Behind the Wheel, Not All Distractions Are Equal. Cassidy: Silicon Valley has become the new Motor City. Back in the bleak days of the dot-com bust, a number of naysayers would sum up Silicon Valley's sorry state by wondering whether the region was on its way to becoming the next Detroit.
Now a decade later, you could argue it's come to pass -- that the valley has more in common with Detroit than it ever has. But the funny thing? Connected Cars: Not Just Science Fiction Anymore. With consumers these days living ever more mobile and connected lives, it seems only natural that we'd move toward a more connected automobile.
After all, the average urban American spends the equivalent of 8.3 days a year commuting, according to The Rockefeller Foundation, so why not bring the comforts of home to the car? The idea of the connected car is nothing new. Connected Car App Users Accelerating 40-Fold by 2016 — Mobile Technology News. Consumers Accelerate Demand for Connected Cars. Automatic transmission, one-button door lock and alarm set, built-in GPS navigation, cameras and sensors for maneuvering in tight spots – soon these may seem like standard conveniences compared to new technologies moving into the mainstream this year, according to some auto industry In-Vehicle Infotainment (IVI) experts.
According to one study more than 42 million cars are expected to be equipped with Internet access by 2017. It appears automakers are embracing the Internet in a big way this year as they climb back from the auto industry crash of 2008-2009. According to Instat research, 15 million IVI systems will be sold this year, with more than 35 million expected to ship by 2015. Embedded with Innovation—M2M Technology makes Cars Connected and Context-Aware. A Ride in the Car of the Future. Car tech. Intel Goes MeeGo, With or Without Nokia. Intel planned to further entice developers with a MeeGo user experience reference platform and a handful of shipping MeeGo applications.
Without Nokia's full support, the message fell a bit flat. (click image for larger view) Slideshow: Intel Showcases MeeGo Tablet UI And Other Apps Despite Nokia's insistence that it is still very much behind MeeGo, Intel is going to the mobile platform dance stag. It would be easy to feel sorry for them if it hadn't felt like a mistake from the beginning.
The MeeGo tablet user experience will run on two standard hardware devices -- the Exo PC (a Windows slate that MeeGo will run on top of) and Wetab (from 4iitoo in Germany). Distracted Driving to Be Eliminated with Technology. After years of efforts proved that there is little the authorities can do to force drivers into not texting or talking on the phone while driving, a new approach might be tried later in the year, provided the results of a new study are conclusive.
More precisely, if asking nicely doesn't work, then perhaps using technology against the distracted drivers might have an effect. The University of Michigan’s Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) will kick off a three-month study on how the phone filter/blocker technologies can be used to limit or even eliminate distracted driving. Two types of devices will be tested during the study: application-on-device (phone) solutions, which are based on GPS technology and will detect if the owner of the phone and the phone itself is on the move, and then act accordingly, and software-based solutions, built into the vehicle. » Preventing the Epidemic. Introducing the CallToPark App for iPhone(R) SOURCE: OmniPark March 22, 2011 13:57 ET SPOKANE, WA--(Marketwire - March 22, 2011) - OmniPark, a leading provider of parking management products and services, announced today the release of the CallToPark Pay by Phone Parking for iPhone, available now and can be downloaded from the App Store(SM).
"The CallToPark app will make it easy and convenient for parkers to find and pay for parking throughout the United States in a few seconds," said Dave Talarico, CEO of OmniPark. "The app will let you know where the closest CallToPark location is and once you arrive, you can park and pay from your iPhone quickly. " Imagine not having to stand in the rain or snow to pay for parking at the meter. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Video Drives Traffic Management Systems, Every morning and evening rush hour, commuters in the Greater Houston area drive under the watchful eyes of Houston TranStar.
Using about 730 pan-tilt-zoom cameras made by Sony and Cohu, staff within the agency’s vast “traffic management center” (TMC) redirect traffic using electronic overhead signs and local media, as well as dispatch police, ambulances and tow trucks when trouble occurs. by James Careless The time and money saved is substantial, according to A&M University’s Texas Transportation Institute (TTI). In 2009 alone, Houston TranStar’s efforts reduced motorists’ drive time by almost 11.3 million vehicle hours.
TTI says, this works out to $227 million saved in fuel and related vehicle costs. To monitor the nearly 400 miles of road in the Houston area, Houston TranStar uses a range of sensing devices beyond video cameras, including in-road weight sensors. Microsoft and Toyota: Connected Car in the Cloud. Microsoft and Toyota announced today they will form a partnership to deliver next-generation telematics solutions for Toyota’s customers.
