In connected car news are, Outfit7, Google Automotive, TiVo Media, BMW, VicOne, 3Hat Inc., Kia & VW.
In this Article
Outfit7 4 Google Automotive
Outfit7 announced that its flagship virtual pet game, My Talking Tom Friends, will be available in all cars with Google Automotive Service integration. This announcement was made at Google’s IO event, where My Talking Tom Friends was revealed as one of the few games selected for this groundbreaking in-car gaming experience.
“We are thrilled to partner with Google on this innovative project, expanding the reach of My Talking Tom Friends to even more players,” said Xinyu Qian, CEO of Outfit7. “We are proud that our long-standing partner Google has identified Outfit7 as one of the very few selected partners to be included in their new venture.”
Google Automotive Service is a cutting-edge software system integrated into manufactured cars, offering a range of Google-branded applications. With this new feature, passengers and drivers can now enjoy their favorite games, such as My Talking Tom Friends, from the comfort of their car. My Talking Tom Friends is the most ambitious and innovative virtual pet game from Outfit7, featuring all six Talking Tom and Friends characters in one virtual pet game for the first time. The game can be played safely while the car is parked, providing an immersive in-car gaming experience.
TiVo Media for BMW from Xperia,
Xperi Inc. (NYSE: XPER) today announced that BMW has selected TiVo’s video media platform to provide customers access to a growing number of video content providers, including linear and on demand streaming services. BMW’s implementation of the Powered by TiVo™ platform will include a variety of country-specific content, offering news, movies and access to media libraries. The video media platform is expected to roll out over-the-air in initial launch countries by the end of 2023 for customers of the all-new BMW 5 series and further models.
TiVo’s video media platform is a first-of-its-kind, aimed at giving original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) significantly more control over the user experience and helping consumers cut through the clutter of streaming and linear content options with simplified, universal discovery to consumers. With an award-winning content-first experience, global content provider scale and profitable partnership model, Powered by TiVo is the ultimate independent operating system. From the living room to the car, BMW’s endorsement of an independent media platform with a content-first search and discovery experience, validates the market appeal. The BMW implementation will also be part of Xperi’s independent media platform, but will be integrated in automobiles to deliver immersive in-car entertainment experiences.
Based on decades of experience growing profitable consumer electronics and entertainment ecosystems, the BMW video platform Powered by TiVo will be designed to maximize the in-car entertainment experience.
VicOne Smart Cockpit Protection
VicOne, an automotive cybersecurity solutions leader, launched its Smart Cockpit Protection Solutions for automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to protect their customers’ data privacy.
With the increasing use of in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) systems and car companion applications, cyber attackers can exploit leaked personally identifiable information (PII) to eavesdrop on private, in-car conversations, commit identity theft or even steal customers’ vehicles. Safeguarding personal data is crucial for OEMs to earn car users’ trust and protect their brand image.
VicOne’s new Smart Cockpit Protection Solutions enable OEMs to:
- Maintain positive brand image by enabling customers to safeguard PII and privacy via a downloadable app or preinstallation on IVI systems
- Create new revenue streams by monetizing cybersecurity
- Extend attack-surface visibility from the system level to the application level for future threat detection and response
“Car users are very concerned about the security of their personal data. If OEMs are to capitalize on the significant new revenue opportunities presented by software-enabled services, they must first win the confidence of their car users,” said Max Cheng, chief executive officer of VicOne. “We have developed our modular Smart Cockpit Protection Solutions to provide OEMs with breakthrough capabilities to protect their customers’ data privacy all the way from the IVI systems to their car companion apps.”
VicOne’s Smart Cockpit Protection Solutions are made up of two products: Smart Cockpit Security App to secure data privacy in IVI systems and Smart Cockpit Mobile SDK (software development kit) to protect OEM car companion apps. Combining with other VicOne cybersecurity solutions conveys to OEMs exceptional multilayered cybersecurity protection, from the system level to the application level and extending attack-surface visibility for future threat detection and response. VicOne’s xCarbon intrusion detection and prevention system (IDPS) secures vehicles’ on-board electronic control units (ECUs), and the company’s xNexus platform delivers extended detection and response (XDR) for vehicle security operations centers (VSOCs).
Together, the VicOne Smart Cockpit Protection Solutions offer OEMs comprehensive capabilities to provide their customers with security for IVI privacy and identity, detection of IVI app vulnerabilities, monitoring of IVI app performance, protection of car companion apps, detection of malicious URLs and 24/7 surveillance of personal data.
3Hat Inc. Partners with ETAS
Hat, Inc., the world’s leading provider of open source solutions, announced a collaboration with ETAS, the Bosch subsidiary responsible for the development of application-independent software for vehicles and the cloud, to deliver an in-vehicle automotive platform that will lower the development cost and further accelerate time-to-market for automakers. This pre-integrated and pre-tested foundation platform will provide automakers with a streamlined out-of-the-box developer experience to deliver application software. The ETAS deterministic middleware solution will significantly accelerate the development of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) applications with Red Hat In-Vehicle Operating System positioned to provide a continuously-certified and open standards-based operating system.
