Harman bowed a solution for carmakers that addresses the issue of stagnant map data for embedded navigation and advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), said the company in a Monday announcement. The company’s dynamic map layers solution, part of its compute program, is said to dynamically identify differences between on-board map data and real-world information being captured through a vehicle’s ADAS, navigation system and on-board sensors, said the company. The technology is deployed in the market with a major German carmaker, it said. It uses data collected from cameras and other car sensors to recognize road signs from the surrounding environment and compares it with the digital map information from the onboard navigation system, Harman said. If a difference is detected, the information is sent to the cloud, where Harman’s platform analyzes the data collected from other similarly equipped production vehicles. Using spatial machine learning techniques, the solution delivers in real time critical updates back to the road network, said the technology company. The map layers solution also updates vehicles with critical map details to keep the connected car and driver up to date about road conditions ahead, it said. The technology will keep ADAS and navigation systems up-to-date with speed limit changes and warn drivers of upcoming construction zones and any other signs they may encounter on the road, it said. Harman’s technology is based on the Navigation Data Standard (NDS), meaning dynamic map layers information could be shared among different vehicle makes and models that also use NDS for navigation purposes, it said.

Harman said its implementation of Apple CarPlay integration, through a wireless connection, is being deployed in the market for the first time. A photo in a Thursday news release showed a BMW steering wheel, and BMW announced last fall its 5 Series vehicles would include wireless CarPlay integration. In Harman’s infotainment system, available to select OEMs, a vehicle’s Bluetooth and Wi-Fi networks will enable the connectivity required for Apple’s CarPlay technology vs. other solutions that support CarPlay through a USB connection, said the company. Harman’s system is said to provide flexibility between native and CarPlay human machine interfaces, allowing simultaneous operation of head unit functions and CarPlay navigation. Users can control through the car’s display their iPhone calls, music playback, mobile office and navigation functions, it said. The system also has voice recognition, it said. Samsung is buying Harman (see 1612210031).

The satellite industry's slice of the connected car market won't be big, at least for the next decade, said Northern Sky Research analyst Dallas Kasaboski in a blog post Sunday: The number of land-mobile connected vehicles receiving broadband by satellite is expected to be small through 2025, with wireless and cellular coverage instead being dominant. NSR said satellite's challenges include signal decay limiting its effectiveness, while weather and vehicle speed issues necessitate rugged, expensive antennas. Also making competition difficult is the near ubiquity of terrestrial services, it said. NSR said while numerous partnerships between mobile operators and the auto industry have been announced, there have been few such talks between the auto world and satellite service providers. "OEM deals are key factors to enable satellite-based connectivity in cars," NSR said. Antenna manufacturers haven't focused on connected cars, seeing it "as very niche with little potential," it said, adding there's a bigger focus on providing connected vehicle capability for high-speed railways. Dual-mode devices that switch between terrestrial mobile and satellite networks and are integrated directly into vehicle manufacture "will allow satcom to ride along with the success of terrestrially-connected vehicles, while proposing an added value proposition for use in remote environments," NSR said, though it added an integrated billing system could be difficult. "It will be necessary if satcom is to make a play with network-agnostic passengers in the connected car market," said the researcher.

Cybersecurity and privacy, the funding and financing of transportation investments and the transition to automated and connected cars are some issues the Intelligent Transportation Society of America included in its public policy road map released Wednesday. ITS America President Regina Hopper said in a news release the recommendations gives federal, state and local policymakers tools to capitalize on artificial intelligence, robotics and wireless communications. The organization said it will work with policymakers over the next year to "rebuild and modernize transportation infrastructure" through investments that cut costs and create jobs. ITS America also said it will urge President Donald Trump and Congress to include the group's recommendations in upcoming infrastructure proposals. Private and public stakeholders and academic and research communities contributed to the road map, the release said. Amazon, Apple, General Motors, Google, IBM, Intel, Qualcomm, Uber and Verizon are among the organization's members.

Telematics company Automatic is providing OBD-II adapters and mobile apps to new American Family Insurance policyholders who enroll in the company’s KnowYourDrive program, it said in a Monday news release. Through the adapter, policyholders will have the ability to identify risky driving behaviors they can correct, said Automatic. The adapter is plugged into the on-board diagnostics port, with the collected data shared with the driver through the app. Program participants receive an introductory 5 percent discount on their insurance that can grow to as much as 40 percent based on the policyholder’s driving data, it said. The program launches this month in Arizona and Indiana and will roll out to other states during the year, said the insurer.

