Month: October 2014

Pay ChargePoint with PayPal or mobile apps

ChargePoint announced that electric vehicle (EV) drivers can sign up and pay for ChargePoint with PayPal. ChargePoint stations are independently owned, some offer charging for

Alpine iLX-007 with Apple iPhone CarPlay

Alpine announced the iLX-007, an aftermarket in-dash receiver  for optimum compatibility with Apple CarPlay with Phone 5/5c/5S -6/6+ in the car. The iLX-007 is a

Connected car concept cockpit connects it all

cameraintheinstrumentclusterVisteon is a major supplier to car makers. To see what the cockpit of cars will look like in a few years, look at Visteon’s new  connected cockpit concept.  It is designed to securely connect the car to the driver and Cloud computing. The cockpit concept will be demonstrated at Electronica 2014 in Munich.

The OASIS (Optimized. Adaptable. Secure. Intelligent. Seamless) cockpit integrates the driver’s custom profile to the vehicle infotainment system, safely.The systems uses a low energy use Bluetooth profile.

Freescale Wi-Fi onboard for vehicle infotainment, clusters, telematics & entertainment

freescaleboardFreescale Semiconductor announced a hardware/software development system for Ethernet connectivity (Wi-Fi) in vehicles. The system can be used for infotainment, instrument cluster, camera telematics and rear seat entertainment designs. It supports real-time data transport throughout the vehicle.

The new SABRE (Smart Application Blueprint for Rapid Engineering) for Auto Infotainment (AI) features  i.MX 6  processors to speed and simplify Ethernet Audio Video Bridging (AVB) deployment. Freescale reports that it is Freescale’s most scalable implementation of the ARM Cortex-A9 CPU cores, with  processing speeds up to 1 GHz, and a high level of automotive-specific integration. The expansion boards range in price from $699-$799.

Apple iOS 8.1 4 iPhone 5-6+ could fix Bluetooth issue with hands-free devices/cars

iOS81buetoothfixiOS 8 has been plagued with Bluetooth bugs connecting to in-car infotainment systems.The manifest of features for iOS update shows a Bluetooth fix which hopefully will help our readers who have tried everything from complaining to Apple to “nuking” their phones to get Bluetooth work. Almost every car maker was affected including BMW, Audi, GM(Chevy, GMC, Cadillac, Buick), Mercedes-Benz, VW, Mazda, Lexus, Fiat, Hyundai and more.

2015 Lexus LS comes with super connected car features and 12.3″ screen

lexusinteriorLexus announced the features of its new 2015 Lexus LS line with many new high-tech features including a new multimedia infotainment system with a 12.3-inch screen.

The new multimedia system with navigation screen has predictive traffic with detour preview, ETA calculation and when the tank is near empty it shows gas stations nearby. The free Lexus Enform App Suite features bird’s eye map views with 3D building views, to make finding destinations easier.

iOS 8.1 Bluetooth and in-car infotainment fixes for iOS 8 hands-free?

ios81stagecolorAs many of our readers know, there have been iOS 8-8.02 Bluetooth issues with in-car infotainment systems from almost every car maker including BMW, Audi, GM(Chevy, GMC, Cadillac, Buick), Mercedes-Benz, VW, Mazda, Lexus, Fiat, Hyundai and more. An AUTO Connected Car News commenter summed it up this way, “Apple blames the car makers and the car makers blame Apple.” Hopefully, the update to iOS 8.1 will help users connect their iPhones with their automobiles.

New automotive cyber security options ASDL, ECUSHIELD, IPS with DPI

arguscyberthreaThere have been new cyber security initiatives for the automotive industry with an alphabet soup of acronyms,  standards, algorithms and protocols. ASDL comes from SBD and NCC Group while IPS based on DPI comes from the Argus Cyber Consulting. ECUSHIELD (pronounced E.C.U. shield) from TowerSec  offers intrusion protection (IPS) and firewalls.