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Automotive OEMs and suppliers are undertaking research and development in the area of autonomous vehicles even as a number of investments are being made in this segment along with activity in the regulatory space. This has led IHS Automotive to predict that global autonomous vehicle sales will total 21 million by 2035.

Egil Juliussen, Ph.D. and director of research at IHS Automotive, said: “Global sales of autonomous vehicles will reach nearly 600,000 units in 2025. Our...

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Google’s self-driving cars are set to adopt the use of the horn, according to the technology giant’s monthly report, pledging that it will be “polite, considerate, and only honk when it makes driving safer for everyone”.

The tech giant revealed that the car horn will be in use only to inform others of the vehicle’s presence in instances when another car is backing out of a driveway or swerving into a lane. The test drivers have been aiding the cars in...

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Hyundai is rolling out a do it yourself installation towards adding smartphone integrations to many existing models in the US.

Starting in June, customers can get the software at Hyundai dealerships nationwide for an installation fee. The software update compatible with CarPlay and Android Auto is now available at no cost through MyHyundai.com.

In order to make the upgrade functional, owners need their VIN number and a USB memory stick or the SD card from their Navigation system....

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Google is looking to open a 53,000 square feet facility in Detroit with a view to improve collaboration with project partners on its self-driving projects.

The technology giant plans to move into the facility, in Novi, later in 2016. While boosting collaboration, the presence of the location is also likely to attract top vehicle development talent in the state, especially as automakers in the area are facing a tough financial scenario.

The facility is located near Mcity, a facility in Ann...

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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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Connected car platform and telematics provider Zubie has gained $6 million (£4.1m) in additional funding with Melody Capital Partners and OpenAir Equity Partners among the VCs involved.

The funding has been drawn up in order to support scaling towards satisfying increasing demand for Zubie solutions at enterprise customers, expand operations and staff and improve the core Zubie and ZinC Open API platforms while also boosting innovation. Castrol innoVentures,...

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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...

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As Chinese passenger vehicle manufacturers look to bolster adoption of telematics system in 2015, a key finding from the latest report by ResearchinChina is that smartphone integration and 4G LTE technologies have increased their footprint while the user experience has been boosted by IVI (in-vehicle infotainment) and networking functions. Chinese new passenger vehicles equipped with telematics products grew 32.1% year-on-year to 1.8 million units in January-September 2015.

OnStar led...

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Google plans to bring the complete Android Auto experience to smartphones, removing the need to plug the phone into a compatible car.

The feature, as reported by The Verge and as explained by Google at its I/O conference, will come via an update to the Android Auto phone app towards the end of 2016. As a result, drivers can mount the phone on the dash and use the Android Auto app for...

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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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Google is hiring test drivers for its self-driving cars project in Arizona to monitor software systems and provide feedback to the firm’s engineering teams.

The job ad, which can be found here, promises work on “cutting edge technology” and requires successful candidates to “develop a unique set of operational skills using vehicles running proprietary software and hardware.” The drivers will work in teams with one of them in the passenger seat taking notes...

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Rumours claim South Korean giant Samsung has set up a dedicated team to make chips for self-driving cars.

According to recent speculation, technology giant Samsung has created an in-house, dedicated team to manufacture processor chips to power self-driving cars. The company has long been manufacturing their own processors and the devices that they power, but...

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Michigan law firms are carving teams out of their automotive practices, dedicated to autonomous and connected vehicles. The pioneering laws firms include Miller, Canfield, Paddock and Stone (Detroit) and Butzel Long (Ann Arbor), both of whom have been representing automotive clients for several years.

According to Jennifer Dukarski, a part of this team of attorneys at Butzel Long,...

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An auto industry group has called on President Barack Obama to not change the plan for dedicated short range communication (DSRC) aimed at safer roads that requires setting apart the 5.9 GHz spectrum band towards this end. More than 50 entities signed the letter, including the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, Carnegie Mellon University – University Transportation Center, and the...

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As automakers across the globe work on developing driverless car technology for use at the end of the decade, SMRT Services and 2getthere have formed a joint venture to commercialise 2getthere’s Automated Vehicle systems in the Asia-Pacific region.

The new Singapore-based JV, called 2getthere Asia, will market, install, operate and maintain the Automated Vehicle systems for customers in Singapore and the Asia-Pacific. The entity will put on display 2getthere’s third-generation...

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Automotive diagnostics provider TEXA has renewed its agreement with cloud services provider Interoute, with the latter continuing to serve as ICT provider.

TEXA’s product range comprises remote diagnostic tools for trucks, cars, motorcycles, agricultural vehicles and marine engines. TEXA’s TEXA MOBILE Diagnostic (TMD), a small box enabled with GPS and GSM/GPRS, is utilised to locate vehicles, exchange real time information with drivers, as well as monitor components and...

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A report from SNS Research estimates that connected car services will bring in nearly $40 billion (£27.3bn) in annual revenue by 2020, including infotainment, navigation and fleet management among others.

The connected car segment is the fastest growing vertical in the Internet of Things (IoT) market due to the growth in use of embedded in-vehicle connectivity and smartphone integration platforms, the researchers argue. All major automotive OEMs are investing in connected car...

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Toyota has announced it is partnering with the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) to transform Ann Arbor's streets into a real-world connected car deployment.

The Ann Arbor Connected Vehicle Test Environment (AACVTE) will serve as a real-world test environment for implementing connected vehicle safety technology that allows wireless communication of vehicles with other similar vehicles and portions of infrastructure such as traffic lights. These...

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Connected car technology manufacturer HARMAN International has announced the development of a system to remove blind spots in cars to avoid collisions with pedestrians.

Accidents involving pedestrians cause around 200 deaths and injure 15,000 people every year in the US. HARMAN's Reverse Pedestrian Detection safety system uses data from other HARMAN technologies, including a rear sensor and camera, to detect pedestrians behind a vehicle. Most importantly, it can detect smaller children...

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Israel-based startup Karamba Security has announced it has come out of stealth with a $2.5 million finance round in its attempts to provide a “unique approach to in-car security.”

Karamba Security's purpose-built ECU endpoint solution protects the externally connected components of a car, identifying attempts to attack and block exploits from infiltrating the network of the car.

The new solution will enable automakers to embed security enforcement and detection...