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Cars are getting more human-like in their abilities, but according to new research they don't give the same regard to privacy that (most) humans would. A study conducted by German motorists’ organisation ADAC has found that - in addition to trip and distance data - one recent vehicle reported maximum engine revolutions, the status of vehicle lights, and far more...
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With the potential capabilities of connected vehicle technology, we can hope for a safer, smarter and greener road transport industry.
The vision for connected vehicle technology is to transform and modernise road transport systems to create a future where:
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Safety is a big concern with vehicles, whether automated or not. Car manufacturer Ford has developed a V2V (Vehicle-to-Vehicle) communications system which can warn other drivers of upcoming hazards and road blockages in real-time to help keep journeys safe, fast, and stress-free for everyone.
Built in collaboration with St Petersburg State Polytechnic University, the...
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As new technology is developed and connected cars become increasingly popular, the insurance industry, the automotive industry and consumers are all becoming aware of what this might mean. The potential benefits are huge. Tailored insurance premiums, optimised services and personalised feedback are all within reach – but there are some who are concerned about their digital safety and data privacy.
In today’s world, the importance of data security and individuals’ control...
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Automotive giant Ford has worked with Nuance Communications to enable its SYNC in-car software to understand a multitude of accents in a variety of languages.
The launch, timed with the European Day of Languages, allows drivers to make calls, play music, and set navigation in their local accent, increasing convenience and recognising diversity.
Ford of Europe Electronic and Electrical Systems Engineering global chief engineer, Christof Kellerwessel, said, “People rightly...
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Remember when a car was just a car? The automotive industry was all about how fast, how far, how safe, and how reliable their cars were. And, they got very good at it, having decades of expertise in developing and promoting safety standards and performance benchmarks to ensure the safety – and loyalty – of their customers.
Enter the connected car. Now, the industry finds itself at a crossroads. The fact is, the connected car is here to stay, and as it is with virtually...
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A new study by the University of Michigan's Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) indicates that travelling time in the US has been on a decline since 2004, indicating that motorisation in the US may have peaked in that year.
The study looked at travel times using data from the nationwide American Time Use Survey (ATUS), and found that the sum of average travel times associated with all activities dropped by around 10 per cent in 2004-2014.
Interestingly, the decline in total travel...
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Location and navigation technology provider HERE has convened a forum aimed to foster greater industry collaboration in vehicle sensor data transmission, with the contingent arguing a universal standard needs to be agreed upon.
The forum, involving 16 companies ranging from automotive manufacturers to system vendors, examined a variety of issues from security to data content.
HERE, a Nokia subsidiary, argues the need for an industry standard where vehicle sensor data is ‘ingested by a location...
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We might be entering the era of driverless cars, but for the time being the majority of us will remain in control which means the only errors we can blame are our own. This is where TomTom wants to step-in and help prevent our human mistakes from occuring with an innovative connected car application.
TomTom's system allows for a more-detailed look at driving performance
Dubbed TomTom CURFER, the new technology provides real-time feedback on the...
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For every person at the automotive manufacturer, advertising agency or a technology partner supporting the customer experience, one question remains unanswered when discussing the value proposition of connected cars: How can we maximise the use of the data being transmitted from the vehicle?
It makes sense to ask. As cars become integrated into broader Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystems of mobile devices and connected products, they will not only begin to...
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The connected car is the focus of a lot of speculation about uses for contextual data feeds. The visions are exciting, whether of helmet-mounted cyclist beacons or biometric apps to stop drivers falling asleep at the wheel.
But they derive from car makers without a long track record in the kind of human-centred thinking that constitutes best practice in interaction design. Or they come from technology companies whose over-riding ambition is to transplant their operating...
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...
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The Hella group has released details of a new system called the Intelligent Damage Detection System that is capable of detecting scratches and dents as they happen.
Depending on the specification, anything from two to 12 sensors are positioned through a car’s body panels. A central control panel is able to detect a pressure being applied to the panel and then decide whether it is rain or something far less innocuous like a scratch.
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There is widespread discussion that driverless cars, and more broadly autonomous vehicles, will monumentally change the landscape of the automotive industry, arguably creating the biggest transformation of society’s view of the vehicle in the last 150 years.
Public acceptance of the vehicle began following the ‘Red Flag Act’ of 1865 when, by the 1890s, it became the ‘norm’ to see motor vehicles mingling, albeit uncomfortably, with the horse and...
Ford has put the finishing touches on an agreement that will see it supply driverless vehicles to the UK government-backed Autodrive initiative.
During 2015 Ford will hand over two prototype cars with vehicle-to-vehicle communication features to Autodrive that will help the organisations study the contribution driverless and connected cars can make to society.
Since the turn of the year Ford has come out all guns’ blazing with its investment in upcoming technologies. Just last month it unveiled a new...
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London has fallen victim to a new wave of tech-savvy criminals that have been breaking into cars through their keyless entry features.
To paint a picture of how commonplace this is, the Metropolitan Police Office reports that more than 6,000 cars and vans across the UK’s capital were stolen without the owners’ keys, which is an average of 17 vehicles each day. These figures represent 42% of all car and van thefts.
Thieves are said to be using a device that can...
Driverless vehicles are the talk of the automotive industry after busy CES and Detroit motor shows, but testing them in a safe environment, that can accurately replicate the challenges of road navigation, has been a challenge until now.
US education establishment, the University of Michigan, has released more information surrounding M-City, its ambitious project to create a detailed urban test area for driverless...
Back-seat drivers can be a real annoyance to drivers and Jaguar Land Rover appears to be drawing on this bothersome trait for its latest bicycle safety system.
Jaguar Land Rover has launched an array of new features to help reduce the 19,000 cyclists killed or injured on UK roads every year, with one solution likely to prove divisive among drivers.
Bike Sense, Jaguar’s new system for cyclist detection, can detect when a bike is coming up the road behind the car. Depending on whether the cyclist...
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Looking at the recent news from some of the world’s biggest auto manufacturers, it is clear to see just how much progress has been made and how the connected car is revolutionising the in-car experience. At CES in January 2015, GM announced AtYourService, a suite of new OnStar services aimed at allowing retailers and other merchants to promote deals directly to drivers. These promotions include hotel...
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Personalisation is set to be the next significant hurdle for car manufacturers and Nuance thinks it has the perfect solution with a fresh new update to its Dragon Drive product.
In today’s economical era of car use, there is a high chance that one vehicle will have more than a single driver. In these cases, each specific driver will have their own preference for configuring different aspects of the car.
Rather than having to tweak a whole host of settings before a driver...