Intel said it's buying 15 percent of Here, a global provider of digital maps and location-based services for the automotive industry and the IoT. The companies also signed an agreement to collaborate on research and development of a “highly scalable proof-of-concept architecture that supports real-time updates of high definition maps for highly and fully automated driving,” they said a Tuesday news release. They also agreed to “jointly explore strategic opportunities that result from enriching edge-computing devices with location data.” Doug Davis, Intel senior vice president-Automated Driving Group, will join the Netherlands-based company’s supervisory board, the companies said. "Cars are rapidly becoming some of the world's most intelligent, connected devices," said Intel CEO Brian Krzanich. The companies said they hope to close the deal in Q1. Financial terms weren't disclosed.

FCA US will use its first-ever CES news conference Tuesday to showcase its fourth-generation Uconnect connected car system, among other technological enhancements, the Fiat and Chrysler parent said in a Wednesday announcement. The fourth-gen Uconnect builds “upon the success of previous generations” with several “performance improvements,” the company said. They include faster startup time and enhanced processing power, a new 8.4-inch touch screen and the ability to support smartphone "integrations" through Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, it said. FCA will also use CES to showcase its Uconnect Theater rear-seat entertainment system, the company said. A hallmark of the system will be two high-definition 10-inch touch screens mounted on the back headrests of the driver and front passenger seats, it said. Passengers can select from a variety of devices to connect to Uconnect Theater, including smartphones, tablets and MP3 players, it said. For CES, as a “technology concept,” FCA will demonstrate a feature that allows passengers to stream video content wirelessly to either or both of the Uconnect Theater displays through a compatible Android mobile device paired to the system, it said.

Harman will sell an aftermarket augmented reality driving device to automotive OEMs through a partnership and investment in head-up display (HUD) provider Navdy, it said in a Tuesday announcement. Harman will have exclusive rights to distribute the co-branded aftermarket Navdy with Harman device to automotive OEMs, specialty auto and audio channels, and select mobile carriers globally. Navdy launched an HUD last month that projects mobile app information and car data directly over the road, allowing drivers to look ahead while “staying connected.” The device uses AR technology to project car, phone and music information in the driver's line of sight, creating what the company calls “a new type of driving experience that is both safe and satisfying.” The transparent image projected on the road ahead incorporates software that lets drivers interact with their smartphones hands-free using hand gestures to accept calls and respond to messages, said Harman. Having maps, calls, messages, notifications, music and car information projected directly over the road “results in a safer connected driving experience,” it said. The augmented driving device software is also integrated with the car's OBD-II interface allowing access to car data such as speed and fuel level. Harman cited a recent IHS Markit survey saying 55 percent of new car “intenders” in the U.S. indicated interest in having HUD technology in their next car.

Though the ability to access smartphone apps in the car is becoming increasingly important, consumers “are concerned about the security of their information when their mobile device is paired to an in-car system,” Strategy Analytics said in a Wednesday report. Most consumers canvassed by the research firm in the U.S., Europe and China “agreed that it is important to be able to connect their smartphone to their in-car system, so they can access apps and music through the in-car controls and displays,” the report said. But more than half said they “do not want their vehicle to collect driving data, even if it remains anonymous,” it said. “Most want to be assured that no data from their phone will remain on the in-car system after it is disconnected.” Consumers by and large are “aware that they have little choice in giving up part of their privacy in order to live in a more enriched world with connected devices,” said Strategy Analytics. “Providing personal data will be less a concern if consumers could know how their data will be used, why it needs to be used, who will have access to it, for what purposes, and that they will have the full control of the data access.” Elsewhere on the connected-car front, Public Knowledge plans a Tuesday briefing on Capitol Hill on connected-car cybersecurity, the nonprofit said Wednesday. The event at 11:30 a.m. in G11 Dirksen is on “Cybersecurity Vulnerability in Connected Vehicles.” Speakers include Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and discussion of "threats posed to our privacy and cybersecurity as revealed by researcher Alex Kreilein of SecureSet in his latest report, ‘Security Considerations for Connected Vehicles and Dedicated Short Range Communications,’” or DSRC, PK said. "Existing DSRC technology makes cars easily identifiable, permitting tracking by third-parties and making DSRC-enabled vehicles targets for hackers." Using "DSRC spectrum and devices to support commercial applications dramatically increases the risk" of cyberattacks and identity theft, the group said.

T-Mobile Monday unveiled SyncUp Drive, which “easily transforms your car into a rolling Wi-Fi hotspot and gives you extensive added vehicle diagnostics, safety and security features.” The carrier said starting Nov. 18, it's offering the product for free with a 2 GB or higher mobile internet plan. “We’re making it radically simple for customers to connect their cars with a complete, all-in-one package,” said CEO John Legere. SyncUp plugs into a vehicle’s on-board diagnostics-II port, which is standard on most cars built after 1996, "is always on, doesn’t require charging and can be managed right from your smartphone,” the company said in a news release.

