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    • 05Feb

      Autotxt is a stolen vehicle recovery and immobilization solution provider that spread its wings in 2009 to move beyond its home market in the United Kingdom to explore SVR opportunities in Germany, Brazil and China.  In the process, the company has begun trials of fleet solutions around the world pointing the way forward for the entire fleet industry to bring robust commercial solutions, eventually, to the large volume passenger vehicle market.

       

      Autotxt has clearly recognized that its immobilizer technology, though a powerful differentiating solution, is not a mass market product. In the U.S., for example, vehicle immobilization is primarily used in the buy-here-pay-here market for consumer with poor credit seeking to purchase cars. This market segment is served by a half dozen or more companies and experiences strong, steady demand. OnStar caused a stir with its vehicle slowdown solution introduced in 2009. There have been a handful of high-profile vehicle recoveries using the technology, but it has yet to see wider application - something that Autotxt might change.

       

      Autotxt is building upon its existing solution to offer comprehensive vehicle telematics solutions with over-the-air configurability, CAN integration and Website management for fleets. But these same solutions are increasingly well-suited to the passenger vehicle market especially since they already include tools for CO2 reduction and green navigation. The next step for Autotxt may well be more consumer-facing products and services.

       

      In the U.K., Autotxt is best know for its Thatcham Category 5 vehicle recovery technology which includes pro-active notification of the vehicle owner of its theft and the ability to immobilize the vehicle and thereby recover it.  The Autotxt solution is used by Aston Martin, Jaguar and Land Rover and Autotxt is now running tests and trials with potential customers in Germany and elsewhere.  The technology represents a major business opportunity for Autotxt in Brazil, but that country is still in the process of re-evaluating its vehicle tracking and immobilization mandate.

       

      In Germany, Autotxt is currently running trials with bigger commercial vehicle fleets with its new fleet efficiency tool, which focuses on improving driver behaviour, reducing CO2 and anti-theft.  The first trials are nearly completed, according to the company.  In China, Autotxt has two different activities, one focused on fleet applications and another one involving stolen vehicle tracking solutions for car makers.

       

      All Autotxt applications involve CAN integration and in-depth CAN analysis for accurate data.  The company’s hardware is configured over the air for the dedicated vehicle type.  The company also provides custom configured Web-based applications for customers for free since there is no standard telematics product for every customer.

       

      Immobilization technology has been available from Autotxt for several years. The company works with different service partners in different countries covering Europe and an increasing number other countries.  Development goes in the direction of interactive CAN applications (in cooperation with the automotive companies) and remote diagnostics capabilities (self healing car) in cooperation with IBM and Jaguar.  The company is looking at opportunities in the U.S.


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    • 03Feb

      With the statement: “Consumers want their devices to work together, so it is inevitable that single-vendor connected solutions will lose their interest,” Pioneer’s senior managing director, Akira Haeno has shoved a stake into the ground for the company’s Platform for Aggregation of Internet Services (PAIS). Pioneer says this new content and services platform, set to arrive formally in mid-2010, will provide a seamless home/car/work experience for different content sources and services in conjunction with any connected device.

      The announcement opens doors to new market opportunities for Pioneer Electronics while also opening the company up to a new range of competitors that are already aggregating content and services. But Haeno’s declaration is significant considering there are several connected devices that are otherwise closed to different content and service sources. A few that come to mind are devices from TomTom, Garmin, OnStar, and Apple. The ability to bridge all of these platforms will give Pioneer an advantage against rivals such as Airbiquity, Hughes Telematics or even UIEvolution.

      The PAIS platform presents open-standard interfaces for voice, navigation and maps, local search, social networking, music and radio and video and television, the company says. The interfaces enable the addition of new content and services without the added investment in proprietary solutions. Pioneer’s solution is a direct challenge to the strategies of competing Tier Ones such as Visteon, Continental, and Denso among others, all of whom are offering to enable a wide range of applications.

