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A new association comprising a group of automakers and network providers will be dealing with issues related to connected mobility and road safety needs through 5G mobile networks with applications such as connected automated driving, ubiquitous access to services and integration into smart cities and intelligent transportation.

The newly formed 5G Automotive Association is a team comprising Audi, BMW, Daimler, Ericsson, Huawei, Intel, Nokia and Qualcomm, which will address key...

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Automotive giant Ford has announced different services in the connected car, transportation and mobility spaces, acquiring Chariot Shuttle and launching the GoBike initiative in San Francisco.

Ford Smart Mobility is set to acquire San Francisco-based crowd-sourced shuttle service Chariot to grow its dynamic shuttle services worldwide. The company is also collaborating with bike-sharing provider Motivate for expanding its transportation solutions in city centres.

A new City...

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In a famous episode of UK sitcom Only Fools and Horses, the protagonists chase an ambulance through London after a deal goes awry – and then lose it as it goes straight through a red traffic light. “How could you possibly lose an ambulance?” exhorts Del Boy. “It’s a ruddy great big white thing with a flashing blue light on the top! And in case your peepers ain’t too clever, it makes a sound like an air...

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Skyworks Solutions has announced that many of its semiconductor solutions are powering LG Electronics’ Online Connectivity Units (OCUs), which are being supported across Volkswagen automobiles for enhancement of convenience and connectivity. Through OCUs, drivers are offered direct access to features such as smart home and location-based services from their vehicles.

There are expectations of more than a quarter of global vehicles connecting to the internet by 2020, and Skyworks is...

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Vodafone has announced it is providing connectivity for the new Skoda Kodiaq, launched last week.

In a short news alert, the telco confirmed the Kodiaq will be equipped with a specialised SIM card, which keeps the vehicle connected to the Vodafone network and enables the vehicle’s driver to keep on top of various information, including whether the car is locked, its location, as well as automatically contacting the Skoda emergency call centre in the event of an accident.

The...

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By Kevin Taylor, EVP head of technology and Dick Williams, VP automotive, GfK

“They’re digging in the wrong place!” This is one of our favorite quotes from the first Raiders of the Lost Ark film, evoking that beautifully captured moment when, deep down in an Egyptian tomb, Indiana Jones and friends realise that the Ark of the Covenant isn’t buried where they thought it was. 

From what we are seeing, the same could also be true when it comes to automakers and technology...

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Market researcher Nielsen has released its 2016 Nielsen AutoTECHCAST report, which assess consumer preferences for emerging and advanced automotive technologies. The report covers nearly 12,000 new car buyers in the US and 44 auto-related technologies, and highlighted the challenges to adoption of these technologies.

More specifically, the report found a glaring lack of consumer awareness of many automobile technologies, despite their growing advancement. Base familiarity was...

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Consumer interest may be less than expected for ridesharing and other car-related technological developments.

According to TECHnalysis Research founder Bob O'Donnell, popular automotive technologies like ridesharing and self-driving cars may not be as interesting to customers as the industry says.

Ridesharing services such as Uber and Lyft are gaining traction among investors for their larger vision of turning cars into services. This vision of...

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San Francisco-based firm Automatic has launched its new Automatic Pro connected car adapter, which offers a cellular signal and has been described by the firm as the “future of the automotive ecosystem.”

The adapter no subscription fees and is focused on real-time connectivity and Internet of Things (IoT). The new flagship adapter is designed for consumers to experience connected car capabilities based on their interests and needs.

The adapter, which comes with an unlimited...

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Some would argue that it’s an intrinsic part of human instinct to be wary of change. There’s something inside all of us which can be instinctively nervous about the concept of autonomous vehicles and there are some key questions which the industry is working hard to answer in order to allay these concerns. What, if any, degree of human oversight is required? How will autonomous and traditional vehicles co-exist? And most crucially, how can we guarantee safety?

This school of thought often...

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The Volkswagen Group and LG Electronics have inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) that will see the companies jointly work on research and development towards a new connected car service platform.

