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If you take out electric vehicle-specific manufacturers such as Tesla, the race for connected car superiority has two horses running; technology firms, such as Apple and Google, and traditional automotive manufacturers. Yet a new report from Lux Research gives only five automotive firms a pass – Daimler, Honda, Hyundai, Toyota, and Volvo.

The report argues only a few manufacturers have demonstrated “significant technical advancements” over their direct...

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Verizon Communications has officially purchased fleet management provider Telogis for an undisclosed sum.

The telco giant has bought the Aliso Yiejo based firm in order to enhance its connected vehicle business, as it is seeking to add the best-in-class Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) technology and services in the connected vehicle and mobile enterprise management sectors.

Andrés Irlando, CEO of Verizon Telematics, said: “With a comprehensive enterprise product...

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Toyota will reportedly invest $1 billion over the next five years on self-driving technologies, artificial intelligence (AI) and technology that will help improve vehicle safety.

According to NBC, Toyota aims to improve vehicle safety by enabling vehicles to identify, predict and avoid potential accident situations. The company is also planning to bring out a self-driving...

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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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When car manufacturers have to implement security updates or patches to connected cars, time is of the essence. Fluctuating connection speeds and network coverage of mobile networks aggravate the issue, but a cloud-based over the air (OTA) connected vehicle solution can provide the answer.  With it, the delivery of critical updates can be accelerated while the data centre being used to deliver the update can be protected against DDoS attacks.

No matter how huge the benefits of...

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A new developer programme has been created by SmartDeviceLink, which aims to make it easier for developers to access the information they need to build new apps and services for the connected car.

Created by Ford, the smartphone app interface SmartDeviceLink is the open source software on which the Ford AppLink platform is built. It enables consumers an easier way to access their favourite smartphone apps via voice command or touch screen interface.

As part of Ford Sync AppLink is...

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The connected car market is developing fast but do consumers actually want the technology? A new report says that in the US at least they do.

The analysis by Forrester Research showed that a third of US adults wanted connected car features. The figure is lower in most of Europe but higher in Asia. IN the US the 25 to 44 age year group showed the highest interest in such features.

The Forrester study showed that 31% of US adults who either own or lease a vehicle were interested in having...

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Information security provider Symantec has announced the launch of Symantec Anomaly Detection for Automotive, which aids in identifying zero day attacks for automotive vehicle manufacturers.

Gartner holds that 220 million connected cars will be on the road in 2020 as vehicle owners benefit from conveniences such as navigation, remote roadside assistance and mobile internet hot spots. However, these new technologies are susceptible to hacking that could endanger the lives of drivers and...

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Mark Rosekind, head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), argues driverless cars need to be twice as safe in order to provide tangible benefits for consumers.

The number of road deaths in 2015 climbed to 38,300 from 32,675 in 2014 and Mark Rosekind, head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, said, “It’s a 747 crashing every week for a year, that’s what the losses are on our highways. And that is unacceptable.”

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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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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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Another day, another story of car hacking and general skulduggery. First we had Jeep, then it was Corvette, and now, after several others, it is the turn of Mitsubishi.

Research from Pen Test Partners found a high number of security vulnerabilities in the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV; in the words of Ken Munro, of Pen Test Partners, some of which were funny, others were...

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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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A new piece of research from TNS and the BearingPoint Institute has sounded a warning to traditional vehicle manufacturers: if you don’t get your act together on connected car technology, then tech companies such as Google, Apple, and Uber will surge ahead.

The research, which polled 3,700 connected car owners in Europe, recommended that OEMs need to increase awareness and understanding of connected car features, which are ‘easy to use’ and ‘drive...

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A new report from the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) has found that among US drivers their preference is for vehicles with no self-driving capability.

The research follows a similar UMTRI study from July last year which argued only 15% of 505 respondents would be happy with completely self-driving cars. This time around, with responses from 618 US drivers, the numbers are similar; again, 15% say they would be happy with self-driving cars, compared to 38%...