Telematics can range from GPS to in car emergency call services but also include remote battery charging management in new electronic vehicles. From the Microsoft press release: “TMC’s goal is to establish a complete global cloud platform by 2015 that will provide affordable and advanced telematics services to Toyota automotive customers around the world.” “Today’s announcement of our partnership with TMC is a great example of how we continue to invest in the automotive industry and of our commitment to power the services that are important to consumers,” said Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.
“It further validates the power of the cloud, as the Windows Azure platform will provide the enterprise-grade, scalable platform that TMC needs to deliver telematics in its automobiles worldwide.” New Car Connectivity Consortium aims to put in-vehicle infotainment into high gear. WEBWIRE – Wednesday, March 16, 2011 Cross industry initiative: Leading automotive mobile communications and consumer electronics companies join a new consortium for in-vehicle connectivity solutions in standards such as Terminal Mode, NFC and more.
Espoo, Finland - The Car Connectivity Consortium was launched today by eleven companies across several industries, driving global innovation for in-vehicle connectivity, including the “Terminal Mode” standard. Founding members include vehicle manufacturers Daimler, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai Motor Company, Toyota, and Volkswagen; system suppliers Alpine and Panasonic; and consumer electronics makers LG Electronics, Nokia and Samsung. With the Terminal Mode standard, the connection of high-performing mobile devices to vehicle-based systems opens up a host of new opportunities for business and a world of innovative applications for consumers.
Microsoft and Toyota Use Cloud to Connect Cars, Homes and Users: Tech News and Analysis « Microsoft and Toyota are jointly investing $12 million in a bid to build a cloud-based platform that will connect cars, homes and electrical smart grids.
The joint venture, announced today, will be run out of Toyota Media Services and will leverage Microsoft’s Windows Azure cloud computing service, creating a platform for mobility apps that can encompass communication, GPS, power management and safety. The companies see the partnership as a way to build next-generation telematics systems that can touch a wide array of end points and allow users to almost carry on conversations with their cars, their homes and the smart grid.
2011 Microsoft/Toyota News Conference - Introduction/Steve Ballmer. 210 Million Connected Cars by 2016. London, United Kingdom - 06 Apr 2011 The installed base of embedded and hybrid connected car systems is expected to grow from 45 million at the end of 2011 to 210 million by 2016. Many different flavors of connected car implementations contribute to this trend: Global Commercial Telematics Shipments to Exceed 6.4 Million by 2016.
London, United Kingdom - 07 Apr 2011 Global shipments of commercial telematics equipment will increase from 1.94 million in 2011 to 6.43 million in 2016. While North America is still the leading market, Asia-Pacific is set for strong growth driven by economic expansion, a booming automotive industry, and urgent requirements to use increasingly scarce resources more efficiently. In-car computing, smartphones, and the future of cars. Over the course of our series on the Future of Cars, a clear picture has emerged of where traffic flow is headed in the next few years. If today's traffic is like a bloom of bacteria that responds collectively to changes in the environment, then tomorrow's networked traffic, where all the cars are linked to the road, to the cloud, and to one another by a wireless nervous system, will be more like a fully formed, adaptive and evolving organism.
In addition to the existing network of sensors already embedded in roads and highways, the cars themselves will become collections of sensors enmeshed in a peer-to-peer wireless network, with some master nodes on that network connected to the cloud via 4G. MeeGo becomes infotainment operating system of choice for BMW. Saab shows off Android-based IQon in-car infotainment system. Intel Working on Black Box for Your Car. Library - Intelligent Transportation & Connected Vehicle Monitor. GM's New Standalone OnStar Mirror Works on Most Cars - 2011 Consumer Electronics Show. General Motors made several announcements regarding OnStar at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show (CES).
Internet: A New Driving Force for Auto Content - Automotive Market Research at iSuppli. Global Automotive Telematics Shipments to Expand by Factor of Four by 2016 - iSuppli. Researchers Hack Into Cars’ Electronics. Editorial: Connected Cars – When Reality Superceedes Sci-Fi. BMW Connected app hits iOS App Store, 'Apps' function hitting vehicles next year. Ford's My Touch System Bring WiFi and Apps to Cars. Pimp your ride with Intel - Videos. In-Stat - Press Releases. Why The Connected Car May Kill Local Radio. BMW Connected hitting 1 Series cars first, lets you tweet your disregard for speed limits. Connected Car. The Future of the Connected Car.
MeeGo eyes your BMW dashboard as GENIVI Alliance plan cross-platform ICE. CES 2011: GM shows off OnStar equipped with 4G, Skype, video monitoring and more [w/video] — Autoblog. CES 2011: Hands on with Verizon's 4G LTE-equipped Buick LaCrosse. Wine Tech. Connected Car Research project.