CNET -- Hyundai's Elantra has been a tremendous success for the Korean automaker. Over 10 million Elantas have been sold, an achievement that Hyundai claims makes the Elantra the 6th-best-selling car in the world. Today, at the 2015 LA Auto Show, the Elantra enters its 6th generation.

The new Elantra doesn't look much different from the old one; the broad strokes are similar enough that the car is immediately recognizable as an Elantra. Look closely and you'll notice the details are all new. The hexagonal grille, for example, is more angular and is now flanked by vertical LED daytime running lights. The elongated roofline now stretches its arc nearly to the vehicle's end, which gives the sedan a more coupelike profile.

The headlights are narrower and sweep out horizontally, rather than back toward the windshield, which accentuates the car's width and makes it look broad. Hyundai uses a few visual tricks to make the Elantra look like a larger car, but they're not strictly necessary because the 2017 Elantra simply is a larger car than before. Though it's only about an inch longer and wider than the 2016 model, the interior volume has increased so much that the EPA now technically classifies it as a midsize sedan.

Read the rest of the story here: http://www.cnet.com/products/2017-hyundai-elantra/

1-13-2017, Autoblog -- 2016 was full of talk of autonomy, but little action beyond crazy, futuristic concept cars and announcement after announcement from automakers. If this year's CES is any indication, 2017 is going to focused on connectivity. More than that, CES showed that traditional barriers between automakers are breaking down in favor of universal and open source technology standards that will benefit both consumers and developers.

CES, traditionally a showcase for the latest and greatest technology and gadgets like flat-screen refrigerators or televisions that broadcast in the fifth dimension, has become so intwined with the auto industry that we at Autoblog cover it like any other auto show. At every CES event I attended and nearly every booth I went to, there was some talk, display, or demonstration of how cars will connect to your phone and your home, and eventually each other.

It seems we're heading toward the tech singularity where all devices work under one cohesive ecosystem – the Internet of Things, if you like. The difference between autonomy and connectivity is how real the latter feels because so much of the connected tech on display at CES is either here already or will be here by the end of the year. There were dozens of demos, both big and small, that allowed us to test and explore what's on the horizon.

Bridging the gap between home and car, Ford is integrating the Amazon Alexa personal assistant straight into its vehicles. That means you'll be able to talk to Alexa in your car just like you would through an Echo or Dot at home. It also means you can shop on Amazon by voice while you're driving (since that wasn't convenient enough already). Samsung is developing smartwatch applications for Ford, BMW, and others. Toyota is adopting Ford's SmartDeviceLink smartphone connectivity system for its vehicles. That means developers can have one app that works across multiple infotainment systems.

The Linux Foundation is developing an open-source operating system that will be free to use, making it easier for developers to connect smartphones and apps across multiple manufacturers' systems. Automotive Grade Linux, or AGL, is available for download right now. Major automakers like Toyota and Daimler (who usually are set on competing with one another) are partnering to further the development of the project. Bosch, Hyundai, and Chrysler showed connected car concepts at CES that preview the future of automobiles.

Read the rest of the story HERE.

Wired, 11-29-2016 -- As cars edge closer to driving themselves, it can seem they’ve already forgotten humans are still here and in control. It’s not just that systems like lane centering, and collision avoidance often leap to action or lay passive without giving the human a beep of warning or explanation. As these systems advance and cars pick up more of the load while offering more distractions, these communication problems will only prove knottier. At the same time, increasingly advanced infotainment systems make it harder to keep your eyes on the road.

Acura thinks it has found the solution to both problems. This month at the LA Auto Show, Honda’s luxury arm unveiled the Precision Cockpit, which it intends to pair with the Precision Concept vehicle it unveiled earlier this year—that look and tech could start appearing in production Acuras within a few years.1 The rethought cockpit boasts two big features: a touchpad that’s more easily controlled without looking at it, and visual graphic depictions of vehicles and obstacles that the car is tracking via its myriad cameras and sensors.

These days, infotainment systems are commonly controlled in one of two ways: a touchscreen that pulls your eyes away from what’s ahead, or a hard to use, mouse-like touchpad that controls a conventional screen. Acura has blended the two, adding “absolute position mapping” to what looks like a traditional touchpad.

“As much as people like touchscreens in their cars, because of the parallels to tablets and smartphones, it may not be the best strategy for cars,” says Acura product engineer Steven Feit. Touchscreens feel like the future, but they demand eye contact, and if they’re high up on the dash—the best position for the driver’s line of sight—they can be hard to reach. “The touchpad makes it easier to control the screen more safely,” Feit says.

Then there’s the second problem: Knowing what your ride’s up to. Right now, cars that offer features like emergency braking and collision avoidance often do a crummy job conveying information about how the car will behave, and in what circumstances. When cars reach a point where they pass control between human and robot, any uncertainty is sure to be trouble.

Read the rest of the story HERE.

The C3 Report -- The C3 Group hosted its third-annual Connected Car Conference at CE Week in New York on June 23. The event once again brought the thought leaders in the space to the media capital of the world to discuss on-stage the huge potential and as well as the challenges facing connected car and future mobility technology.

Representatives from major automakers and technology suppliers as well as executives involved in policy and research not only engaged in lively and at times heated discussions, but this year the audience became part of the conversation since the event included an extended and interactive Q&A segment.

For the first time, C3 at CE Week in New York featured vehicles and product demonstrations. Buick used the occasion to publicly introduce Apple CarPlay for the first time in a 2015 Regal, while Pioneer showed both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto aftermarket solutions in a Scion iQ. QNX Software Systems also brought its custom Maserati Quattroporte GTS that features cutting-edge camera technology.

