(c)iStock.com/erhui1979

The future of the connected car is going to have many services that rely on the quality of the connection within the vehicle. Telecoms providers therefore need to make connectivity simple, reliable and most importantly, available.

JC&C Bowers, Pangea’s strategic partner and service provider in the automotive space, knows all too well of the opportunity and importance of telecoms providers to the connected car.

As JC&C’s CEO, John Bowers, explains: “It’s...

(c)iStock.com/JasonDoiy

Opinion I am pretty sure that Uber’s announcements over the past couple of years around building a centre of expertise in driverless vehicles did not come as a surprise to anybody interested in these technologies.

Though Uber hasn’t clearly mentioned why it would hire a few hundred engineers or buy a startup to support its driverless capability development, as it has done since then, the reason is quite straightforward: replacing more than one million freelance taxi drivers and...

Picture credit: Bright Box

Bright Box, a Switzerland-based connected vehicle applications provider, has announced the launch of a self-driving car product with a neural network which learns driving through gaming.

The product, Remoto Pilot, is a self-driving car retrofit kit with a neural network trained through computer games as well as real-life examples featuring safe, reliable road/lane following as well as real-time detection and avoidance of various obstacles such as cars and pedestrians.

By using...

(c)iStock.com/VanderWolf-Images

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...

(c)iStock.com/TonyBaggett

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...

(c)iStock.com/chinaface

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...

(c)iStock.com/xijian

A new research report from Grand View Research predicts that global connected car market revenue will reach $180.30 billion (£138.2bn) by 2022.

The report argues the increase in consumer demand, the constant need for connectivity, as well as increased dependency on technology and a growing number of tech-savvy people are some of the reasons expected to boost worldwide connected car market growth.

The study lays down further key findings that suggest:

• The inclusion of safety technologies such as danger...

(c)iStock.com/Prykhodov

A new study from Juniper Research titled “M2M: Strategies & Opportunities for MNOs, Service Providers & OEMs 2016-2021” has revealed that data intensive applications such as internet radio, music streaming applications and information services will generate approximately 6,000 petabytes per annum by 2021. The figure corresponds to over 300 billion hours of music streaming.

Research author Sam Barker said: “The wider M2M market offers a reprieve from declining...

(c)iStock.com/zhudifeng

A new report by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) released in partnership with the World Economic Forum has found that the adoption of self-driving cars and self-driving taxis could lead to a 90% reduction in accidents, an 80% or higher decline in tailpipe emissions and a 60% fall in the number of vehicles on city roads.

Nikolaus Lang, a BCG senior partner and report co-author, said: “There is a compelling case...

(c)iStock.com/Leonardo Patrizi

Civil Maps, a developer of 3D mapping technology for fully autonomous vehicles, has raised $6.6 million (£5m) in a seed funding round. The company aims to ensure smooth and safe operation of fully autonomous vehicles.

Civil Maps turns sensor data into coherent map information for fully autonomous vehicles (SAE Levels 4-5) by leveraging artificial intelligence and vehicle-based local processing. The company will use the seed investment to accelerate product development and...

(c)iStock.com/franckreporter

People buy cars they benefit from – whether it’s merely the compliments they receive on the colour or body or the time it takes off their commute. The problem with this is that they are uninformed about the multiple advantages of owning a hybrid model or how a hybrid works. This article will share the benefits of driving a hybrid vehicle and explain the technology that makes a hybrid unique to the automotive industry.

What is a hybrid car?

A hybrid car is a vehicle...

(c)iStock.com/tomeng

Jaguar Land Rover is set to develop and trial a large portfolio of connected and autonomous vehicle (CAV) technologies in a fleet of over 100 research vehicles over the next four years. The initial batch of these vehicles will be tested on a new 41 mile test route on motorways and urban roads around Coventry and Solihull throughout 2016.

Tony Harper, Head of Research, Jaguar Land Rover, said: “Our connected and automated technology could help improve traffic flow, cut congestion and...

(c)iStock.com/Anita Stizzoli

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...

(c)iStock.com/AzmanL

Most of us take part in customer loyalty programs of airlines, large retail chains and hotels, but very few use car dealerships’ loyalty programs.  Clients of car dealerships often benefit from such programs even without knowing it, and the programs themselves do not always offer sufficient incentives for clients to return and order services.

Telematics should change this situation by making loyalty programs work for both dealerships and clients and offering discounts to those...

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'...

(c)iStock.com/PeopleImages

Long distance ridesharing service provider BlaBlaCar has announced it is using database provider MariaDB to supplement the company’s exponential growth.

BlaBlaCar is seeing rapid growth as it expands, currently possessing 25 million members across 22 countries, especially in India and Brazil.

Nicolas Blanc, head of platform architecture at BlaBlaCar, is used to enhancing the service for users of its applications while catering to the requirements of development and marketing...

(c)iStock.com/77studio

Europe is well on its way to experiencing the benefits of connected vehicles. Mercedes recently unveiled the F-015 self-driving luxury concept car. Not to be outdone, rival BMW successfully demonstrated an autonomous version of the M6 on a racetrack. Volvo, Audi, Renault, and Volkswagen all have similar prototypes.

While self-driving passenger cars have the amazing ability to reduce...

(c)iStock.com/JasonDoiy

The figures are in: Google’s self-driving cars have been involved in 13 accidents and 272 failures in the 14 months ending December 2015, according to the California Department of Motor Vehicles (CDMV) – but the search giant is again swerving responsibility for the prangs.

The most failures, or ‘disengages’ as the report describes them, per month arrived in January 2015, with 48 over 18,000 miles. April saw 47 disengages, while December 2014 had 40 errors. The...

(c)iStock.com/RiverNorthPhotography

AT&T has announced an extension to its exclusive connected car agreement with BMW. The agreement, in place since 2008, has seen AT&T back BMW's ConnectedDrive services and apps. However, the scope of the new agreement will now also include “infotainment” features such as a Wi-Fi hot spot.

The new agreement will see customers, of the all-new BMW 7 Series, being presented with an alternative of a Wi-Fi hot spot running on AT&T's 4G LTE network. A...

(c)iStock.com/Maxiphoto

Connected car software provider Vinli has announced Vinli Home Connect, which aims to integrate connected home platforms with the connected car.

Regular readers of this publication will recognise Vinli after the startup smashed its Indiegogo campaign efforts for making dumb cars smarter through a $99 device back in June. The Vinli on-board platform and device can be used...