      Even real-time operating system supplier QNX has had to race to deliver new application interfaces in support of its technology already deployed in 12+ vehicles. The Pioneer solution is based on Windows for Automotive and incorporates VoiceBox technology but is otherwise technology agnostic.

      The challenge for the content and service aggregators will be to demonstrate that their solutions are truly able to seamlessly and easily deploy new applications. Ford Motor Company and Mercedes-Benz are the first to reach the market with systems sufficiently flexible to deploy additional applications. Ford relies on smartphone connectivity, while Mercedes combines smartphone connectivity with a sophisticated back-end provided by Hughes Telematics. Ford has made a software development kit available, as has Continental for its Android-based systems. Mercedes has not released an SDK but company executives envision a day when Mercedes customers could create widgets or full applications. Competitors may see a tough choice in choosing to support or leverage the Pioneer platform, but the company is early enough to market to stake a credible claim and the solution will no doubt support Pioneer’s own connected offerings.


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    • 03Feb

      Gewi, an 18-year-old German-based company with an off-the-shelf software solution for managing roadway information for DOTs, car makers and device manufacturers, has entered the U.S. market and introduced TIC3, the latest version of its software. The company is known for its TIC (Traveller Information Center) software platform used to collect, create, store, monitor, view, manage and distribute information such as traffic data from a wide range of sources.

      The company’s solution is designed to be used as an out-of-box solution or as a server-based or hosted service delivery platform. The TIC platform is capable of producing outputs in any required format, including including RDS-TMC, TPEG, radio and TV traffic reports, PDA, and web. Gewi clients include Nokia, BMW, Navteq and Daimler. While the company’s software is in use in more than 100 projects worldwide, it has most recently been manifesting itself in embedded and portable devices for processing traffic information.

      But the Gewi platform is content agnostic, so the next phase for Gewi will likely be the integration of data sources such as gasoline pricing, hotel reservations and anything else related to movement on a roadway. The flexibility of the Gewi platform is likely to put the company into competition with companies such as Airbiquity, Google and even Hughes Telematics. These potential competitors have already demonstrated the power of a flexible back end to enable their clients to deploy new content and applications. It is possible that companies might even choose to make use of Gewi’s software.

      Whether or not OEMs turn to Gewi to process other types of non-traffic data, the company is well positioned to enable new traffic applications from companies such as TrafficLand, Aha Mobile, Waze and TrafficTalk. Whether the data source is traffic cameras or crowd-sourced traffic information, Gewi’s software can help process and distribute the new data sources in an integrated manner, allowing customers to prioritize different data feeds depending on circumstances.

      Gewi may well find itself partnering with Tier One suppliers such as Visteon, Continental and Denso to enable the range of applications envisioned by these organizations (gas pricing, parking, movie times) as well as to enable application stores. Precisely how Gewi will fit into the changing automotive software landscape remains to be seen. The company’s solutions are hardware and operating system agnostic and command a substantial market position in the critical traffic information space. The challenge for Gewi will be to see if it can build on this essential piece of the in-vehicle content portfolio to broaden its reach.


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    • 01Feb

      Leveraging its TotalGuide interactive programming guide and Lasso and Connected Platform networking technology, Rovi is seeking to become master of all content.  The company wants to own the interface between the user of audio and video content and the process of discovering and acquiring that content regardless of source or device platform.

      At the CES show in January, the company was touting new content partnerships with Showtime Networks, ZillionTV and Rhapsody in the U.S. along with a list of European based firms.  Existing sources include CBS, Blockbuster, YouTube and Roxio CinemaNow.  Rovi’s technology is built upon, among other things, the growing metadata and user review databases of its own AllMediaGuide and partner Flixster, along with WideVine’s digital rights management solution.  The company claims more than 25 million U.S and 50 million worldwide households using its interactive programming guide which also serves as an advertising platform.

