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Ford has announced the company’s employees have achieved a record number of new patents, including inventions related to mobility, autonomous and connected vehicles, ride-sharing and navigation platforms, eBikes, and wearable devices.

The American automaker increased its electrification patent filing numbers by nearly 200% in the past five years. It has 275 patents on EcoBoost gasoline turbocharged direct-injection and another 200 pending. The company's employees submitted nearly...

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The Car Connectivity Consortium (CCC) and the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) has announced a cooperation agreement to formally explore MirrorLink, created by the Consortium, as an official ETSI Technical Specification.

ETSI's standards underline much of the most widely used and popular technologies in the world, including electronic signatures, smart cards, DECT and GSM. It has brought together car industry stakeholders to form its intelligent transport systems...

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In order to make the best of the IoT solutions market, TeliaSonera has developed a connected car solution, known as Telia Sense, targeting the Nordic and Baltic countries.

The cloud-based solution can be used on new as well as old vehicles and comprises three parts – a monthly subscription, an app for smartphones and a vehicle telematics unit equipped with a SIM-card that connects to the OBD2-port.

TeliaSonera will first launch the solution in Sweden in 2016, with...

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The Connected Car Expo, held in conjunction with the Los Angeles Auto Show, will feature a number of developments slated to take the connected car industry forward. The GENIVI Alliance and Magellan are among the vendors showcasing their latest products at the expo.

The GENIVI Alliance is putting on display its Remote Vehicle Interaction (RVI) open source software technology that is meant to aid automakers in the development of the next generation of connected features.

At the expo, the...

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If the key to self-driving cars is software that can interpret all vehicle sensors and mimic driving experiences, then Google is the current technological leader, according to a research note from IHS Automotive.

The firm estimates Google has invested almost $60m in autonomous vehicle research and development, as well as arguing the tech giant will have a “major impact” in the coming years.

The argument over who will take the crown in the connected car space, be it...

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Harman International Industries has reported net sales of $1.6 billion (£1.05bn) in the first quarter of its 2016 fiscal year.

The connected technologies company saw a 23% increase in net sales, excluding the currency impact. Excluding the impact of foreign currency translation as well as acquisitions, net sales rose 13%.

Connected car net sales saw an 8% increase, driven by higher tax rates, platform expansions and the strengthening of automotive production. Lifestyle...

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In the last year, unmanned cars have made the headlines throughout the world and the idea that cars could be driven solely by computers came as a shock for many. The reality is that driverless vehicles have been around for some time, both in railway and PRT operations; and analysing how driverless technology has been implemented there, should help understand how this technology will be brought to market and the hurdles that the automotive industry will face.

Taking into consideration key...

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Despite the vehicles we drive getting ever more intelligent, the claims by Google that it will eliminate human driving in five years with a fully automated product available by 2020 are bold to say the least, according to some in the industry.

Plextek Consulting, which designs new products, systems and services for clients across a range of industries, says instead that a driverless future can only become a reality with the coming together of a number of diverse stakeholders who will...

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A new AT&T Drive Studio and Ericsson study has found that 78% of car buyers worldwide would postpone a purchase by a year in order to benefit from connected car services offered by their preferred brand.

At present, there exists an increase in awareness among consumers across the globe concerning connected car features and their importance in the driving experience. Among US consumers, the Wi-Fi hotspot was the foremost connected car feature in demand.

The study examined purchase...

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A note from Juniper Research argues that wireless charging will be offered in 50 million cars by 2020, up from just 4 million in 2014.

The study, titled 'Wireless Charging: Opportunities, Applications & Standards 2015-2020', also found that over a third of smartphones in 2020 will have inbuilt wireless charging and even more will have wireless charging enabled through accessories. Laptop makers are also looking to utilise the technology. By 2020, nearly 20% of laptops being used...

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Microsoft plans to partner with Taiwanese partners to launch their connected car platform. Samuel Shen, Chief Operating Officer at the Microsoft Asia-Pacific Research and Development Group, revealed the company has created a prototype car powered by the Cortana virtual assistant. 

During his opening keynote speech at the TechDays Taiwan developer conference, Shen discussed cost being a previous barrier: “We have not launched similar...

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Tech giants Apple and Google, alongside automotive behemoths BMW, Ford and Volkswagen, are among the top 20 connected car companies according to a new market report by Visiongain.

The top 20 companies, according to Visiongain, are Airbiquity, Apple, AT&T, BMW, Broadcom, Daimler, Fiat Chrysler, Ford Motor, General Motors, Google, Honda Motor, Luxoft, OnStar, Qualcomm, Sierra Wireless, Tech Mahindra, Toyota Motor, Verizon Telematics, Visteon and Volkswagen.

The global connected car...

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Verizon Telematics has announced the commercial availability of Hum, which promises to be a “smart, connected driving experience for more than 150 million vehicles.”

Hum’s staying power, like a lot of software this publication has assessed in recent weeks, is that it can be connected to practically any car. It can be installed through an onboard diagnostic reader (OBD), with a Bluetooth-enabled device on the visor, which updates drivers with real-time data...

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Europe’s largest premium car service Addison Lee has now launched its API allowing customers, partners and affiliates the ability to integrate Addison Lee booking and related services into any website or application.

The move follows the news earlier this summer that it was partnering with MuleSoft to use its integration platform Anypoint to help the company deliver...

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Swedish car manufacturer Volvo, alongside technology partners Telstra and Bosch, are set to run Australia’s first driverless vehicle demonstration trials in November.

The news was announced by the ARRB Group, Australia’s national independent road research agency and will utilise ARRB’s Australian Driverless Vehicle Initiative. The first Australian trials of automated vehicles will coincide with a driverless vehicle conference to be hosted by the state of South...

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The days when drivers act as individual entities on the road could be over in a matter of years thanks to the integration of swarm intelligence technology within car design. The idea behind it is to allow vehicles to work together and share data with others (i.e. act as a collective swarm) for the benefit of all and the wider transport infrastructure – ‘the cloud’.

The clear impact of this is far reaching - the travelling of more efficient and optimum routes, reduced...

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Driver in the Loop (DIL) simulation has long been considered a powerful tool for both vehicle and component development. For traditional vehicle development work – such as ride and handling, steering, and powertrain – driver feedback is essential, offering subjective information that no data logger can deliver.  

Simulators place real people into direct contact with experimental systems, and this is arguably the main reason why so many car makers have invested...

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Europe’s largest premium car service Addison Lee is partnering with MuleSoft to use its integration platform to help the company deliver its mobile application in 350 locations worldwide, as well as speeding up the technology integration of its network of private car fleets worldwide.

Addison Lee will use MuleSoft’s Anypoint Platform, a complete solution for API-led connectivity that has already allowed Addison Lee to take advantage of the platform through the creation...

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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...

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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...