Intel's Connected Cars

Android offers a lot of flexibility for the automotive industry. Companies are turning to Android OS for its reliability, innovation and security. Today’s cars can have a dashboard which includes a real-time map of traffic and open parking spots. Intel has been currently working on these type of connected cars that will revolutionize driving convenience. More opportunities are expected to evolve in areas like security, safety and user interfaces.

Innovation is crucial to connected cars. Vehicles have the ability to receive and transmit data from the cloud, enable  sensors and cameras around the vehicle, leverage parking advances to 3D display and sound. There is a transition to a Platform-Rich Computing System where there are traditional software and hardware architecture being merged to the connected in-vehicle experience.

There are also huge opportunities in re-writing client-server applications to run on cloud stacks, in building and managing a new class of smaller, cloud-compatible data centers for organizations to use and outperform. Intel’s connected car has evolved significantly and now has deep integration between consumer devices, the car and the cloud – and from there to other cars, the intelligent highway, digital signs to just about any other system.

Intel

Joel Hoffmann, business strategist for the Automotive Solutions Division at Intel says, “We’re looking out to what’s going to be the next, next big thing. So we’re looking at innovations and ideas that are going to start developing into vehicles that might be on the road in 2016 and beyond… Our goal is to anticipate the kinds of technologies that are going to be needed in our product – which ultimately is silicon – for a future product that doesn’t even exist yet.” Hoffmann also says, “As the connected car becomes more useful and valuable, we believe people that are driving their cars are going to be very conscious of the data they’re sharing.”

There are still challenges with introducing content to the car. ABI Research forecasts global shipments of automotive connected infotainment systems will reach 27 million by 2016, driven by a number of factors. “The emergence of smart phones and applications and their integration into the vehicle environment, decreasing hardware and connectivity costs, consumer interest and increasing awareness, fast development of cloud-based and web-based services, and consumers’ drive to extend their ‘connected lifestyle’ into the car environment are all key contributors to the push for connected infotainment,” says Dominique Bonte, group director, telematics and navigation.

The increase in consumer demands today create opportunities based on the ways consumers are interacting to interconnected technologies. According to Intel’s Strategy Analytics study in October 2011, demand forecasts support this approach – silicon solutions serving the infotainment and telematics market are expected to rise from $5.6 billion in 2010 to $8.7 billion in 2018. The company plans to continue its path to build new products, evolve by adapting to standards and regulatory technological change in the market.