The smartphone-in-the-car movement picked up more momentum recently, as Verizon Wireless announced that it is teaming with automakers to bring fourth-generation (4G) wireless technology to in-vehicle phones.
Verizon said it is joining BMW, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, and Toyota in the 4G Venture Forum for Connected Cars, a consortium that will use open standards to deliver 4G telematics. "It's about bringing more capabilities into the vehicle," Paul Macchia, a Verizon spokesman, told us. "You can do more with 4G LTE than you can with other networks."
To distinguish itself from the Car Connectivity Consortium (CCC), the 4G Venture Forum will direct part of its efforts at phones that are hardwired into the vehicle. Analysts told us that, by taking aim at hardwired phone services, the forum will bring change to a segment that has lagged in its use of the latest generations of wireless technology.
"GM OnStar, Toyota, Chrysler, and Mercedes are using mostly either 2.5G or 3G modules," said Mark Boyadjis, senior analyst for IHS Automotive. "No one has 2G in their pockets anymore, but most of these vehicles are still running 2G."
The Car Connectivity Consortium is creating an open standard that would let consumers plug any cellphone into virtually any dashboard. (Source: Car Connectivity Consortium)
Many automakers still offer hardwired phone services in their vehicles. General Motors has sold its OnStar services in its vehicles since 1996. Toyota sells Safety Connect, and Hyundai markets Blue Link.
Verizon's announcement is another sign that smartphone technology is on an irreversible march into the vehicle. On June 1, Verizon said it would purchase Hughes Telematics Inc. for $612 million. The move was seen as an effort to bring the services of the home and office into the so-called connected car. In September 2011, the CCC put a slightly different spin on that concept by forming a team of auto companies, cellphone makers, and electronics manufacturers to create an open standard for the use of handheld phones brought into the vehicle by their owners. The MirrorLink standard could enable consumers to plug their smartphones and MP3 players into dashboards without worrying about compatibility. The CCC includes GM, Toyota, Honda, Nokia, Samsung, Delphi, LG Electronics, and many others.
Automakers and electronics suppliers have been ratcheting up their efforts to incorporate mobile phone and Internet services into the vehicle for more than a decade. "Manufacturers now know they have to deliver apps and services to their vehicles," Sterling Pratz, CEO of Autonet Mobile, which makes vehicle-based Internet routers, told us in 2011. "Not only do these technologies support the consumer. They drive sales."
The fact that there are now two standards organizations for in-car entertainment could be a sign that hardwired embedded phones, such as those offered by OnStar, will remain a force in telematics. "In our view, embedded telematics and mobile telematics can live in harmony with each other," Boyadjis said. "There is a need for both. You can't provide stolen vehicle location if you don't have a phone in the car."
Companies that develop this technology say that demand for both embedded and mobile capabilities is increasing every year, especially as the Internet generation reaches driving age. "The automakers have to design for the future car buyers, the Millennials," Macchia said. "For them, 3G and 4G in the car isn't just a nice thing to have; it's a birthright."
Wow. That statement alone really sums up where we are heading. I suppose even we almost baby boomers must acquiesce to the fact that access to cell phone, and even Internet, while in the car is fast becoming a must. I can't tell you how often one of my kids plays personal secretary to me, writing/responding to texts, emails, etc. while I'm carting them to and from places. Even on these short jaunts, I increasingly feel the need to be connected so anything that might make that easier and less dangerous would be a welcome advantage.
I think you are right, Beth. The technology we are talking about has become cultural - it is a part of our world view on how we communicate with each other. I just hope we never dispense with the OFF button. Sometimes I feel like it is enslaving more than liberating. We never leave work anymore - even when we physically leave. It used to be there was a line of demarcation between personal and private time but that line has become blurred due to technology, sometimes to our loss...
My goodness, Verizon just positioned itself with a monopoly on in-car phone service. That's a pretty clever move. I would guess users would have to pay a monthly fee to Verizon and they would be locked in with that vendor.
Yes, Rob, a clever move. Some in the industry also believe that Verizon did it because they no longer want to support the 2G and 2.5G services that are used in some of the hard-wired in-car phone services.
My bet is it might parallel what happens with satelitte radio. You buy a certain class of vehicle and you get satelitte radio for a year and then afterwards have to buck up for a subscription if they want to keep it. Perhaps Verizon would do the same thing although given our love affair with the cell phone, my guess is people would be prepared to pay right away to get the service.
Beth, we are a connected people, aren't we. I find that a lot of things are delivered with a CD or DVD which contains almost nothing. It is mostly links to a web site with the latest information. This makes sense, but only if you have ubiquitous communications. The cell phone network is the closest we have to that. Many people have 4G modules they attach to their PCs. Some even come with that. Why not cars?
This should be really interesting now that they did away with the unlimited data plan. They Pushed 4G as the greatest thing since sliced bread, and it is fast, but much like any good drug dealer, get your addicts hooked, then jack up the prices... the junkies will pay.
I think this time they may have overreached, just like their idiotic billing policy they pulled back on when the public told them to shove it.
It's an interesting developement and seems to fly in the face of the safety folks effort to ban cell phone use in vehicles all together! There will be a big struggle over that issue.
Some folks need to take a 'technology break of fast for awhile. We lived before we had all this instant communications and we can still do it if we have to!
All the car companies would like to tie us into the lucrative smart phone "service" market. But how many car companies have the resources to create their own "service"? One, GM, with OnStar.
My car has blue tooth and USB. Just like on-star, it can call 911 in case of an accident. It could easily get smart phone connectivity with either of those two interfaces if they just updated the on-board SW. That probably won't happen, since then I wouldn't be locked into a server of the car companies choosing (and they have a relationship with a satalite provider for that now, which I'm not paying for).
The last thing a car company should be doing is tying a snapshot of technology into a car with a potential 20 year lifespan. My wife's 18 year old car still has an analog "built in" phone. You know what it's useful for? Nada.
What the car companies should be doing is coming up with a tablet cradle dock standard on the middle dash (power + USB/bluetooth with a standard data format, kind of like OBD). Want 4G? Get a 4G tablet. Touch screen breaks? Get a new $200 tablet instead of paying $3000 for a replacement "built in" from the dealer. Technology marches on? (I hear that it does, sometimes;) Buy a new tablet. Better screen? No problem. Want to create your own engine performance dials? Write an Android app. Want to continue something after your car ride is over? Take it with you (I do this now with my Android cell phone and my music).
For 3D printing to make the jump from rapid prototyping to manufacturing, engineers will need to find easier ways to move products from their CAD screens to their printers.
Gigabit and PoE are two networking technologies moving ahead in tandem as industrial users power remote Ethernet devices such as IP security cameras at 1,000 Mbps over existing CAT5 cable.
New versions of BASF's Ecovio line are both compostable and designed for either injection molding or thermoforming. These combinations are becoming more common for the single-use bioplastics used in food service and food packaging applications, but are still not widely available.
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