The Los Angeles Auto Show (LA Auto Show) announced four additions to its Connected Car Expo® (CCE) advisory board for 2016. Damon Lavrinc of Automatic Labs, Justin Fishkin of Local Motors, Derek Kan of Lyft and Linda Campbell of QNX Software Systems Limited join nine returning board members from thought leading companies including Aeris, Elektrobit, Ellis and Associates, the City of Los Angeles, Google, Nokia Growth Partners, NVIDIA, Pandora and Strategy Analytics.

Andy Gryc of CX3 Marketing will return as Conference Director, and together with the advisory board, will set the strategic direction and focus of CCE’s conference agenda as well as select the second annual Top 10 Automotive Start-ups. CCE is held in conjunction with the LA Auto Show Press and Trade Days and will take place on Tuesday, November 15, 2016.

"We’re thrilled to continue building a network of top experts to elevate the connected car conversation," said Lisa Kaz, President of the LA Auto Show and CCE. "Year after year, the board continues to lead new and innovative discussions on technology in automotive and transportation industries; and we’re excited to see what 2016 will bring.”

About the New CCE Advisory Board Members:

• Damon Lavrinc, Head of Content and Outreach at Automatic Labs

Damon Lavrinc is the Head of Content and Outreach at Automatic Labs, a Bay Area startup that builds connected car products to empower drivers. For the past decade he's covered the auto and tech industries as the Silicon Valley Editor for Jalopnik, Transportation Editor at Wired and editor at Autoblog. Lavrinc has written for a variety of automotive and lifestyle publications focused on transportation technology, connectivity and personal mobility.

• Justin Fishkin, Chief Strategy Officer, Local Motors

Justin Fishkin is the Chief Strategy Officer of Local Motors, a technology company that designs, builds and sells vehicles. Local Motors’ platform combines global co-creation with local micro-manufacturing to bring hardware innovations (like the world’s first 3D-printed car) to market at unprecedented speed. He marries a lifelong dedication to sustainability and making a difference in the world with a background in finance and investing. Prior to joining Local Motors, Fishkin served as Senior Portfolio Manager of Carbon War Room, an organization founded by Sir Richard Branson to identify and incubate entrepreneurial solutions to climate change. He began his career in investment banking at Goldman Sachs and later became an investor. He earned his BA in Economics from Duke University.

• Derek Kan, General Manager, Lyft

Derek Kan is the General Manager of Lyft and was recently nominated by President Obama to the Board of Directors of AMTRAK. Prior to this role, he served as Director of Strategy at a biotech startup, Management Consultant at Bain & Company, Advisor at Elliott Management, Policy Advisor to Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell and the Chief Economist for the Senate Republican Policy Committee. Kan started his career as a Presidential Management Fellow at the White House Office of Management and Budget. He earned his BS from the University of Southern California, M.Sc from the London School of Economics and MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he graduated as an Arjay Miller Scholar.

• Linda Campbell, Strategic Accounts, QNX Software Systems, a BlackBerry Subsidiary

Linda Campbell has held a variety of roles within the sales and marketing organization at QNX Software Systems. Prior to relocating to Silicon Valley, she was responsible for creating and managing QNX Software Systems’ strategic alliances practice - building an award-winning technology ecosystem comprising hundreds of hardware, software and services partners globally. Campbell is also the co-founder of the Women in Automotive Technology, a Silicon Valley group dedicated to driving the industry forward by fostering connections between women, ideas and industry.

Returning CCE Advisory Board members include:

• Michelle Avary, Vice President, Automotive Product and Strategy, Aeris

Michelle Avary is responsible for the overall management of Aeris’ automotive strategy, product planning and business development. A 17-year veteran of automotive telematics, Avary previously led Toyota Motor Sales' telematics strategies. Most recently she was the Director of Technology Strategy for Harman International where she led the development of technology strategies for all of Harman’s business lines.

• Bryan Biniak, EIR, Nokia Growth Partners

Bryan Biniak is currently an Entrepreneur in Residence at Nokia Growth Partners which recently launched a $100 million Connected Car Fund. Previously, he was the General Manager of developer experiences at Microsoft where he was responsible for driving innovation with the company’s global developer community and growth of the broader ecosystem across Microsoft’s technologies, products and services portfolio including Windows, Mobile Devices, Xbox, IoT and Azure. Prior to Microsoft, Biniak was Global Vice President and General Manager at Nokia.

• John Ellis, Founder & Managing Director, Ellis and Associates

John Ellis is a software developer and business development veteran with over 25 years of experience. Formerly the Global Technologist for Ford’s connected car business unit as well as an executive with Motorola, he has delivered award-winning products and programs including opensource.motorola.com, developer.motorola.com, SmartDeviceLink, MyFordMobile, and developer.ford.com. Ellis actively consults to clients on the space where automotive, consumer, connectivity and software all intersect as well as serves as the lead instructor for the Connected Vehicle Professional certificate course managed by the Society of Automotive Engineers, Connected Vehicle Trade Association and Mobile Comply.

• Roger C. Lanctot, Associate Director, Global Automotive Practice, Strategy Analytics

Roger Lanctot brings more than 25 years of experience in electronics industry market research, consulting and journalism to the board. Lanctot advises clients on in-vehicle safety, infotainment and connectivity systems anticipating market, regulatory, and technological developments in hardware, software and business models.

• Peter Marx, Chief Technology Officer, City of Los Angeles

Peter Marx oversees the implementation of new tools and technologies across L.A. city government to better solve problems for residents and make City Hall work more efficiently and effectively. In addition, he partners with L.A.'s growing tech industry to deploy innovative technology and promote local job creation. Before joining the Mayor's Office, Marx served as the Vice President of Business Development at Qualcomm Labs, Inc. and was the Vice President of the Technology and Digital Studio at Mattel, Inc.

