(c)iStock.com/Akindo

Automatic Labs has announced $24 million in series B funding to “continue its mission to transform the car ownership experience with a host of connected car apps built on the Automatic platform.”

The company recently launched App Gallery, ostensibly an app store for connected cars, and its own developer platform, which is available to build apps for “just about any car since 1996”. It aims to use the cash injection to accelerate growth and continue expanding its...

Picture credit: Vinli

If you wanted a connected car, you would have to put down a considerable sum of money for a car technologically-savvy enough. Yet one Dallas-based firm is aiming to turn all that on its head.

Meet Vinli. The startup, which debuted at TechCrunch Disrupt SF in September, has the simple mission statement of “turning your car into a smart connected car”, by installing a $99 device into your vehicle and utilising Vinli’s apps, app store and 4G LTE connection. And the startup...

(c)iStock.com/Gutzenberg

In an essay nearly 20 years ago, Bill Gates famously declared that “content is king”. Since that essay was published, if you had a nickel for every time you heard that phrase repeated you might own your own a private island by now. But overused as that saying may be, it rings true nonetheless.

In an increasingly mobile and digital culture, consumers now decide when and where they receive content rather than having it dictated to them by providers. As such, in many areas of...

(c)iStock.com/FotoSpeedy

A whitepaper from Capgemini argues that, in the connected automotive world, the potential attack surface extends across the entire ecosystem, with autonomous driving increasing the surface even further.

The report, entitled 'Cybersecurity for the Connected Vehicle', asserts that information will become increasingly exposed as it is used in and travels to and from vehicles. Connected cars will be able to connect in a variety of ways; the introduction of telematics services and...

(Image Credit: iStockPhoto/Todor Tsvetkov)

Over the next few years, more vehicles will start being aware of others around them to help prevent accidents. The US government wants to accelerate the deployment of Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) communication to improve safety. 

V2V is relatively new, and the NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) has already committed to delivering proposed rules for its...

(c)iStock.com/OliverHoffmann

IBM and Peugeot have announced a partnership to help better analyse data to deliver new services from connected vehicles.

The latest move, which builds upon the two firms’ partnership from last year for big data and analytics tools, aims to allow Peugeot to develop new business opportunities for a variety of industries, including automotive distribution, smarter cities, and retail. Financial terms of the seven-year deal were not disclosed.

The two companies also noted the importance of...

(c)iStock.com/Okea

A research note from the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) has poured cold water on the concept that autonomous cars would lead to a reduction in fuel consumption.

The study, from UMTRI researchers Brandon Schoettle and Michael Sivak, weighs up the energy-saving pros and cons of self-driving vehicles. In theory, if cars were driverless then there would be fewer of them on the road, and would conserve fuel through more eco-friendly driving standards; increasing...

Visa, Pizza Hut and Accenture are to collaborate on a proof-of-concept connected car that will be used to test commerce possibilities when drivers are out and about.

The concept will bring together several technologies, including Visa Checkout, mobile connectivity, Bluetooth and iBeacon, so that staff will be alerted when a customer has arrived to collect their pizza.

Takeaway food might be the initial focus of the tests, but the trio of companies have visions of their technology being adopted for everyday...

Smartphones, tablets and wireless-enabled wearable technology will all become more reliable if BMW succeeds in bringing its Vehicular Small Cell research project to road cars.

Originally conceived to provide mobile phone signal in areas that normally struggle with poor coverage, femtocell technology was designed with thick-walled country cottages and large, insulated structures in mind.

BMW, however, is working with Nash Technologies and peiker acustic to circumvent the signal shielding that can cause...

Aspects of in-car communication are still causing headaches for drivers, with a study from market research firm J.D. Power placing Bluetooth connectivity and voice interpretation at the top of a list of woes.

Of those that experience Bluetooth pairing or connectivity issues, 55% complained that the vehicle did not recognise their phone and 31% admitted their device would not automatically connect when entering the car.

Failing communications are playing a part with drivers’ decisions to repurchase with...