a very nice job integrating it into the car.

The Polo was a hit, driving discussions with mobile operators, handset manufacturers, automakers, and automotive tier ones. Seems the connected car is a hot topic just about everywhere you go these days.

Here's the Polo in the TCS booth:



And here's a close-up of the retrofitted infotainment system:


 

HTML5: Bustin' the myths

Did you know you can build HTML5 apps that don't use an Internet connection? Did you know you can run HTML5 apps without a web browser? And did you know HTML5 apps can show snappy performance even on automotive silicon? (As you can well imagine, in-car infotainment systems don't ship with quad-core server-class CPUs.)

If you answered no to any of these questions, you need to stop for a minute and check out this interview with QNX Software Systems' Kerry Johnson. Heck, even if you answered yes to all three questions, you'll probably still appreciate what Kerry has to say — and besides, you'll catch a glimpse of a complete in-car UI coded in HTML5. What could be bad?



While I have you, check out Andy Gryc's Q&A series on HTML5, if you haven't already. You'll find the first two installments here and here.
 

Audi A8 drives home with best connected car award

This just in: Connected World magazine has announced the winners of its first annual Connected Car of the Year awards, and the Audi A8 has won top prize in the ultra-luxury category.

According to Connected World, the awards honor vehicles with technology that strikes the right balance of safety, convenience, and infotainment. The magazine's editorial team decides the winners.

The Audi A8's infotainment system, dubbed the MMI, is based on the QNX Neutrino OS. The MMI offers some extremely cool features, including 3D navigation powered by Google Earth and a touchpad that lets you input destinations names by tracing them with your finger.

Here, for example, is a photo of the navigation display:



And here is a photo of someone using the touchpad, known as MMI Touch:



Both these photos were taken at a QNX Automotive Summit that took place in Stuttgart in 2010.

Connected World also handed out awards to the Ford Focus, Chrysler 300, and Cadillac XTS. These cars won in the small, mid-size, and luxury categories, respectively.