Ford & Nokia Partner for Innovation Project
06-27-12, 04:35 AM
#1
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Ford & Nokia Partner for Innovation Project
Nokia today announced that Ford's research organization will use the Nokia Location Platform to advance innovation for smart and connected vehicles, as demonstrated by the Ford EVOS concept car.
Ford selected the Nokia Location Platform to leverage Nokia's high-quality global location content, including the industry leading NAVTEQ Map, as well as scaleable cloud services and APIs. This complete solution offers a fast, easy and cost-effective path to create innovative and differentiated location products.
The Ford EVOS concept car showcases a future in which cloud services go beyond Internet access and traffic-enabled routing. For example, Ford's concept car actually "learns" driver behavior to control, improve upon and personalize vehicle performance. Another area of Ford's research is designed to optimize hybrid powertrain efficiency: the Nokia Location Platform could automatically regulate a car's powertrain as it travels through established or driver-specified "Green Zones".
"We are committed to providing compelling customized services to the automotive sector and customers like Ford," said Christof Hellmis, Vice President Map Platform in Nokia's Location & Commerce unit. "We have consistently focused on innovation around location and navigation in the car. This commitment enabled us to provide a global platform service which could truly enhance the customer and user experience. It's exciting to see the Nokia Location Platform as an integral part of Ford's mission to revolutionize the connected car."
While the Ford EVOS is a concept car intended to show Ford's technology vision for the future and is not itself scheduled for production, it does give a glimpse of the technology being researched for future car models. More information on the concept car can be found here: http://youtu.be/WyBO32jz7Vg.
About Nokia's Location & Commerce Business
Nokia is a global leader in mobile communications whose products have become an integral part of the lives of people around the world. The company's Location & Commerce business, including NAVTEQR Maps products, the Nokia Location Platform as well as Nokia Maps, aims to build and monetize unique location experiences for great mobile products, as well as the navigation industry, the automotive market and government and business solutions. Begin to explore our capabilities at www.maps.nokia.com.
Media Enquiries:
Nokia
Communications
Tel. +358 7180 34900
Email: press.services@nokia.com
www.nokia.com
Nokia
Communications
Tel. +358 7180 34900
Email: press.services@nokia.com
www.nokia.com
Last edited by GS69; 06-27-12 at 04:52 AM.
06-27-12, 05:44 AM
#2
Lexus Fanatic
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partnering with nokia? fail.
but since nokia is going all microsoft, maybe that makes sense, since ford already has the s[t]ync system.
but since nokia is going all microsoft, maybe that makes sense, since ford already has the s[t]ync system.
06-28-12, 04:41 AM
#4
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Thread Starter
Steering Wheel
I should have found this patent application from Nokia before but it’s neither too late now. This may be related to the thigns going on between Microsoft, Ford and Nokia and Nokia Maps, it may be not.
Nokia was granted a patent application filed at United States patent & Trademark office (U.S.P.T.O).
This patent explains that on the steering wheel, there are some sensors to be fitted in and those sensors may also be on the other device too, most probably on your Lumia.The sensors could give you some combination of vibration feedback that will let you know about the action being performed on your device or car. The good thing is that we can control all the basic actions that your device does like media controls, G.P.S, Calls, etc through touch and vibration feedback. The sensors can be piezoelectric or it could be microphones also (which hints about the actions can be performed by voice). Well the piezoelectric sensors raise the doubt more here as the feedback can be touch based also(as it’s not clear what types of piezoelectric sensors are to be used). Maybe the feedback could be touch, vibration and voice all 3 together.
The list of awesome controls that can be performed on your device and car:
1.Select next song or channel.
2.Fast forward/backward.
3.Volume up/down.
4.Mute/unmute.
5.Answer/end call.
6.Increase/decrease cooling/heating.
7.Activate navigation.
8.Turn on/off spoken feedback.
9.Switch on/off traffic announcements.
10.Show the current location through car/device’s GPS.
http://mynokiablog.com/2012/06/27/pr...ng-experience/
Just made this post for the readers to provide a better explanation for the above post.
06-28-12, 02:26 PM
#5
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Good move from Ford. Nokia is known for bulletproof build quality and competitive hardware and Microsoft is known for software giant. I wouldn't doubt about Ford partnering with Nokia-Microsoft after the prototype of Microsoft Surface tablet and Windows 8 phones revealed.