Harman and Airbiquity are demoing an automotive end-to-end intrusion detection system for connected vehicles at TU-Automotive Europe 2016 in Munich this week. The system combines Harman’s intrusion detection and prevention system inside the vehicle with Airbiquity’s cloud-based Choreo service delivery platform and software/data management solution, said the companies in a news release. Harman’s embedded Ecushield security software detects and logs security intrusions locally and once logged, Airbiquity's system collects the intrusion information from the vehicle, aggregates it in the cloud, and automates alerts and reports so automotive customers can assess and execute security-related actions, the companies said. Actions can include the secure transmission and installation of vehicle software updates from the cloud to mitigate future threats and restore affected systems and components, they said.

TomTom said its partner Peugeot adopted 3D Maps and TomTom Traffic for its i-Cockpit experience, which will make its car debut in the Peugeot 3008 launching at the Paris Motor Show, said a news release. Peugeot’s i-Cockpit uses an 8-inch touch screen and head-up instrument panel with a 12-inch display. TomTom’s NavKit technology offers the option of transferring navigation and direction indications directly onto the head-up screen, said the company. TomTom also announced the European debut of its Localisation Demonstrator that uses HD Map and RoadDNA technology to provide lane-level localization. The device uses sensors like those expected to be used in autonomous vehicles, said a TomTom announcement.

Systems using dedicated short range communications spectrum “hold great promise,” FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler told Sens. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., in a letter dated Sept. 7 and released by the agency Monday. “However, as you note, we must work to ensure technologies operating in DSRC spectrum and the future world of interconnected automobiles address the potential risks that these new technologies could create for consumers' privacy and security,” he said in the brief response. “Due to the number of interrelated issues that are implicated by DSRC, the Commission intends to work closely with our partners at the Department of Transportation (DoT), the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Department of Commerce and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to address the concerns raised in your letter.” The senators had asked questions on privacy and cybersecurity.

Concerned about cybersecurity risks to on-board diagnostic ports in vehicles, House Commerce Committee Republican leaders want National Highway Traffic Safety Administrator Mark Rosekind to convene an industry-wide effort to address the potential problems, said the committee in a Monday news release. “In the past several years, information security researchers have discovered and demonstrated increasingly effective -- and increasingly frequent -- attacks on the internal networks of automobiles through the use of On-Board Diagnostic (OBD-II) ports and the devices that connect to them," they wrote to Rosekind. Researchers have demonstrated they could remotely unlock a vehicle's doors or cut its brakes or power steering and NHTSA needs to develop a plan to address the risk, they added. Signatories to the letter include House Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich.; Communications Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore.; Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Tim Murphy, R-Pa.; and Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade Subcommittee Chairman Michael Burgess, R-Texas. NHTSA didn't comment.

With the age of autonomous vehicles approaching, the automotive industry needs to “hit a hard reset” on advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) architectures, said an ABI Research report Wednesday. As independent vehicles begin to drive and react to traffic on their own, autonomous systems will aggregate and process data from a variety of on-board sensors and connected infrastructure, said ABI. Automotive OEMs will need to shift from distributed processing and smart sensors and adopt new platforms based on powerful, centralized processors and high-speed low latency networking, it said. ABI forecasts 13 million vehicles with centralized ADAS platforms will ship in 2025. “The new centralized ADAS architectures will unify sensing, processing, and actuation to deliver integrated decision-making for smooth path planning and effective collision avoidance,” said analyst James Hodgson, a shift that will begin around 2020. Benefiting from the transition will be vendors new to the industry and veterans including Nvidia, NXP and Mobileye, which all have announced centralized autonomous driving platforms, said the industry research firm. Companies are in different stages of development, but all with common themes in relation to processing power, said Hodgson. The platforms average between eight and 12 teraflops, “orders of magnitude beyond the typical smart sensor currently deployed in ADAS,” he said. Physical separation of dumb sensors and centralized processing also will create opportunities for in-vehicle networking vendors, and Ethernet-based solutions from Marvell Semiconductor and Valens Semiconductor are positioned to meet the needs of high bandwidth and stringent automotive-grade requirements at a low cost, he said. “We are fast approaching the end of what can be achieved in automation within the confines of legacy architectures.” Three separate tier-two suppliers announced “very similar platforms in quick succession,” he said, saying no standards exist for centralized ADAS. Vendors across the ecosystem need to “appropriately manage the industry transition toward centralized ADAS architectures,” he said.