      While Rovi’s role in the automotive market is less obvious, the company is more than three years into a drive to resolve content and rights-related challenges to accessing media and content from multiple sources conveniently and legally on mobile devices and in cars as well as in homes. Rovi’s role in the automotive market is growing as in-vehicle device interfaces such as USB ports and Wi-Fi connections proliferate along with external connections via embedded modules or smartphones.  More content and media are being brought into cars and Rovi is coming along for the ride.  Current partners in the automotive segment include Kenwood and NXP. Rovi’s technology is also used by Apple’s iTunes store among many other online content sellers.

      Introduced late last year and currently available, Rovi’s automotive solution combines its Lasso and Connected Platformm technology for the automotive market and includes:

      • Media Lookup: the ability to use Rovi’s metadata library to identify, tag and manage digital content.
      • Rich Entertainment Metadata: information on a variety of music and movies, supports multiple content types from CDs, digital files, DVD, Blu-ray Discs.
      • Software Update: periodic updating of embedded databases via removable media or home network connectivity.
      • Content Transfer: transfer of audio files and metadata to the vehicle from standards-based devices on a home network.
      • Device Sharing: interoperability of portable devices via USB and standards-based connectivity.

      To achieve the necessary connectivity, Rovi is supporting the Digital Living Network Alliance’s (DLNA) new guidelines for the service provider market that will enable consumers to play back and share commercial video and music across DLNA Certified devices. DLNA certified devices are proliferating in the PC (Windows 7), set-top box, TV, Blu-Ray, and mobile device markets, paving the way for smoother access to content from multiple sources.

      In the consumer electronics market, Rovi wants to become the default programming guide for the next generation of HDTVs, Blu-ray players and set-top boxes.  The importance of this effort is that the company is bringing together both in-home consumer electronics content access and mobile device access.  TotalGuide will integrate cable and broadband video content side-by-side, in a single unified interface in the home, but can be expected to deliver a similar solution in mobile environments.

      This means, Rovi will help enable the discovery and distribution of content, regardless of the delivery source or device platform.  And Rovi also has the user reviews and metadata from partners like Flixster to offer social recommendations for video viewing.  Competitors include Vudu, Boxee and TiVo, among others, but Rovi arguably has an edge with its unique combination of content, rights protection, metadata, and user reviews. And Rovi is the only player pursuing automotive opportunities.

      Rovi’s rights protection technology comes from Widevine’s video optimization and DRM solutions.  Widevine is a provider of adaptive streaming, interactive DVD/Blu-ray and DRM technologies to Internet content services as well as cable, satellite and telecommunications companies.  Rovi says that by working with Widevine, consumers using its TotalGuide will be able to have access on their TVs to more content, such as movies and TV shows, from more providers.  At the CES show, Rovi showed its new Media Management content management solution.  Media Management helps manufacturers of PCs, set-top boxes, mobile handsets, and network-attached storage devices identify, tag and organize digital music, videos and photos by attaching descriptive metadata to the asset for easier filing and searching..


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    • 29Jan

      On January 28th 2010, Renesas Technology America, Inc., announced the SH74552 and SH74562 32-bit MCUs for advanced driver assistance system applications (ADAS). 

      • The SH74552 and SH74562 MCUs feature a compact 13 mm × 13 mm package, 160 MHz high-speed operation, 1 MB of high-speed on-chip flash memory, and on-chip functions such as 4-channel CAN.
      • Sample shipments will begin in May, 2010, in Japan.

      http://america.renesas.com/fmwk.jsp?cnt=press_release20100128.htm&fp=/company_info/news_and_events/press_releases

      Renesas can expect revenues from ADAS specific products to grow as Strategy Analytics forecasts semiconductor demand for ADAS systems such as lane departure warning and blindspot monitoring to show strong double-digit growth rates through 2016.

      • The increasing use of camera and radar based ADAS systems can benefit from Renesas’ on-chip flash memory, small size, competitive price and high-speed operation.