• Chris McKillop, Manager, Android Platform, Google

Chris McKillop leads an engineering team responsible for living room and entertainment products within Google’s Android organization. He was previously Vice President of Software at Jawbone; Sr. Director, webOS Linux at Palm; Team Lead, iOS WiFi & Bluetooth at Apple and a Software Engineer at QNX Software Systems.

• Manuela Papadopol, Director, Global Marketing, Elektrobit

Manuela Papadopol is responsible for the overall development and execution of global marketing strategy for Elektrobit. She also holds a patent in voice-activated acquisition of non-local content. Prior to joining Elektrobit, Papadopol served as a global marketing manager for automotive programs at Microsoft and as global marketing manager at the Tweddle Group. She began her business career in public relations and marketing at BMW in 1996, moving to Mercedes Benz as a public relations manager in 2000. Fluent in German, Spanish, English and Romanian, she holds a degree in communications from the Romanian-American University in Bucharest and a post-graduate degree in public relations from the University of Washington.

• Danny Shapiro, Senior Director of Automotive, NVIDIA

Danny Shapiro is the Senior Director of NVIDIA’s automotive business unit focused on developing autonomous vehicle hardware and software platforms that integrate computer vision, deep learning and sensor fusion. He is a 25-year veteran of Silicon Valley tech firms, having served in marketing, business development and engineering roles.

• Geoff Snyder, Vice President of Business Development, Automotive and Connected Devices, Pandora

Geoff Snyder is focused on the extension of Pandora into vehicles and connected devices. As consumers demand better music experiences at home and in the car, he is focused on developing relationships with representatives of the world’s top automotive and consumer electronics brands, working as a liaison between engineering and business teams to make personalized radio widely available on-the-road and in the home.

• CCE Conference Director: Andy Gryc, Co-founder, CX3 Marketing

Andy Gryc is a well-known automotive technology evangelist whose reputation in the industry is rooted in his hands-on experience in the automotive and embedded trenches – software architecture and engineering, technical sales and product marketing – for well over two decades at companies like QNX, OnStar and HP. Through CX3 Marketing, he lends his industry knowledge, technology insights and marketing expertise to analysts, journalists and companies throughout the automotive industry.

The LA Auto Show and CCE will announce more details, including session and discussion topics and industry expert participants over the coming months. For more information, please visit http://www.connectedcarexpo.com and http://www.laautoshow.com/.

The Los Angeles Auto Show’s Connected Car Expo (CCE) announced its plans to establish the premier top ten list of the hottest and most influential startups to hit the automotive scene. Slated for reveal in September by Fortune, the inaugural shortlist will recognize startups with the potential to shape the future of the new automotive industry.

LA Auto Show’s Top Ten Automotive Startups (Top 10) will be selected by the CCE Advisory Board, comprised of senior executives from companies including Aeris Communications, AT&T, City of Los Angeles, Elektrobit, Ellis & Associates, Google, Microsoft, Mobile Electronics Group, NVIDIA, Pandora and Strategy Analytics.  Following the Board’s consideration and extensive analysis of qualified newcomers, ten startups will be chosen based on the following criteria: vision, innovation, unique perspective and the likelihood of technology adoption and success.

“Today’s automakers are looking at California’s technological hotbeds to spark their innovation, but there are thousands of companies competing to bring their technologies to market,” said Andy Gryc, CCE Conference Director.  “We feel that the startups identified by our Advisory Board will be the true standouts among a crowded field, companies that will push the envelope of the automotive world in ways that will change the way cars are built, bought and driven.”

Part of LA Auto Show’s broader Press & Trade Days, CCE is the award-winning conference and trade show that unites innovators, manufacturers, futurists and influencers to further the convergence of technology and the automobile.  This year’s CCE will be held at the JW Marriott at L.A. Live on Nov. 17, followed by LA Auto Show’s press and trade events at the Los Angeles Convention Center on Nov. 18-19.  CCE exhibitors and attendees with a premium pass can witness this year’s vehicle debuts and have access to an all-new CCE networking destination at the convention center.

Over the next few months, the LA Auto Show and CCE will announce more details about the 2015 show, including session/discussion topics and industry expert participants.

For more information visit www.ConnectedCarExpo.com and www.LAAutoShow.com.

Android Headlines -- It does seem increasingly likely that the connected car is going to be one of the next big things in technology. There is a good majority of people that drive their car on a daily basis either because they have to or because they want to. So naturally, if people could be connected there too, they will want to be, right?

Well, according to a new survey from Strategy Analytics, that answer is a little more complex than a simple yes or a no. A recent survey from Strategy Analytics asked consumers if they would be willing to pay extra money to have a Wi-Fi hotspot built into their new car.

According to the survey, 21 percent of U.S. consumers would be willing to pay that extra money. The same survey also points out that the 21 percent is down from the 24 percent that it was in the past. Why this decline in willingness to pay extra money for a connected car in today’s day and age happened, seems to be answered by another Strategy Analytics survey.

Read the rest of the story here: http://www.androidheadlines.com/2015/06/consumer-ad-paid-connected-car-services-preference-unclear.html

May 10, 2016  - GPS World -- Recent progress with Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC) Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) brings connected cars or V2X — connectivity between vehicles, infrastructure and all road users — closer to reality than ever before. If all goes well, an NHTSA mandate on DSRC in new light vehicles is expected to start around 2020 as a phase-in plan, with completion around 2025.

Regulations for aftermarket devices are expected to come soon after. The mandate is expected to leave auto OEMs to choose the applications and human-machine interface (HMI). This will be the culmination of more than a decade of technology development and standardization by U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), automotive OEMs and other industry partners.

Significance of V2X. According to USDOT, V2X technology can positively impact more than 80% of non-impaired vehicle crash types that result in over 30,000 deaths in the U.S. alone. A report by the Federal Highway Administration to Congress states that V2X technology is ready to be deployed in the near future and is expected to yield significant safety and efficiency benefits.

