Ford and Toyota 'The in-car experience': Weekly Brief—8.29.11

Andrew

Andrew Tolve

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29th August 2011

Ford and Toyota agreed to work together to complement their existing telematics platform standards.

The companies acknowledged that telematics plays an increasingly important role in the in-car experience and that they hope to bring more Internet-based services and useful information to consumers globally.

Ford has pioneered solutions like SYNC and MyFord Touch. Toyota has invested in services like Entune and G-Link.

The telematics collaboration moving forward will relate only to standards and technologies; each company will continue to separately develop their own in-vehicle products and features.

“Working together on in-vehicle standards can only enhance our customers’ experience with their vehicles,” says Derrick Kuzak, Ford group vice president, Global Product Development.

“By sharing our know-how and experience, we would like to offer even better telematics services in the future,” says Takeshi Uchiyamada, Toyota executive vice president, Research & Development.

Microsoft released the “We’re In” app for Windows Phone. The app allows users to see where their friends and family are—as long as those friends and family opt in to allow their location to be shared.

Once the invitation expires, so does the shared location. The app aims to facilitate get-togethers, meeting in a crowd, and carpooling. Microsoft plans to release the app to more devices in the coming year.

Parrot unveiled “Parrot ASTEROID,” a new generation of car receiver that combines advanced hands-free telephony with access to web services.

The solution is adapted to aftermarket and OEM and is the first car receiver working on the Android operating system.

Once connected to a GPS dongle (provided with the product) and a 3G key (not provided), it enables access to innovative web services, like geo-localisation, driving assistance, contact management, and music through TuneIn.

ASTEROID will be available in October 2011 at the recommended retail price of $349.

Volkswagen announced that its new small car, the Up!, will feature a mobile personal infotainment device (PID) called “maps + more.”

The system was designed in cooperation with Navigon and organizes navigation, telephone, information and entertainment. The device simply snaps into place above the center console.

Navigation, telephone and infotainment can be controlled and viewed via the maps + more touchscreen, which can also be used to view vehicle information like parking sensor displays.

BMW of North America partnered with MOG to develop a new BMW Apps Certified App. The app will bring MOG’s on-demand streaming music service to BMW vehicles equipped with the BMW Apps smartphone app integration option.

On-demand streaming music features will allow BMW drivers unlimited, ad-free listening to any artist, album, or song at any time from virtually anywhere.

The two companies will demonstrate a beta version of the app at the North American press launch of the new 6 Series Coupe.

Chip specialist NXP Semiconductors announced the transceiver and system basis chip UJA1168, the first integrated solution to support CAN Partial Networking.

CAN Partial Networking is an innovation in power efficiency that enables OEMs to reduce CO2 emissions from vehicles.

NXP’s chip gives design engineers precision control over a vehicle's bus communication network. By intelligently de-activating electronic control units that are currently not needed, engineers can reduce vehicle fuel consumption and CO2 emissions without sacrificing performance or consumer experience.

Engineering samples are currently available, with volume shipping commencing in 2012.

The automotive microelectromechanical system (MEMS) sensor market will reach new heights in 2012, leaving behind the ups and downs of the last two years, including the impact of the recent Japan earthquake, according to the new data from IHS iSuppli.

MEMS sensors enable state-of-the-art safety systems like tire-pressure monitoring and vehicle stabilization control. Global automotive MEMS sensor revenue will jump 16 percent in 2012 to $2.31 billion on its way to $2.93 billion in 2015, the iSupli data forecasts.

The overall five-year compound annual growth rate from 2010 to 2015 is projected at 9 percent.

The GENIVI Alliance announced that the Linux Foundation's MeeGo IVI Project has been approved as GENIVI compliant.

The Linux Foundation's software solution joins GENIVI members Canonical, Mentor Graphics, MontaVista, and Wind River as the first to have offerings approved as GENIVI compliant, enabling them to qualify for OEM request for proposals requiring GENIVI compliant products.

"GENIVI members have a productive history leveraging the MeeGo platform in various ways," says Steve Crumb, executive director of the GENIVI Alliance.

“GENIVI members can now have the confidence that this platform, along with the other four GENIVI compliant platforms, has met the criteria of the GENIVI compliance program.”