      For more information on ADAS semiconductors,  see the Strategy Analytics report: “Automotive Semiconductor Demand Forecast 2007 to 2016: Long Term Growth Unchanged”  at the following link: http://www.strategyanalytics.com/default.aspx?mod=ReportFormatsViewer&a0=4897


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    • 22Jan

      No, not really. But it seems as if that headline could be written any day now. Apple’s influence inside the car has become as pervasive as Google’s influence outside it. Apple’s iPods and iPhones have fundamentally altered the automotive audio experience and are speeding the demise of the in-car CD player.

       

      The electronics industry may be abuzz regarding the impending arrival of the Apple “iSlate” tablet computer, but auto makers and their suppliers are wrestling every day with the impact of hundreds of millions of iPods and millions of iPhones. Even telecommunications companies have felt Apple’s touch, causing them to re-evaluate flat rate data plans as iPhone users tune in to Internet radio and streaming video applications en masse.

       

      But Apple’s influence began 6-7 years ago. Apple’s iPods arrived on the market around the same time aftermarket companies were toying with the idea of removable and dockable storage drives in cars. Companies from Seagate to Kenwood, Phatnoise and Rosen Entertainment, among others, dabbled in this area to the extent of bringing products into the marketplace only to discover that the iPod had become the de facto portable storage device for in-vehicle use.

       

      A similar reality is unfolding today as car makers seek to bring Internet access into the car via embedded modules, while iPhone users are bringing Internet applications to the car via their iPhones. Today, iPhone users can access Internet radio, podcasts, navigation and location-related applications all from their smartphones. In fact, many car makers provide proprietary Apple connectors with their new cars. (The salesman who sold me my car last year provided these connectors - which are now jammed into my console for storage - even though I use a Blackberry.)

       

      We have Apple to thank/blame for the proliferation of AUX IN and USB connectors in cars and, soon, we may have Apple to thank/blame for the demise of the automotive CD drive. For now, CDs persist out of convenience, low cost and wide consumer acceptance. But retail sales are in freefall even as downloads continue to gain, particularly, of course, for iTunes. When it comes to low cost, a properly connected iPhone delivers as much value as the average multifunction head unit – and more.

       

      The latest iPhone vehicle connectivity developments revolve around transferring control of the device to the in-vehicle HMI. Most Tier Ones have mastered this task enabling steering wheel and other controls to manage iPhone functions. The next step in the works is to transfer the images displayed on the iPhone screen to the center stack display, if there is one. But the convergence of Apple devices and automobiles will continue especially as the installed base of devices continues to grow.

       

      That installed base fuels a massive aftermarket. Apple’s presence in the mobile electronics industry was never more obvious than at the Consumer Electronics Show earlier this month where dozens of companies showed devices for connecting or mounting Apple products in cars. The Apple automotive aftermarket alone is probably bigger than the rest of the automotive aftermarket combined - roughly speaking.

       

      Rest assured that OEMs and their suppliers are laboring furiously to get out in front of Apple’s next move that may influence the car buying public. Maybe the iSlate will alter the automotive aftermarket in some fundamental way. Is an Apple head unit next? Not likely. Not now, after Apple has forever altered the in-car audio experience. For the foreseeable future, every head unit maker will have to make a pit stop in Cupertino before bringing their next product to market.

       


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    • 20Jan

      The single most important automotive product introduction at CES was MyFordTouch and the related software developer kit (SDK) and application programming interfaces. Competing OEMs and their suppliers are scrambling to respond to Ford’s strategy which is only manifesting today what

      has been in development for five years or more. In the end, Ford has created and demonstrated an ability to design and deploy new features and functions at an unheardof pace, unmatched in the industry.

       

      Ford has finally solved the automotive industry solution development logjam and has further opened up its platform for the creation of even more new applications by third parties. This “long-tail” strategy has created a competitive environment where the OEM (or supplier) that enables or is capable of enabling the most applications will win. This does not mean that every car buyer uses every application, but it does mean that there will likely be at least a few applications that every driver will want to try - hence the long tail. It also means great aftermarket opportunities, marketing angles, and customer touch opportunities for Ford and its dealer network - “come down and get your free apps!”