From a consumer’s perspective, V2X will be a part of a vehicle ADAS (Active Safety Driver Assistance System). Initial systems will provide information only, and these systems are expected to evolve into warning and control capabilities. In a future vehicle, information from multiple sensors including V2X will be combined/fused to generate a view of the surrounding environment. Figure 1 gives an example of such sensors including long- and short-range radar, lidar, cameras and V2X. V2X offers unique advantages over other sensors that depend on direct line-of-sight. Information can be received from vehicles not visible to other sensors, giving a much larger field of view. V2X can transmit information directly from traffic control devices, instead of inferring information from camera observations.

Read the rest here: http://gpsworld.com/connected-vehicles-road-ready-yet/

Forbes -- Increasingly smart cars (and smart homes) are becoming the center of our digital lives. At a minimum you want to play your music where ever you go, and control other aspects of personal comfort such as lighting and temperature. The convenience of the Internet of things means your personal comfort zone can follow you most anywhere, it doesn’t even have to be your own car or house. But most of us do not fully understand the security consequences of having all our logins and passwords stored inside external devices we may possess even if only temporarily.

“When I get a rental car,” said David Miller, Chief Security Officer for Covisint, “the last thing I do is pair my phone. It downloads all my contacts because that’s what it wants to do. In most rental cars you can go in and –if somebody’s paired with it—see their contacts.”

Unlike most people today Miller is thinking ahead to what happens next. “I spend all this time connecting my vehicle to my whole life,” he said, “and then in five years I sell it – how do I disconnect it from my whole life? I don’t want the guy who buys [my car] to be able to see my Facebook friends, so you have to de-provision. Security guys are much more interested in the security vulnerabilities around de-provisioning than provisioning.”

Miller’s company, Covisint, created by GM, Ford, and the former DaimlerChrysler, connects the automakers back end systems to a variety of supply chain vendors through the use of a single login and password. “We provide a cloud service that connects people and things with information that are external and separate from them.” Lately Covisint has taken that idea and applied it to the Internet of Things.

Read the rest of the story here: http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertvamosi/2015/05/04/dont-sell-that-connected-car-or-home-just-yet/

New Electronics -- Imagine you’re driving down the highway with the music blaring, enjoying the open road. Now imagine that the sound from your rear speaker system is delayed by a split second from the front; your enjoyment of the fancy in-car infotainment system comes to a screeching halt.

Ethernet is emerging as the network of choice for infotainment and advanced driver assistance systems that include cameras, telematics, rear-seat entertainment systems and mobile phones. A typical system is shown in fig 1. But standard Ethernet protocols can’t assure timely and continuous audio/video (A/V) content delivery for bandwidth intensive and latency sensitive applications without buffering, jitter, lags or other performance hits.

Audio-Video Bridging (AVB) over Ethernet is a collection of extensions to the IEEE802.1 specifications that enables local Ethernet networks to stream time synchronised, loss sensitive A/V data. Within an Ethernet network, the AVB extensions help differentiate AVB traffic from the non-AVB traffic that can also flow through the network. This is done using an industry standard approach that allows for plug and play communication between systems from multiple vendors.

The extensions that define the AVB standard achieve this by:

* reserving bandwidth for AVB data transfers to avoid packet loss due to network congestion from ‘talker’ to ‘listener(s)’

* establishing queuing and forwarding rules for AVB packets that keep packets from bunching and guarantee delivery of packets with a bounded latency from talker to listener(s) via intermediate switches, if needed

* synchronising time to a global clock so the time bases of all network nodes are aligned precisely to a common network master clock, and

* creating time aware packets which include a ‘presentation time’ that specifies when A/V data inside a packet has to be played.

Designers of automotive A/V systems need to understand the AVB extensions and requirements and how their chosen microcontroller will support that functionality.

AVB: a basket of standards

AVB requires that three extensions be met in order to comply with IEEE802.1:

* IEEE802.1AS – timing and synchronisation for time-sensitive applications (gPTP)

* IEEE802.1Qat – stream reservation protocol (SRP)

* IEEE802.1Qav – forwarding and queuing for time-sensitive streams (FQTSS).

In order to play music or video from one source – such as a car’s head unit – to multiple destinations, such as backseat monitors, amplifiers and speakers, the system needs a common understanding of time in order to avoid lags or mismatch in sound or video. IEEE802.1AS-2011 specifies how to establish and maintain a single time reference – a synchronised ‘wall clock’ – for all nodes in a local network. The generalised precision time protocol (gPTP), based on IEEE1588, is used to synchronise and syntonise all network nodes to sub-microsecond accuracy. Nodes are synchronised if their clocks show the same time and are syntonised if their clocks increase at the same rate.

- See more at: http://www.newelectronics.co.uk/electronics-technology/how-ethernet-avb-is-playing-a-central-role-in-automotive-streaming-applications/108329/#sthash.KGiYCn1h.dpuf

9-19-2016, C3 Report -- While attending the Further with Ford conference at the company’s headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan, earlier this week, the automaker’s old-fashioned script logo at the entrance to the building caught my eye. Probably because I’d watched several episodes of HBO’s Silicon Valley on the plane ride to Detroit; its opening title sequence features tech company logos vying for attention. At Ford, its old-school insignia seemed out of step with its ambitions to remake itself as a mobility company rivaling the likes of Uber, Google, and others.

Technology has certainly created Kodak moments for many long-established and iconic companies, and some predict the same thing will occur in the auto industry. While Ford isn’t the only car company making this transition into mobility, it has been one of the most aggressive. It plans, for example, to build and deploy fully self-driving vehicles for an autonomous ride-sharing service in five years; check out a hands on with Ford’s latest self-driving car from our sister site ExtremeTech. Last week, it also acquired van-pool service Chariot and announced plans to expand bike-sharing in the Bay Area.

