Ford made many announcements at Mobile World Congress and showed how it is advancing connected car services.
The new Ford Focus has rear sensors for the Cross-Traffic Alerts warning drivers of traffic while driving in reverse as well as blind spot alerts. The City Stop feature will try to stop the Ford if there is chance of accident.
If developing for the connected car market is driving you crazy then you may want to visit AT&T Drive Studio, AT&T’s first connected car center for innovation and research in Atlanta.
In an interview on NPR we see two definitions of connected cars. It’s interesting to note that NPR is really into connected cars, in fact the NPR news app was one of General Motors’ first in-dash infotainment apps. We at AUTO Connected have an in-depth definition of “connected car.“
Mitsubishi Electric has the “Ultra-simple HMI” which predicts what the driver wants to do an then shows options on screen in front of the driver’s eyes that can be activated by voice or easy-to-reach buttons, called the HMI.
The screen is 17.w inches making it easier to see and requires less eye movement.
Galveston Texas is the first city to replace parking meters completely with phone voice or app payments for parking on city streets.
Airbiquity announced that travel site TripAdvisor will be employed on its Choreo cloud-based connected car services platform.
At Mobile World Congress, many companies announced products and services for the connected car industry. New technology, cloud and analytics services were revealed. Companies with new announcements included SAP, BMW, Qualcomm, Jasper Wireless, Tech Manhindra, Samsung, WiPro and Agnik.
The Car Connectivity Consortium announced two new endeavors a fast track developer program and new PSA Peugeot Citroën and Volkswagen cars with MirrorLink head unit infotainment systems. (A video appears below)
Volvo is working on using smartphone/smart devices, connecting cars to delivery services, called “Roam Delivery” that will be demonstrated at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, this week.
Connected City at Mobile World Congress will show new connections for cars and people including augmented reality, infotainment, security and mobile payments.
There is a Bluetooth hacking tool that can bite into the Controller Area Network of cars’ computer and can stop the car and cause a lot of mischief.
At Black Hat Asia Spanish researchers Javier Vazquez-Vidal and Alberto Garcia Illera will show a device that when connected to cars can turn off headlights, set off alarms, and roll windows down or set the parking break. The device is called deviCan Hacking Tool or CHT.
Ford will socialize its marketing with the connected EcoSport cars in a six month blog and social media campaign. Ford of Europe will show a new automated research car with automated driving and other advanced technology after 2025.
The event will start at Mobile World Congress called EcoSport Live. Cars will be loaned to one hundred of the hippest bloggers to write about the EcoSports connectivity via social media.