Sprint is working with NXM Labs to launch a 5G-ready connected car platform that combines high-speed passenger Wi-Fi with advanced vehicle health monitoring and safety. The platform includes the first blockchain powered IoT security system that guards against hackers, Sprint said. “The NXM platform includes a powerful automotive router that keeps people connected on the road, and through mobile apps, helping to save money and keep track of vehicle performance and location,” the carrier said Wednesday.

Toshiba announced video interface bridge devices designed for HDMI, camera and display applications in automotive in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) systems. The devices offer interfaces required for automotive networks, making them better suited for IVI systems than SoCs from mobile devices that have traditionally been used, said the company. Samples begin this month.

Ford, Panasonic and Qualcomm formed a strategic collaboration to deploy cellular vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X) technologies in Colorado in the 5.9 GHz band, said the companies Friday. It's the first in the U.S. and is part of a partnership between the Colorado Department of Transportation and Panasonic to integrate connected vehicle technology in the state, the companies said. C-V2X has been gaining ground as an alternative to dedicated short-range communications in the band (see 1803140055). “Panasonic, Qualcomm Technologies and Ford have joined the advanced development efforts to help deploy the technology, and to assess C-V2X capabilities this summer on select roadways throughout Panasonic’s CityNOW headquarters in Denver, which will be followed by deployment in select areas along the I-70 Mountain Corridor later in the year,” they said. “We’re ready to help advance vehicle safety and serve as a hub for advanced vehicle testing, and development, with the support" of the companies, said Michael Lewis, Colorado DOT executive director.

Google is working with other smartphone makers to bring wireless compatibility for Android Auto to select phones with the Android 8.0 operating system, said Kenwood Thursday in an update to a recent announcement, saying its Android Auto multimedia receivers will be compatible with those phones. Kenwood said earlier this month the wireless Android Auto feature in its eXcelon receivers was compatible only with Google-branded phones running Android 9.0, including first- and second-generation Pixel phones and the Nexus 5X and 6P. “Google has informed us that, in addition to 9.0 devices, the company is working with several smartphone manufacturers to bring wireless compatibility to devices with Android 8.0 OS,” Kenwood said. Android Auto, which lets drivers access certain apps and features such as messaging and Google Assistant from the car radio’s touch screen, previously required a cable to connect the radio and the phone.

Panasonic Automotive and Google are working together to create “auto-grade intent infotainment capabilities,” they announced Tuesday, highlighting integration of Panasonic's Skip Generation (Skip Gen) in-vehicle infotainment platform into the Android P operating system. The platform, introduced at CES 2016 and since integrated into four versions of the Android OS, was demoed last week at Google I/O in a Panasonic reference infotainment system, they said.

IHS Markit estimates about a third of the vehicles on U.S. roads have connectivity through embedded telematics control units (TCUs), Colin Bird, senior analyst-automotive technology, told a Wednesday webinar on the cybersecurity vulnerabilities of connected cars. “Nearly every vehicle” in production “is being equipped with some sort of TCU,” so by 2023, 85 percent of “the entire vehicle parc will be connected,” said Bird of the registered U.S. fleet. “That’s really the holy grail of hacking.” Fiat Chrysler’s July 2015 recall of 1.4 million vehicles to install software to protect against data breaches was the first National Highway Traffic Safety Administration action taken “for cybersecurity-related issues,” and it was a “wake-up call” for the automotive industry, said Bird. “Since that happened, every RFQ for an infotainment unit or TCU has had a cybersecurity requirement,” he said of OEM requests for quotations. With the increasing “complexity” of in-car electronics, “there’s a lot of different ways to get into the vehicle, a lot of things to protect here,” he said. He cited an Audi A8, which is equipped with “more than 88 high-powered CPUs” and runs up to 30 million “lines” of binary code, including 4 million lines of code just in the “steering component.” IHS estimates more than half the total cost of a high-end vehicle, including R&D and “validation,” is “related to electronic components or software,” he said.

The Mobile Electronics Association will launch the Connected Car Show July 20-21 as a “co-located” event with the IFA-sponsored CE Week New York conference at the Javits Convention Center, said the trade group Tuesday. The Connected Car Show’s focus will be on raising “awareness to changing vehicle technology trends” in the automotive OEM and aftermarket spaces, said MEA: “The exhibit floor will feature innovative companies whose connected-vehicle products currently drive the market.” Various “thought-provoking” workshops will “explore the future of automotive technology and outline how autonomous technology will change the driving experience,” it said. “In light of recent events, safety and the driver's changing role will be key issues.”

Despite hype about connected car market opportunities for satellite-based flat panel antennas, that FPA market "remains elusive and still many years away from being realized," Northern Sky Research analyst Dallas Kasaboski blogged Wednesday. Successful deployment for FPA manufacturers could be lucrative, but the use cases are poorly defined and the technology and price points haven't reached levels that would open the door to widespread adoption, he said. Other land-mobile FPA applications like connected buses and trainers are further along, he said, estimating cumulative equipment revenues for land-mobile FPA applications to hit $94 million over the next decade.

Toyota's 2019 Corolla hatchback, due to make its North American debut at the New York International Auto Show at a Wednesday news conference, will have Apple CarPlay and Amazon Alexa connectivity as standard features, the company teased in a pre-show brief Friday. The Corolla hatchbacks will include Toyota Safety Sense 2.0 including a pre-collision system with pedestrian warning, lane departure alerts and dynamic radar cruise control with a camera on the windshield designed to adjust the car's speed to maintain a safe distance from the car in front.

The 2019 Audi A6, due to make its U.S. debut at the New York International Auto Show next week, sports the infotainment system found in the company’s A8 and A7, with two high-resolution touch displays that replace the rotary dial and the conventional buttons of the previous model, said the carmaker in a Wednesday pre-show brief. The touch response operating system lets the user arrange positioning of central vehicle functions using drag-and-drop motions said to make the interface as “intuitive to use as a smartphone.” Users can store up to 32 virtual buttons to customize preferences, it said. The system also includes natural-language control allowing users to prompt actions based on certain requests. A driver could say “I’m cold,” prompting the control system to ask: "What temperature would you like to set the cabin to?" said the company.