The Further with Ford event featured a parade of company executives in a carefully choreographed series of discussions and presentations. But at the same time, I found the company’s kingpins, and particularly executive chairman and company scion Bill Ford, unusually candid about the opportunities and challenges the automaker faces in moving from selling vehicles to marketing mobility.

In an opening session, CEO Mark Fields suggested that vehicle miles traveled will be more important than number of vehicle sold. Product chief Raj Nair noted that Ford is intentionally disrupting its century-old business model of vehicle sales since the change is inevitable.

But few things provoke a stronger reaction from auto industry veterans than the idea that car companies are dinosaurs that will be eventually usurped by Silicon Valley. In an onstage interview, Bill Ford, the great-grandson of the company’s founder, acknowledged that “it’s not just Google and Apple, but it’s start-ups of people spinning out of Google and Apple” with which Ford will have to compete.

Read the rest of the story HERE.

June 30, 2016, CThreeReport -- The fourth-annual C3 Connected Mobility Conference at CE Week drew a record crowd on June 22 at the Metropolitan Pavilion in Manhattan. “As this space evolves and expands, we’re seeing entirely new segments of attendees,” said Doug Newcomb, President and Co-founder of the C3 Group. “This year’s C3 Connected Mobility Conference attracted attendees from not only automotive and media, but also included a strong showing from the financial industry, academia, policymakers and social media influencers.

The fourth-annual C3 Connected Mobility Conference kicked off with a presentation by Akshay Anand, Manager of Commercial Insights for Kelley Blue Book, highlighting research the company conducted on ride-sharing and car-sharing on the auto industry, showing how these two new forms of mobility are “not an immediate threat to car buying.”

This dovetailed with the topic of the first panel, How Car-Sharing and Ride-Sharing Are Reshaping the Auto Industry, which featured Anand, Steve Banfield, CEO of BMW ReachNow, and Michael Mikos, CFO and Director of Business Development for Daimler’s Car2Go, and moderated by C3’s Doug Newcomb.  Panelists from BMW and Daimler stressed the value of trusted brands as consumers gain acceptance of the new technology and explore how to adopt car-sharing and ride-sharing into their mobility choices.

The second panel explored the Financial and Societal Impact of Self-Driving Cars, and featured Peter Esser, General Representative of Washington Operations for NXP Semiconductors, Bryan Reimer, Associate Director of the New England Transportation Center and a Research Scientist at MIT’s AgeLab, and Tushar Sethi, a Director at Quid, with Catherine McCullough, Director of Intelligent Car Coalition, serving as moderator. Topics include the liability and ethics implications of self-driving technology.

Read the rest of the story HERE.

12-12-2016, Slash Gear -- There are eighty-six seconds before the traffic lights are due to turn from red to green, plenty of time to pull my phone out of my pocket and check Twitter. Fifty-four seconds, and I channel surf on the radio, ignoring the flashing lights and eager billboards of the Las Vegas strip around me. Fifteen seconds, just enough time for a quick gulp of water, and then my hands are ready on the wheel, foot poised on the gas, ready to pull away.

It’s a mighty relaxing way to deal with traffic, and though the shiny new Audi I’m driving doesn’t exactly hurt when it comes to cosseting, it’s the groundbreaking technology baked into this connected car that can really take the credit. Freshly powered-up in Las Vegas, NV, Audi’s Traffic Light Information (TFI) is one of the very first steps down the road of Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I). Cars that hold entire conversations with the cities they’re driven in, an encrypted back-channel intended to keep the roads flowing and your blood pressure down.

This isn’t the first time traffic light information has been served up to drivers, but it’s probably the most high-tech. Some countries have timers mounted on the signals themselves; a handful of cities have experimented with (and abandoned) short-range, radio-based systems, the individual lights communicating with compatible cars nearby. There are lifehack-style workarounds, of course, like watching the countdown on pedestrian crossings in the US to figure out when the lights are likely to switch.

Read the rest of the stoyr HERE.

JPost -- Japanese motor company, Honda, made its formal entrance in Israel's tech market, seeking local technology for connected cars at the OurCrowd annual summit.

“Our presence at this conference is actually Honda’s first formal entrance to Israel’s technology community. Having come here from silicon valley, I can tell you that I’m very impressed with the innovative and entrepreneurial culture and spirit of the start-up nation,” said Nick Sugimoto, the Senior Program Director of Honda's Silicon Valley Lab.

Honda, he said, was searching for Israeli technology to develop smart car apps through its Honda Developer Studio, and others to participate in its accelerator program called Honda XCelerator. The eventual goal, he added, was to eventually make Honda vehicles completely collision free.

OurCrowd, an equity crowd-funding platform, presented several companies working in the connected car space. VocalZoom, for example, offers a voice recognition system that uses lasers to detect vocal vibration and separate words out from background noise. The company expects the technology to be available in cars by 2018, which will help drivers keep their eyes on the road while dealing with their car's various functions.

Read the rest here: http://www.jpost.com/Business-and-Innovation/Tech/Honda-comes-to-Israel-for-connected-car-tech-442694

U.S. drivers can find, route to, reserve and pay for parking at lots, garages and meters directly from the dasboard

Nashville, TN – May 18, 2016 –INRIX, Inc., a leading provider of dynamic connected car services worldwide, and Parkmobile, the leading provider of on-demand and prepaid mobile payments for on- and off- street parking and mobility solutions, announced a strategic partnership at the annual International Parking Institute (IPI) conference to jointly develop an embedded, end-to-end parking solution for the auto industry. The partnership will bring together availability, reservations and payments for both on-street and off-street parking into a seamless in-car navigation experience.

