Qualcomm introduced Friday a reference design based around the 9150 Cellular Vehicle-to-Everything (C-V2X) chipset to be used in advanced driver assistance systems. The commercial solution, based on 3rd Generation Partnership Project Release 14 specifications for PC5-based direct communications, is said to enhance situational awareness by detecting and exchanging information using low latency transmission in the 5.9 GHz band for vehicle-to-vehicle, vehicle-to-infrastructure and vehicle-to-pedestrian scenarios without the need for a SIM card, cellular subscription or network assistance. Described as a complement to direct communication transmissions, it is designed to use a wireless operators’ 4G and emerging 5G wireless networks for vehicle-to-network transmissions and operates over licensed operator spectrum to support telematics, connected infotainment and advanced informational safety use cases, said Qualcomm. C-V2X standards include global 3GPP specifications at the radio layers and reuse the established service and application layers defined by the automotive industry, including the Society of Automotive Engineers and European Telecommunications Standards Institute, it said. C-V2X will enable “safer roads, increase productivity and decrease traffic congestion,” while building on intelligent transportation system momentum and investments made over the last decade, said Nakul Duggal, vice president-product management. The 9150 C-V2X chipset is a “major milestone" toward 5G and safe autonomous driving, said Thomas Müller, head of electrics/electronics at Audi. Don Butler, Ford’s executive director-connected vehicle and services, called V2X communications a "critical technology" to improve vehicle safety and efficiency.

SiriusXM is “on track” to launch its “360L” connected-car platform with a “major automaker” in early 2018, said CEO Jim Meyer on a Thursday earnings call. SiriusXM expects “to reveal the final product with this OEM” at January CES, he said. The company sees 360L as “a game-changer for us,” he said. “It gives us data on customer usage,” and allows the company “more control” of a “much-improved” user interface, he said. Features include one that “enables personalized content recommendations, and gives us the ability to convert and upsell customers on-screen directly in the vehicle,” he said. On the company's impending $480 million investment in Pandora (see 1706090005), Meyer underscored Pandora’s “permanent free offering” in contrast to SiriusXM’s trials and discount offerings. “If you don't want to pay for our service, we don't have a place for you,” and that’s what Pandora brings to SiriusXM, he said. But he moderated his stance on entering the free radio market, saying, “the jury is still out” on whether the Pandora ad-based offering can deliver cash flow. The investment in Pandora “will help us find an answer and give us a great toehold in this area on advantageous terms,” he said. Through Pandora, SiriusXM will learn more about the subscription interactive business “and how our two companies might work together in the future, be it on upselling, cross-selling, sharing content, or sharing technology,” Meyer said. Cautioning on pending government approval and a minority investor role, he said the investment “is not predicated on any kind of cooperation or synergies.” More information will be available after the agreement closes later this year, he said. Also, Meyer said, SiriusXM is working with OEMs on new “consumer-focused features” that add value to a vehicle subscription, including Alexa integration. “Think, 'Alexa start my car and turn on the air conditioning,'” he said.

TomTom and Baidu joined forces to develop high definition maps for autonomous driving, they announced Wednesday. Baidu will leverage TomTom’s Real-Time Map platform for HD map technologies in China, they said. TomTom’s HD Map currently covers the U.S. and Western Europe with more than 223,694 miles of highways mapped, it said. TomTom also announced Wednesday it completed its HD map for all highways in Western Europe covering 108,740 miles across 19 countries.

Velodyne LiDAR said automotive safety company Autoliv joined its Tier-1 program and the companies will develop and manufacture a light detection and ranging product with high safety levels for autonomous vehicles using Velodyne’s core 3D software technology and ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit) engine. Velodyne CEO David Hall said, adding Autoliv brings product breadth and allows Velodyne to “scale capacity in-region, around the world.”

Alpine is shipping the iLX-107 ($900), calling it in an announcement the first aftermarket in-dash receiver “dedicated to wireless Apple CarPlay.” The receiver includes an AM/FM tuner, 7-inch touch screen, auxiliary input and rear-view camera system input, Alpine said. IPhone owners can use CarPlay to make and receive calls, access text messages, play music and get directions optimized for traffic conditions via the touch screen or Siri voice control, it said.

Digital Commerce and Consumer Protection Subcommittee Chairman Bob Latta, R-Ohio, and Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., said Tuesday they will work together to develop legislation for autonomous vehicles. "We need a framework that allows industry to innovate while ensuring high safety standards," said Latta in a news release following a hearing on the matter (see 1706260023). Dingell said cybersecurity, impact on labor and benefits for the aging and disabled also must be discussed. The hearing examined 14 bills. Senate Commerce Committee members also are working on self-driving legislation that they hope will be introduced before August (see 1706140024).

The House Digital Commerce and Consumer Protection Subcommittee plans a Tuesday hearing on self-driving vehicle legislation, listing 14 discussion drafts in a news release on various issues from cybersecurity to a state's regulatory role. “These discussion drafts are a significant step towards introduction of meaningful legislation that will ensure consumer safety and provide clarity for federal and state governments on their role in regulating self-driving vehicles,” said Chairman Bob Latta, R-Ohio.

More consumers globally desire advanced technology in their next new vehicle purchase, but their willingness to pay varies widely across the biggest world markets, an IHS Markit survey found. The company canvassed about 5,000 consumers in the U.S., Canada, China, Germany and the U.K. who said they plan to buy a new vehicle in the next three years, it said in a Monday report. American consumers are more likely than their counterparts in the other countries to opt for a rear-seat entertainment system in their next vehicle, and they’re willing to shell out $640 on average to pay for it, IHS said. Only 32 percent of consumers canvassed agreed that telematics would be a feature they would be willing to pay for in their next new vehicle, with in-car Wi-Fi desired by only 29 percent. “However, when asked about cost, both of these technologies were mentioned with a much lower price point by consumers willing to pay for them and different price points that varied by region,” IHS said.

IBM’s Bluemix cloud platform, using Watson IoT cognitive and data analytics, is behind BMW’s CarData services offering set to launch this fall, said the company in a Wednesday announcement. CarData users will be able to opt in to share data from a BMW vehicle with third-party companies, IBM said, and customers will have to actively agree to share their encrypted telematics data when they want to use a specific service from a service provider. IBM also will act as a neutral server for extended vehicle access, allowing data gathering from BMW and other carmakers, helping to realize the vision of a “secure and open vehicle data platform as demanded by many players in the mobility ecosystem,” it said. Watson cognitive and data analytics services will enable third parties, such as automotive repair shops or insurance companies, to develop new customer experiences, it said.

Three members of the Senate Commerce Committee, which plans a hearing Wednesday on self-driving vehicles (see 1706070060), released principles for bipartisan legislation on development and deployment of the technology. “We continue to make progress in writing what we expect will become the first ever changes in federal law helping usher in this new transportation era,” Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., said in a Tuesday news release. He, ranking member Bill Nelson, D-Fla., and Gary Peters, D-Mich., released principles that include being neutral on technology, enhancing cybersecurity and educating the public about such vehicles.