      The Ford announcement greatly overshadowed Kia’s Uvo launch, which represented a significant advance on the original Ford Sync and is based on an updated Microsoft MS Auto platform.  Similarly, the OnStar Volt smartphone integration announcement is a mere one-off feature introduction for a single expensive vehicle due much later in 2010. Though the vehicle charge status application is necessary for the electric vehicle segment, t is not a mass market concept and it was originally shown a year ago. It does show OnStar integrating smartphone funtionality for the first time, but it is not the harbinger of an open platform from OnStar.

       

      The mbrace announcement from Mercedes late last year was more important because Mercedes will be launching additional smartphone applications thanks to the Hughes Telematics back-end architecture. OnStar lacks the flexibility to deploy a wide range of applications in the same manner as Mercedes.

      The influence of Ford’s architectural decisions is reflected in the movement of Tier Ones to enable a wide range of applications across multiple platforms and operating systems. Some examples include QNX’s ConnectedCar, Continental’s AutoLinQ, Airbiquity’s aqLink, Visteon’s connectivity platform and Denso’s BlueHarmony. Continental’s choice of the Android operating system, in particular, reflects the objective of opening the automotive environment to a wider software developer community. Continental, in particular, announced plans for its own Androi-based SDK for Q1 and an application store due in the second half of 2010.

       

      Even telematics service providers - Airbiquity, Cross Country/ATX, Hughes, and WirelessCar - are seeking to enable and support a much wider range of applications ranging from news, weather and sports content delivery to traffic camera display and Internet radio. And social networking applications such as Twitter, FaceBook and myspace are being enabled for embedded in-vehicle use as well.

      OEMs will do well to choose hardware, software, content, operating system and service providers that are capable of rapid deployment of voice and connectivity-enabled features and functions in a safe manner via a controlled vetting process. Ford is showing the way, but there will be multiple paths to this objective.


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    • 20Jan

      The battle lines are drawn between Flo-TV, the service that transmits television in the 716-722MHz band, and the new ATSC mobile DTV standard, which had its coming out party at the recent Consumer Electronics Show. Flo-TV executives were keen to raise questions regarding the viability of mobile DTV even as products using the technology are just arriving on the market.

      The reason for the rivalry is that both technologies are vying for automotive line fit and aftermarket opportunities, although the automotive market is admittedly secondary to the primary goals of enabling mobile devices to receive live television. The ATSC mobile DTV standard is supported by the Open Mobile Video Coalition. Both the OMVC and Flo-TV anticipate millions of users of mobile TV technology even though Flo-TV’s subscribers are still estimated in the low hundreds of thousands (See: FLO-TV Hesitant Start: Automotive TV Market Not Assured - Strategy Analytics) and mobile DTV has not yet reached the market.

      Flo-TV, a $10/month subscription-based service, offers less than 20 channels in 50 markets, but the available channels include a range of premium and leading network broadcast content. Picture quality is adequate, especially for a small mobile screen, and comparable to ATSC. Nevertheless, Flo-TV executives speaking privately at CES raised several questions about the new ATSC mobile DTV standard including:

      -> The inconsistent availability of channels from market to market;

      -> The quality of reception;

      -> The existence of a business model to justify the mobile DTV investment;

      -> The availability of particular content governed by mobile licenses - ie. NFL broadcasts;

      -> The potential for the government to reclaim the allocated spectrum.

      The significance of the raising of these points is that Flo-TV has its own coverage and picture quality issues, according to industry observers, although it does have the advantage of a consistent offering of content throughout its (limited) program areas.  And the potential for the government to reclaim the spectrum, though a serious possibility, is a bit of a red herring given that the spectrum was only recently allocated and any change will likely be met by massive opposition.