Red Hat has been working across the automotive industry to help accelerate open source technology adoption with a focus on standardization and reusability. ETAS is known in the automotive industry for having deployed its real-time operating systems and middleware solutions successfully over three billion times. Its proven track record of in-vehicle systems safety and security features is backed by the highest levels of certification, including ISO 26262. Many traditional systems and methodologies have come with high development costs, slow time-to-market and difficulty in addressing new customer demands while retaining critical safety checks. To help address these challenges, Red Hat is building Red Hat In-Vehicle Operating System, with the end product intended to serve as a functionally-safe, automotive-specific Linux operating system foundation. ETAS plans to combine Red Hat’s technology with its next generation middleware solution, adding deterministic execution for complex and highly concurrent automotive functions.
Red Hat In-Vehicle Operating System helps to move the auto industry towards more scalable software designs by enabling and accelerating many of the current trends in the automotive space. Together with ETAS deterministic middleware, this solution will provide automakers with an extendable platform for developing, testing and deploying ADAS and automated driving (AD) applications on software-defined vehicles in addition to:
- Faster time-to-market with a pre-integrated stack, by leveraging unique ETAS deterministic middleware features on top of Red Hat In-Vehicle Operating System. Deterministic replay enables developers to more accurately reproduce even the most complicated bugs, reported from their fleet, and step-through them within minutes instead of days with traditional approaches. Red Hat In-Vehicle Operation System offers a scalable and flexible platform to support both standard and ASIL-B safety applications. The combined strength of the two layers enable not only faster application development but also efficient automated verification testing with maximum accuracy, independent of the execution hardware – a great fit to scale out automotive test infrastructure into the cloud;
- Reduced development costs by having a consistent platform with modernized toolchains that enables simplified development and easy reuse of software components across vehicle models and production years;
- Enhanced reliability, safety and compliance with a pre-integrated stack to help verify that safety-critical components are integrated in a compliant and efficient manner. The pre-integrated stack improves the reliability and safety of ADAS and AD systems with a focus on safety and determinism;
- Improved scalability and flexibility, allowing customers to develop and deploy applications on a wide range of hardware platforms spanning from in-vehicle electronic control units (ECUs) to the cloud-based development lab;
- Extended operating stack security features provided by Red Hat’s expertise in open source security and compliance combined with ETAS expertise in automotive software security and real-time OS validating the security posture of the pre-integrated stack and its compliance with industry standards and regulations.
Red Hat’s work in the automotive industry is a natural extension of the company’s broader edge computing strategy. Edge computing delivers new capabilities for vehicle functionality and connectivity, with each software-defined vehicle acting as an edge datacenter in itself. These cars will be expected to gather data, provide updates and deploy applications autonomously, further aligning the automotive industry with the growing innovation of edge computing at-large. By working with companies like ETAS, Red Hat aims to help accelerate this momentum and assist in delivering state-of-the-art capabilities for software-defined vehicles that mirror advances at the enterprise edge.
Free AllTrails+ App for Kia Seltos
– With the refreshed 2024 Kia Seltos SUV arriving in showrooms now, Kia America has teamed up with the AllTrails+ app to amplify outdoor adventures. Now through December 31, 2023, customers that purchase or lease a new 2023 or 2024 Seltos SUV are eligible to receive a promo code for a six-month trial of the AllTrails+ premium app.
VW Partners with UT Knoxville
Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (VWGoA) and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UT) announced plans to accelerate their research collaboration. Building on the program’s initial success, both partners aim to kick off more than 10 new joint research projects through 2025, introduce more Ph. D. fellowship and internship positions with Volkswagen, establish dedicated guest lectures with Volkswagen senior experts, and create additional UT student engagement programs starting in October 2023.
VWGoA and UT formed their research collaboration in January 2020, together with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), the largest U.S. Department of Energy science and energy laboratory. The collaboration gave rise to Volkswagen’s Innovation Hub on UT’s Research Park at Cherokee Farm in Knoxville. This industry-leading technology unit is focused on advanced research in automotive lightweight structures, sustainable materials, and electric mobility, with interdisciplinary teams across Volkswagen researchers, UT faculty, doctoral and undergraduate students.
VWGoA and UT aim to expand their academic and applied automotive research collaboration. Beginning in October this year, VWGoA will increase its positions for Ph. D. fellowship candidates and UT student internships. During the fellowship, the Ph. D. students are seamlessly integrated in the company and share their time as Volkswagen employees while working on their dissertations. They can be located at the Innovation Hub Knoxville, Volkswagen’s Engineering and Planning Center (EPC), or the Battery Engineering Lab (BEL) in Chattanooga.
VWGoA, the UT System, and UT Knoxville and UT Chattanooga are also working to develop a strategic roadmap for a comprehensive partnership involving expanding research, educational and internship opportunities in Knoxville and Chattanooga.