THE CAR IS THE ULTIMATE SMART DEVICE

We’re happy to announce that QNX Software Systems will add support for HERE Auto to the QNX CAR Platform for Infotainment. HERE is also powering the new Sensus Navigation with its Auto Cloud connected services to provide seamless and connected navigation to drivers of Volvo cars.

If you’re curious to see in real life how HERE Auto for QNX and HERE Auto Cloud for Volvo XC60 work, just head to their booths at the CES in Las Vegas.

At HERE we don’t believe that getting the most up to date and best driver services is a matter of either- or. Drivers shouldn’t have to choose between navigation solutions on a smartphone or relying on out of date embedded navigation systems in a car. We think smartphones play an important role as the command center of the in-car services, but at the same time the car is evolving into the ultimate connected device capable of entirely new class of services.

In 2014 we are going to show just how we’re bringing that vision to life by announcing more partnerships and introducing more innovative products.

Cars and smartphones

This is all good news, right? It also gives us the opportunity to talk a little bit more about connected devices and the role of the smartphone in the car.

People rely on their smartphones as an essential part of their driving experience – they see it as being the most ‘up-to-date’ source of information to hand. That’s hardly surprising, because people expect to stay connected wherever they are and have access to all of the apps and services on their smartphones even when driving.

Because of our long heritage in the automotive business and our knowledge of internet services, we believe, however, that the tremendous opportunity provided by a connected car for both people and the industry means framing the discussion beyond embedded versus brought in solutions.

Where are we going?

By 2020, up to 90 per cent of all cars will be connected, compared to 4 per cent today and we are on the roadtowards autonomous driving, with actions like parallel parking already being taken over by the car itself.

It’s easy to recognize that many of these future services are highly safety-sensitive and tight to liability and regulatory elements, so most likely it’ll require more than smartphone with a mapping solution to make these happen. And with different smartphone OSes on the market, whichever connected car solution is used it must be device agnostic.

Solution

At HERE, we believe that there is more than one solution to creating a connected car environment and is following a multi-faceted approach. Besides bringing a mobile OS into the car, we believe that it’s possible to innovate with the services on top of any OS or by building a deeply embedded end-to-end location platform.

This is why we are offering a Connected Driving “toolkit”, a flexible and modular approach and the only end-to-end driving solution on the market today, which will help car makers and in-vehicle technology suppliers connect the car and the driver to the cloud. The offering includes HERE Auto, the HERE Auto Companion App and HERE Auto Cloud.

HERE Auto is an embedded in-car navigation application that builds on the HERE automotive-grade-quality map, which includes fresh turn-by-turn data for 95 countries. HERE Auto connects to the HERE Cloud to access connected services, including weather, parking availability, traffic, fuel price and payment services, and more. HERE Auto is scalable and supports a variety of platforms.

Companies like Continental, Daimler, Volvo, Magneti Marelli or QNX already benefit from this offering.

Are you ready for connected driving? What apps and services would you like to have easily available when driving?