      The question of mobile licensing of content will likely be resolved via negotiation among interested parties, and a resolution is likely because there are in fact a variety of business models designed to eventually deliver billions of dollars in revenue including both advertising and conditional access. The mobile DTV standard provides for conditional access to content in addition to free content. Flo-TV has no free content other than a preview channel today. One way for Flo-TV to get better traction might be to shift some of its content to a “free” ad-supported model. Still, the variety of available content, the number of available channels and the range of use cases for managing content via Mobile DTV will remain more robust.

      Rather than list the use cases, it is probably easier to visit this link:

      Use cases: http://www.omvc.org/_assets/docs/broadcasters/mobile-dtv.pdf

      Suffice it to say mobile D-TV provides for push, interactivity and time-shifting and all of the advertising and commercial possibilities implied in those capabilities. The remaining question, though, is the size of the automotive market opportunity. Unlike Asian and European markets, front seat viewing in the U.S. is out of the question for the time being and, even when it arrives (via dual view technology) is likely only to be intended for passengers. With most automotive viewing, therefore, done in the rearseat, mobile TV of any kind will - for the most part - be limited to families with young children, couples and tailgaters.

      Flo-TV has already gotten the jump on mobile D-TV with Chrysler’s launch of a Flo-TV aftermarket device available through Mopar. Mobile TV aftermarket supplier Winegard showed its CIO TV solution at CES, although it chose not to show its concept for the required antenna. Presumably the antenna will not be an issue as it was for satellite-based solutions such as ATT Cruisecast which failed late last year. To date, large antennas have been a major drawback to in-vehicle television delivery systems.

      OMVC identifies a variety of mobile device user populations in its own studies, including commuters:

      Study: http://www.omvc.org/_assets/docs/press-releases/2009/OMVC-Mobile-TV-Study-December-2009.pdf

      It is worth noting the variety of content types in which consumers express interest in connection to the variety of available content delivery modalities and types enabled by mobile DTV. Devices that enable Wi-Fi distribution of mobile DTV content have already been introduced in the market and the nacent introduction of Wi-Fi technology in vehicles is gaining momentum. The battle for non-driver eyeballs has begun. Perhaps this segment can be turned into something more than a niche.


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    • 15Jan
      Denso privately showed an Internet connectivity platform called Blue Harmony at the Detroit Auto Show this week. Despite its name which suggests an emphasis on Bluetooth, Blue Harmony is actually built around a 3G cellular connection enhanced with Wi-Fi for internal and external communication and Bluetooth. It is designed as a center stack solution with full-size, touch-screen display for navigation and other functions.

      The announcement shows Denso offering its own all-purpose alternative to similar solutions from Continental and Visteon. Blue Harmony’s introduction reflects the ongoing efforts being made by Tier One suppliers to provide for smartphone integration and application downloads.

      Blue Harmony is designed to function with a variety of hardware and software configurations. The positioning of the system is clearly targeted at higher end applications as opposed to simple Bluetooth connectivity offerings such as Ford’s Sync. Denso is being specific about the broad range of functionality enabled by the Blue Harmony system, but is being deliberately ambiguous about specific component partners and HMI, leaving these choices to potential customers.

      The stated objective of Blue Harmony is to enable connected consumer applications including access to music, news and traffic information while enabling safe implementation of social networking applications such as Facebook and Twitter. Flexibility and customizability are critical elements of the system including the ability to download applications capable of enabling services such as Pandora Internet radio. OEMs will be able to target different consumer segments with customized user interfaces or different application portfolios.

      Blue Harmony will also deploy a wide range of voice-enabled applications such as news readers or messaging. And in addition to Wi-Fi technology, the system also incorporates vehicle-to-vehicle communication capability.