The global in-car entertainment hardware market is on track to reach $36 billion by 2021, from $28 billion in 2016, Futuresource Consulting reported Monday. "The lines between couch and car are beginning to blur," said the research firm. As "ride-sharing and car-sharing become more popular," consumers “are spending less time driving and more time consuming entertainment and media in the car.” Better in-car entertainment systems “are allowing the integration of personal mobile devices, leading to even greater device usage in the car through both smartphones and tablets,” it said. "We're going to see the car repositioned as an entertainment provider for its occupants, rather than just a means of transport. Personal devices will work seamlessly when in the car, altering environment and driving preferences based on the driver.”

Ford’s SmartLink, available from Ford and Lincoln dealerships this summer, will bring connectivity features to existing vehicle owners, the automaker announced Friday. Ford and Lincoln customers with model 2010-2016 vehicles will be able to tap into connectivity features previously available only on new modem-equipped vehicles through a device that plugs into the OBD II port below the steering wheel, it said. Features available through SmartLink include remote start, lock and unlock; 4G Wi-Fi hot spot access for up to eight devices; vehicle health and security alerts and vehicle location assistance. Pricing wasn't disclosed but several are expected to be offered, a Ford spokeswoman emailed us. SmartLink engineers worked with Delphi Automotive and Verizon Telematics to ensure the technology will work “seamlessly” with Ford and Lincoln vehicles, Ford said.

The Future of Privacy Forum and National Automobile Dealers Association released a guide Thursday aimed at helping consumers understand the kinds of personal information collected by vehicles with newer technologies. It's "a critical step in communicating to consumers the importance of privacy in the connected car, as well as the benefits that car data can provide,” said FPF CEO Jules Polonetsky in a news release. NADA President Peter Welch said many consumers aren't aware their connected car is continually collecting personal data. Most cars already have event data recorders and on-board diagnostic ports that collect technical data about vehicles. Newer technologies on vehicles may: track location and destination information; gather data about road or weather conditions and traffic or record information about vehicle occupants through cameras, mics and sensors; use biometrics to identify drivers; and provide third-party music or phone apps, which may collect data, the guide said. It said almost all automakers follow industry privacy practices, which became effective with 2017 model vehicles. Auto associations including Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers and Global Automakers also are supporting the guide, the release said.

Elaine Chao, President-elect Donald Trump's choice for transportation secretary, will appear before the Senate Commerce Committee in a Wednesday nomination hearing. The 10:15 a.m. hearing will be in 253 Russell. Chao has held several other high-level federal positions, including a stint as transportation deputy secretary from 1989 to 1991 and labor secretary from 2001 to 2009. In her response to a committee questionnaire about challenges facing the department, Chao, who's married to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said the nation needs to improve its critical infrastructure and decrease regulatory burdens. Trump has made infrastructure investment a priority. The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation said in a recent report that physical infrastructure should be tied to technology (see 1701030029).

BMW Group, Intel and Mobileye said Wednesday a fleet of 40 autonomous BMW vehicles incorporating technology from the three companies will be in trials on roads by the second half of the year. In a CES announcement, the companies said trials in the U.S. and Europe will be done with BMW 7 series vehicles under “real traffic conditions.” Klaus Fröhlich, member of the BMW's management board, called this a “significant step" toward the introduction of the BMW iNext in 2021, BMW’s planned first fully autonomous vehicle. The companies are pushing their partnering model as a “scalable architecture” that can be used by other automotive developers. The companies are seeing cost and time savings by sharing development costs and pooling resources to develop the autonomous platform, said Intel CEO Brian Krzanich. In the partnership, BMW is responsible for driving control and dynamics, evaluation of functional safety including setting up a simulation engine, overall component integration, production of prototypes and scaling the platform via deployment partners, they said. Intel brings the computing elements from the vehicle to the data center through its Go solution for autonomous driving that includes processors, solid-state drives and Intel’s Nervana artificial intelligence (AI) platform. Mobileye contributes its proprietary EyeQ5 computer vision processor responsible for processing and interpretation of input from the 360-degree surround view vision sensors, plus localization. EyeQ5, along with Intel technologies, form the central computing platform for each vehicle. Mobileye will also collaborate with BMW on sensor fusion to create a model of the environment surrounding the vehicle using input from vision, radar and lidar sensors, the companies said. Mobileye’s reinforcement learning algorithms will be used to develop the AI required to safely negotiate complex driving situations, they said.