Infotainment key for connected car
November 2015 – The Connected Car Expo at the start of the LA Auto Show had a number of topics to discuss. The concept of a connected car has a lot of different meanings to different people. There is also a difference of opinion of the term between consumers, auto dealers, manufacturers and OEM component suppliers. One of the top 4 topics for the connected car was bringing advanced access and content to the infotainment system of the car.
Connected Car Expo 2015 Top 4 Connected Services Requested
These topics that lead the way for moderate income buyers were: Mobility Information, Infotainment, Vehicle Information, and Internet access. While these features were of high importance to the customers, but the willingness to pay for these features lagged behind. The definition of what was infotainment was also varied amongst the speakers and the audience. For some it means passenger comfort adjustment, navigation and music. Music is in the form of standard over the air AM/FM, over the air HD radio, connectivity via cable to mobile devices, connectivity via bluetooth to mobile devices, mobile device connections to streaming sources and in-car connection to streaming sources.
There are two dominant infotainment connection protocols that are going into the cars at the OEM level as well as through the aftermarket level. Apple Car Play and Android Auto are both SDKs and protocols for connectivity of tasks and applications to interface with the car and the mobile devices. Some companies, such as Jaguar / Land Rover, have developed their own Linux based center console interface. Their system allows for systemic addressing of the dashboard instrumentation area, heads up display (HUD) and center console display. There are in car applications to allow content to move between these screens based on the driver’s need.
A new area of activity is to enhance the voice command of the infotainment systems, and have these interfaces with voice command on the mobile device. For most cars, the current leading cost effective solution is to have an aftermarket system that uses the connectivity of mobile devices. A number of vehicles are moving to the integration of advance functionality from the mobile device, and this solution still does not require additional monthly cost. The manufacturers are leaning towards the full integration of 4G & 5G radios into the vehicles, and duplicating the app environment of the mobile device on the center console. This brings the most controls and integration with the car, but leaves the consumer with a recurring cost for the vehicle cellular service in addition to the mobile device connectivity bill.