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    • 13Jan

      Genivi Challenges Automotive OS Duopoly, Disrupts Business Models

       

      The Genivi Alliance had a coming out party at the Consumer Electronics Show this week. Aside from the formal launch of the alliance at CeBIT in the winter of 2009, the organization has chosen smaller stages from which to tell its story and attract additional partners. At the CES show, however, Visteon raised the Genivi flag high in introducing new automotive infotainment solutions.

       

      Genivi is currently positioned in the industry as an alternative to Microsoft and QNX as an automotive operating system for a range of cockpit applications. The business models of these three organizations differ significantly, though, and the objectives of the Genivi Alliance are not strictly related to taking the place of either of Microsoft’s automotive OS offerings or QNX. The stated objectives appear more closely aligned with reducing development costs for OEMs and, more recently, may include shifting ownership of intellectual property to the OEMs as well.

       

      QNX and Microsoft are not the only operating systems available to automotive suppliers. There still remain multiple Linux distributions – including the recently emergent Android being positioned for automotive applications by Continental - as well as versions of M-Itron. But when it comes to the development of the most advanced automotive cockpit systems on the road today, QNX and Microsoft are dominant.

       

      When it comes to business models, the two companies differ significantly. Microsoft has a reputation for being expensive, but mitigates the expense with marketing dollars. QNX takes a more traditional approach to software licensing and is a much quieter player in the market, from a marketing or marketing dollars standpoint. Microsoft has found success in both the high-end infotainment segment and the low end (Ford Sync, Fiat Blue&Me).

       

      QNX has seen much of its deployments in the luxury segment in connection with parent Harman International, but has also had its share of success in Bluetooth solutions, instrument clusters and GM’s OnStar system. QNX’s most recent success has centered on its work with Lexus and parent Toyota which appears to have opened the door to additional business in Japan. QNX claims in excess of 12M cars deployed with its software.

       

      The Genivi strategy, rooted in the shared-code model of Linux, is designed to speed product development by identifying and distributing those layers of operating system code that are identical across platforms. Of course, all operating systems have an element of shared code, but the Genivi approach creates a “star chamber-like” panel of alliance members that vet new additions to the underlying shared code, presumably leaving ample room for alliance members to differentiate their solutions in higher levels of the software stack such as HMI are other application-specific areas.

       

      Genivi had its CES debut in the Visteon booth. While one physical platform was shown based on an Intel ATOMM processor, executives said it could be swapped out for solutions from competing silicon suppliers such as Renesas or Freescale, depending on the customer requirement. This is one element of the Genivi platform, like other industry platforms it is intended to allow virtual plug-n-play swapping of processors and other system elements.

       

      Visteon executives noted that the initial release, Genivi 1.0, occurred December 17 and the organization is now in the midst of a 21-business day review by its membership. Genivi announced that it surpassed the 50-member mark before CES including such significant partners as Renesas and Nissan. The Genivi 1.0 review is to be completed Jan. 21. During the period of the review the Board of Genivi may receive, via its executive director, any potential member claims of IP which were not contributed by the member under the terms of the IPR policy that they feel are infringed upon with the candidate release. The review period is also indeed to perform a careful review of the documentation of inbound and outbound licensing of the components included in the release. In no notifications occur, the board is expected to vote in a meeting Jan. 27 to release Genivi 1.0. Otherwise, the Board may delay until IP notifications are research and resolved or until license documentation is complete.

       

      Because Genivi is so new, rumors continue to swirl around critical business model issues such as IP ownership by OEMs implementing Genivi solutions and around the extent to which it may creep into upper levels of the software stack such as HMI and the application level. For now, the industry will have to wait for its chance to see the first implementation.

       

      Genivi will coexist in the market with both QNX and Microsoft including in some of the same systems. This is true for Android as well, which will not replace QNX or Microsoft in the short run. In the end, while additional versions of Linux will continue to emerge and find a place in the automotive market, the duopoly of Microsoft and QNX is likely to persist for some time. Genivi stands to have its greatest influence over time as additional layers of code are added. Participants in the alliance will be watching most closely to see that their value add contribution is preserved.


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