“The ecosystem of mobile and parking solutions is complex and fragmented. To date, the industry has not consolidated all the services, capabilities and parking inventory into a single solution. Through our coordinated development efforts with INRIX, we will deliver a holistic parking solution the auto industry can deploy quickly and efficiently into the connected car. We strongly believe our partnership with INRIX will contribute to realizing Parkmobile’s vision of improving the quality of people’s lives through convenience, efficiency and immediacy,” said Jon Ziglar, CEO of Parkmobile.

Atlanta-based Parkmobile is the largest provider of mobile payments for on- and off-street parking and mobility-related services for municipalities, universities, commercial operators and transit facilities in the U.S. Parkmobile’s solutions are available in 35 of the top 100 U.S. cities, including Washington D.C., Los Angeles, Atlanta, Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, Fort Worth, Indianapolis and Houston. More than four million people use Parkmobile’s services over 27 million times per year, making it the most widely used mobile parking solution in the country.

“An end-to-end parking solution is a game changer for the auto industry, and Parkmobile is a key component in ensuring INRIX is the go-to-market provider,” said Alex Israel, Vice President and General Manager – Parking at INRIX. “The entire industry – from automakers to parking suppliers to drivers – will benefit from INRIX’s extensive ecosystem of parking services.”

INRIX launched the industry’s first dynamic off-street parking service in 2013, followed by the first integrated on-street parking solution in June 2015. In August 2015, INRIX acquired ParkMe, a leader in parking location, availability and reservations worldwide. The company was recently recognized by SBD for its comprehensive and accurate parking data in the U.S. and Europe. INRIX Parking currently includes street-level parking information in over 40 cities worldwide, and an off-street parking database with more than 29 million spaces in over 90,000 locations spanning 4,000 cities in 65 countries. INRIX is the preferred provider of parking information and services to leading automakers, including Audi, BMW, Lexus and Porsche, as well as transportation agencies and drivers around the world.

Parks Associates forecasts US will have 169 million actively connected cars by 2022

North Andover, MA, April 29, 2019 – InstallerNet recently announced it will partner with Parks Associates to present the Connected Car Corner at their upcoming CONNECTIONS™ conference taking place May 21-23 in San Francisco, CA. The exhibit will highlight the role of smart automotive and mobile solutions in the smart home ecosystem.

New connected car research from Parks Associates reveals 4% of US broadband households have an in-car voice assistant device, such as the Amazon Echo Auto, Roav Viva, or Muse Auto, and 9% plan to buy one in the next 12 months. The research firm estimates the US will have 169 million actively connected cars, 56% of all light vehicles, by 2022.

“We are thrilled to partner with InstallerNet, a leader in both connected car and home services, to launch the first Connected Car Corner at CONNECTIONS™, highlighting the growing importance of the connected car in the smart home ecosystem,” said Elizabeth Parks, President, Parks Associates. “The market is early but emerging, with several mobile solutions companies discovering how best to treat the automobile like another room in the home. Nearly 10% of US broadband households are planning to buy an in-car voice assistant device and add new features for connected cars offering innovative safety, comfort, and infotainment services.”

The CONNECTIONS™ Showcase Area highlights the latest innovations from leading IoT and smart home companies, and the Connected Car Corner, by InstallerNet, will host companies with specific solutions and technologies for the connected car.
“InstallerNet has been integrating innovative electronics in the automobile since 2006, helping device manufacturers design, test, and install their vehicle solutions nationwide. The connected car continues to disrupt several industries with enhanced business models and will play a significant role in autonomous driving,” said Tony Frangiosa, CEO, InstallerNet. “We are excited about working with CONNECTIONS™ to showcase some of these leading technology companies.”

CONNECTIONS™ also features the special session “Connected Cars: Extension for the Smart Home,” which will provide insight on new revenue streams and business models emerging out of the connected car, the impact on auto insurance, and best marketing strategies to capture consumer interest. The session features executives from Gentex Corporation, Mojio, NXP, Owl Cameras, and SoundHound.

The event will host more than 650 high-level executives in an intimate networking environment. CONNECTIONS™ includes a mix of market research, analysis, and industry insight designed to capture the complexity and opportunities in these interconnected markets.
Connected Car Corner, by InstallerNet, will feature companies with specific solutions and technology for the connected car. If your company is interested in participating in the Connected Car Corner, please contact Bill Ali at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., 978-645-6435.

About CONNECTIONS™
Parks Associates' 23nd-annual CONNECTIONS™: The Premier Connected Home Conference will take place May 21-23, 2019, at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport in San Francisco. CONNECTIONS™ is the premier connected home event hosting more than 600 executives from the connected entertainment, IoT, and smart home industries. CONNECTIONS™ provides networking opportunities combined with two days of visionary keynotes and conference sessions focused on technology adoption and trends, product and service forecasts, evaluation of new business strategies, and recommendations for strategic partnerships, monetization opportunities, and value-added service design. The event also features a research workshop highlighting Parks Associates’ smart home insight consumer data.

About InstallerNet InstallerNet is an installation solutions provider for the consumer electronics industry delivering content, technology, services, and logistics to CE retailers, manufacturers and installers. The company specializes in merchandising and coordinating consumer electronics installation services through the nation’s largest network of independently owned home and mobile electronics installers. It has developed a unique approach to better merchandise services through its branded InstallCard, that allows retailers to sell professional services like a gift card. Visit us at InstallerNet.com.

At last month’s LA Auto Show, many automakers were eager to show off their newest features in the coming year’s models. Among the most talked about features were those related to the connected car. To learn more, we sat down with two of the top automakers regarding next year’s models and what each has in store for the future of the connected car.

Company Name: BMW

Representatives: David J. Buchko of Advanced Powertrain and Heritage Communications, and Eric Sargent, Product Manager for ConnectedDrive

From a technology standpoint, what is BMW doing for the consumer experience in the car? This includes the audio, infotainment and telematics aspects.