The MoU builds on collaboration between the companies that is already underway as seen in March 2015, when Volkswagen subsidiary Italdesign Guigiaro showcased its GEA concept car at the Geneva Motor Show with seven key components supplied by LG Electronics, including the holographic...

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In order to further boost adoption of 4G LTE, GM’s Chevrolet has ensured a price reduction of 50% in its OnStar data plans for the technology.

Chevrolet is the first automaker to offer 4G LTE connectivity across its entire retail portfolio and the brand has sold more than 2.1 million OnStar 4G LTE-connected vehicles since June 2014. Chevrolet customers have used more than 3 million gigabytes of data in just two years and the figures are only set to maintain an upward...

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With a view to boost time-to-market and raise line-of-business control with regard to its connected vehicle services, Subaru of America has chosen Aria's Cloud Billing and Monetization Platform. Aria Systems' cloud billing and monetisation platform is the consensus analyst choice, top ranked by Forrester, MGI, Ventana and TEC. The solution is also used by enterprises like Adobe, Philips and Zipcar.

Subaru plans to utilise Aria's technology to rapidly develop services that meet the...

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Wireless technology and semiconductor giant Qualcomm has announced the launch of a new connected car platform, which is compatible with a wide range of Qualcomm products and features various in-vehicle networking technologies.

The platform supports Qualcomm Snapdragon X12 and X5 LTE modems, quad-constellation Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) and 2D/3D Dead Reckoning (DR) location solutions, Qualcomm VIVE Wi-Fi technology, Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC) for V2X,...

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Intel has acquired Itseez, an expert in computer vision algorithms and implementations for embedded and specialised hardware.

Itseez provides software tuning and integration in many market-leading products shipping from cars to security systems and other applications. The acquisition gives Intel an advantage in catering to IoT market segments like automotive and video, where the ability to electronically perceive and understand images makes way for innovation and positive prospects.

“Intel is...

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Telco giant AT&T is expanding its connected car products and services, including unlimited data, in order to meet robust customer demand.

A recent study by AT&T and Ericsson has found that 75% of consumers view connected car services as a key feature in their next car purchase. Beginning on May 23, AT&T is offering its Unlimited Plan customers the choice of adding connected cars or a ZTE Mobley vehicle Wi-Fi plug-in device to the plan for $40 per month to gain...

Picture credit: NXP

Semiconductor provider NXP has showcased a complete autonomous vehicle platform which makes use of its new BlueBox engine.

The company, which has just become the foremost provider of silicon to the global automotive market, has a system demonstration which also makes use of radar, lidar, and vision sensing, as well as an onboard secure V2X system – all running on NXP silicon currently in volume production or sampling to customers now.

The BlueBox engine is with customers at four of...

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What a difference a wire can make – or, a single, twisted wire pair. This is the case with the new IEEE 802.3bw™-2015 100BASE-T1 standard that supports 100 megabit per second (Mb/s) Ethernet operation over a single, balanced, twisted pair cable in the connected car.

My jest is appropriate, because this standard has immediate, practical implications for the connected car, as well as supporting a unified platform for the connected car’s future in the Internet of Things...

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MWC 2016 was  something of a watershed for the connected car. While the connected car arrived a few years ago, this year we saw that it is raring to go mainstream. Ford and Nissan had their own stands at the show and Jaguar was showing off the new F-Pace, its ‘most connected car to date’.

This is not a new trend, but notable was the fact that more and more firms who are not directly part of the automotive industry also featured vehicles on their stands. AT&T and...

Picture credit: (c) Hyundai Motor UK Ltd

Hyundai has become the latest automotive manufacturer to launch its connected car blueprint, collaborating with major networking and IT firms to develop a ‘hyper-connected and intelligent car’ concept.

The roadmap will see Hyundai focus its efforts on the 'Car to Life' initiative, aimed at taking forward the connected car era. The initiative will offer a knowledge hub to users and also enable them to analyse and use that information to improve owners'...