It all comes back to the phones in the car. BMW ConnectedDrive, which is our umbrella term for the technologies we have in the car that keep the driver connected. There are several areas: Driver-assistance systems, integrated services in the car and phone integration. When the customer brings the phone into the car they get access to BMW online, which gives them stock prices, fuel prices, real-time traffic information and access to BMW apps that allow them to connect the phone to the car. We work with third-party app makers to help them (with) making their apps work with our car. From the consumer side of it we’re not asking them to do anything differently; we’re letting them use what they usually use for the phone but just bringing it into the car. The customer has the same app on the phone but can now put the phone down and control that app through the iDrive controller.

Is there a touch screen element to the UI (User Interface)?

There is no touch screen in our cars; it’s just the iDrive chip. There is a heads-up display but it is positioned a little bit higher than a traditional touch screen would be.  The driver uses the iDrive knob to select different options within the ConnectedDrive. It’s almost the mouse to screen approach. That way you can have one hand on the wheel and one on the console.

How will this technology hold up five years from now?

The BMW app platform has been around for about two-and-a-half years. With the emergence of new apps, the customer does not have do anything new to the car. The hardware will remain the same. We built an SDK (Software Development Kit) platform and work with our app partners to keep the apps updated.

How does the phone connect to the car?

There are two ways to connect your phone to the car: the regular way of connecting the phone through a USB port, and there is a spot in the center console to place the phone that does wireless charging, connected the phone via the satellite antenna and there is a fan that cools the phone while it charges. All the apps we currently have align with only the iPhone, but in July we announced that we now have Android compatibility. We’re working with Android app developers to integrate that technology for our customers. There is a USB port that works for charging any device.

Regarding hardware versus software upgrades, if a customer purchases a navigation package and finds there are critical updates needed, do they have to purchase new hardware? Or is that currently an available feature as a software upgrade?

Right now, that’s hardware because you do have to have the GPS antenna in the car. There are also aftermarket devices that could be installed in the car. We are moving towards the way of software over the need for hardware, but I’m not sure when we’ll be able to 100 percent separate the need for hardware from software. There is a lot of potential for phone integrations because phones get updated quickly and automotive hardware by consumer electronics standards operates at a glacial pace. Our model cycles are typically seven years with a mid-life cycle of three years. By that time the consumer will be on their third or fourth phone.

Regarding safety, how does the consumer remain safe with all the apps in the vehicle?

The way it’s designed by our teams, they made sure that it’s safe for a driver by utilizing lean integration. For example, on the cloud player it’s very much lead implementation. There are a couple of things you can do. There is a menu bar where you can say “What’s playing next?” and skip to another song. You can search for music on the cloud or search for music on your device; then there’s skip forward and skip back, which is really all you need to do when you drive. These features are the same when the car is stopped. Some would argue that we’ve come at app development somewhat slowly. That’s because we’re very careful about evaluating each app. We don’t advocate an open platform of throwing an app in there when it’s first created. There are certain things that could create a distraction for the driver that we want to avoid. 

What are your key safety features?

We have adapted cruise control and have something we announced earlier this year. The vast majority of our cars have advanced automatic collision notification with the BMW Assist function. There are two options: one is an SOS button that notifies our emergency call center; the other is in the event of an accident it will automatically call someone in our call center and send over all relevant data like where the accident occurred, how many people were in the car, were their seatbelts fastened? It sends over something called an urgency algorithm that helps the call center know what’s the likelihood of injury and they use that information to send over when they call the emergency response units that go to the scene. This technology came about when a man named Dr. Jeffrey Augenstein from, a pioneer in trauma surgery based out of Miami, was bothered with the idea that people would come in to the hospital and appeared to be perfectly fine but would later die due to some unforeseen trauma. He came to us with the idea that we could take the data from the crash sensors and use that to predict the likelihood that somebody might suffer a severe injury and transmit that likelihood to the emergency crews. That was something we worked really hard on with the folks in Miami. Ten years of service with BMW Assist is now standard as part of the BMW brand experience. It’s just a little SOS button but a lot of people don’t know what’s behind it. It’s a big thing.

Company Name: Chrysler

Representatives: Aamir Ahmed, UConnect Marketing and Advertising

What is Chrysler doing for the in-car customer experience?

The aftermarket had a leg up on us for a while because they were the first to incorporate large touch screens into vehicles. Step one was to have a connected radio to keep the cars fresh. The key thing was, when we launch new applications today, whether it be a Ram truck today versus a Ram truck a year ago, we wanted to make sure our customers are able to get the same experience. That goes for not just a new owner but if a customer goes to auto trader to buy a used car and finds that they don’t have navigation, they can have it added after-the-fact. If they have one of the 8.4s we can add navigation to it with dealer. We’re designing an eco-system where we can keep updating these cars. We’re building better and better cars that people are holding on to for a long time.

Where do you see personal electronics integrating into vehicles?

If you look at smartphone buyers, half of them say they plan on using their phone by hand if it’s not integrated into the car. Our objective as a responsible carmaker is to make sure that that phone is as integrated into the car as possible so they’re not at the device. People look at the screen size and ask why it’s that size. We didn’t do that arbitrarily. We could do a larger screen if we want to. Our objective is to provide as many carrots to drivers as possible like voice messaging, Internet radio. What we’re trying to do is get the phones out of people’s hands. We’re trying to improve the driving experience in a sense that you’re confident behind the wheel of your car because you’re not distracted by a peripheral device, but also because you understand how your system works. You can use the touch-screen or knobs to interact.

That’s what we’ve done with Uconnect. We’ve tried to develop a system that’s very feature-laden, but at the same time we’re not developing a checklist of features with cross-modalities, we’re trying to make sure that we have what the customer is looking for with an easy to use and easy to learn experience. We’re designing an in-vehicle experience that doesn’t work without a holistic interior design approach. That’s why when you look at the Durango’s and Grand Cherokee’s they aren’t just one experience, they all blend in to form this interior design approach. We also take common in-car features and make them our own; things like adaptive cruise control, lane guidance and lane system, those aren’t necessarily our features but we make sure they’re integrated in a relevant way to the vehicle. For instance, if the brake is on and a call comes through while you’re driving, it’ll be muted until you take the brake off so your focus is on the road. If someone says we’re late to the party with something, we’re not. We’re bringing the best one to the party. If you’re the life of the party, that’s what matters. That’s what we’re best at, bringing stuff that works and brings the customer experience to a new level. The most important thing is that it actually helps your drive.

How important is the audio quality for your customer?

Huge. That’s why for certain partners we allow them to change the bit rate they bring in. If you can change the bit rate so you’re not using as much data, go for it. Also, we’re improving our sound system. I think we’ve got a great stable of premium audio suppliers (JL Audio, Harman, Alpine). People always joke, why do we have so many brands? Last year CNET awarded us best audio system for the Charger. We’re not asking you to spend $8,000 on an audio system. Audio absolutely matters to us. Across the board it’s something we’re going to improve. It’s filling our niches for our customers that some others in the marketplace might not be doing but we’re doing in a different manner. Entertainment is a sensory experience. It’s about making something that’s highly technical seem less technical to a consumer. I don’t care how a car is built; I just want it to work how I want it to work. We’re trying to build great cars, where some of the other people out there are just trying to build brands. We’d rather sell great cars.

The organizers of the Los Angeles Auto Show (LA Auto Show®) and Connected Car Expo announced today that 50 vehicle debuts, important business announcements and technological breakthroughs, shaping the future of the industry, highlight this year’s Press & Trade Days. An anticipated 20,000 auto and tech industry leaders, including more than 4,500 media from 60 countries, will gather in Los Angeles Nov 17, 18 & 19.

This year, breaking news will come not only from the auto manufacturers but from automotive technology companies as the two industries continue to collaborate and converge.

A few of the Show’s many global vehicle premieres include Buick’s redesigned LaCrosse, Land Rover’s all-new Range Rover Evoque Convertible and the new 2016 Nissan Sentra. In addition, Mitsubishi Motors will unveil the 2016 Outlander Sport with the company’s new Dynamic Shield design language, as well as the newly designed 2017 Mirage. Porsche will globally introduce the Cayman GT4 Clubsport racecar, designed for multiple racing series in North America. Not to be outdone, Scion will introduce a concept car which shows the company’s design direction for a new iconic vehicle.

Other vehicle debuts include Infiniti’s QX30 crossover, Hyundai’s Elantra, Kia’s next generation Sportage and Jaguar’s first performance SUV, the F-PACE. Elio Motors, Fiat, Ford Motor Company, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Subaru, Volvo and Volkswagen are keeping their debut plans under wraps until closer to the show. Automakers presenting North American reveals include Alfa Romeo, Audi, BMW and MINI.

This year’s vehicle debuts will deliver production and concept vehicles representing the ever-growing luxury, performance, low and zero emission categories. They range from flagship SUVs and ultra-luxury sedans to new compact entries and zero-emission production and prototypes.

Beyond the auto debuts, several companies will make important announcements about alternative fuel strategies, technology partnerships, new product releases and breakthrough technologies that begin to frame the future of the auto industry. To date, companies that have announced their intentions to make technology news include Volvo, Hyundai, Quanergy Systems, OpenCar and KPMG, to name a few.

“This year’s news comes from many sources and it’s fascinating to witness the dramatic and swift changes transforming the automotive business,” said LA Auto Show President, Lisa Kaz. “With all the new opportunities arising so rapidly in the automotive industry, we expect this year’s event to be the most exciting yet.”

For the third consecutive year, the LA Auto Show’s Connected Car Expo (CCE) will kick-off Press & Trade Days on November 17. This opening day will be dedicated to the convergence of technology and the automobile and will occupy virtually the entire JW Marriott at the adjacent L.A. Live entertainment complex. The Connected Car Expo features over 40 exhibitors and sponsors, an entire day of presentations, news announcements and networking opportunities.

The two remaining Press & Trade days will continue at the Los Angeles Convention Center (November 18 & 19) with the support of major sponsors Autotrader, Pirelli and State Farm.

Registration for the Show is now open. CCE exhibitors and attendees with a three-day pass will be able to witness this year’s vehicle reveals and have access to an all-new CCE networking destination at the convention center.

For more information visit www.ConnectedCarExpo.com and www.LAAutoShow.com.

Automotive News -- Nissan is working to leverage its early lead in electric vehicles for bigger strides in autonomy and connectivity. Richard Candler, Nissan Europe's head of advanced product planning, provided details in an interview with Automotive News Europe Correspondent Olive Keogh.

Q: What is your definition of the fully connected car?

A: Autonomous, connected, electric. They just work so well together.

How soon will that happen?

We are launching a system next year that can manage traffic jams on the motorway, for example. By 2020, we will have cars that can basically drive themselves in every situation.

What's the most expensive part of connected-car solutions?

It depends on the implementation. We have the smartphone solution that is relatively inexpensive and the more expensive black-box solution. As the technology becomes more mainstream and costs reduce, we will start to see embedded solutions or a combination of embedded and smartphone systems becoming more common.

How advanced is Nissan's rollout of connected-car services?

We already have full connectivity on all of our EVs. This includes services such as a charging points download that tells customers where charging points are. We have a smartphone integration system on our other cars with access to services such as Google search and TripAdvisor. 

Read the rest of the story here: http://www.autonews.com/article/20160208/OEM06/302089985/nissan-plans-big-strides-in-connectivity