06-28-12, 07:04 PM
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perfect move
Nokia's mapping software and IPs are still very good and modern
its partnership with MS on the win 8 is going to lead it to good places in all sorts of form factors and usage scenarios
Nokia's mapping software and IPs are still very good and modern
its partnership with MS on the win 8 is going to lead it to good places in all sorts of form factors and usage scenarios
08-30-13, 04:30 AM
#7
Lead Lap
Thread Starter
Update
While Nokia continues to work on clawing back some of the once-market-leading smartphone business it has lost in the last few years to Apple and Android handset makers like Samsung, it has also slowly been building out a business based around its mapping and navigation division, rebranded as HERE earlier this year. That strategy — which has seen deals with the likes of Toyota, Volkswagen, BMW and Garmin for its in-car navigation systems — is going into high gear today. Nokia is launching Connected Driving, which included HERE Auto for embedded in-car navigation; HERE Auto Cloud for extra services like real-time traffic updates; and HERE Auto Companion, apps that will make it seamless to link up location data that you want to use or that you’ve created in your car, with what you are doing when you are outside the car and using your smartphone instead. On top of this, it’s upgrading its HERE Traffic system with a new data processing engine called “Halo.”
The launch today, in some regards, represents 1 of Nokia’s biggest challenges yet: it’s pitching itself as an operating system provider for other hardware makers (car companies; in-car system makers) to use as the platform for new products. Call it Nokia’s Android strategy.
Nokia is unveiling this suite of services today at the the International Motor Show in Frankfurt, Germany. As with the rest of the products in HERE, Nokia’s intention is for all of this to be interoperable with different smartphone platforms. What that will mean in theory is that while HERE Auto and Auto Cloud will be loaded on to in-car systems, the apps in the Auto Companion will be launched for multiple platforms, including iOS and Android. In practice, though, Floris van de Klashorst, VP of connected cars for HERE, tells me that it’s likely that we will see the 1st services to be built on the platform that Nokia itself uses for smartphones, Windows Phone.
A rundown of the new services:
HERE Auto. This is Nokia’s embedded in-car navigation service. Using cached content, Nokia says it’s the 1st on the market that provides comprehensive mapping data even when a user doesn’t have a data connection. This includes turn by turn voice guided navigation in 95 countries, as well as 2D, 3D and satellite map views, with street-level imagery. Van de Klashorst tells me that Nokia is now also working on an SDK (yet to be released publicly) that will let third parties integrate services directly into this experience. He pointedly tells me that this will not include ads, which users they have surveyed have said are too distracting in cars. But this doesn’t rule out placing markers, for example, for a particular pizza joint when you are driving by it looking for some Italian food. Other features that are likely to come in by way of the SDK are music services and social networking services (not distracting like ads at all, right?!). Early users of this before the wider release include in-car system maker Continental, which is using them as part of its “Open Infotainment Platform.” I’d expect other app makers and navigation service companies to be added to the list soon.
HERE Auto Cloud. Like HERE Auto, this is also designed to work with and without data connections — useful for when you are in remote areas, or you are in regions where you may be roaming outside of your carrier’s network. This is Nokia’s own layer of extra services around driving — for example real-time traffic updates, helping drivers avoid congested areas, road closures or blockages that occur en route, as well as other services such as recommendations on places to eat, parking spots, information on where to charge an electric vehicle or where to find the most inexpensive fuel.
From the screenshots that Nokia provided to me, it looks like this is 1 of the fruits of its relationship with 4square:
Here Auto Companion. This is the bridge between what Nokia is doing in the car and what it is doing outside of it. The Auto Companion, as Van de Klashorst demonstrated to me, works both on the web and as a mobile app, and it’s actually very cool: what it lets you do is create mapping instructions or take notes of a place that you’d like to visit, when you are sitting at your computer or on your phone, and then, when you get into your HERE-powered car, those data points follow you. If you start a trip in your car, and then park it, you can continue finding your way using your handset. Taking a page from the many apps that let users control what their TVs at home are recording, Nokia says that drivers can also use the app to find their car (using LiveSight augmented reality technology) and check stats for fuel levels and tire pressure. Part of this will be based on the new HALO platform, which basically will gather data using different sensors on the car. This will be used not just for app services for the consumer but to help gather more accurate information about weather in a particular place and more.
For cars that are shared between more than 1 person (say, in a family) each user can have his or her own interface in a vehicle:
Van de Klashorst tells me that the big idea here is to personalize those in-car experiences: “1 thing that is apparent is that people have a strong relationship both with their cars and with their phones, but the in-car systems are ice cold. People cannot influence or modify or personalise them. To make them personal is a very important aspect.”
And when you think about this, it’s a potentially interesting area when you link it up with wider trends in the automotive space, such as with car sharing services like Zipcar. “With car sharing services, this car that you don’t own becomes your car. Systems like this once will be a very important part of elevating and experience to make it your own,” he notes.
Apart from the challenges of competing against other smartphone players (including Google, Apple and BlackBerry) who also have stakes in the automotive game — Apple already has integrations with several car makers and there are often rumors swirling of how this will expand over time; Google has gone so far as to create self-driving vehicles; and BlackBerry has QNX — Nokia is doing this from a position that is not without its own challenges. In Nokia’s last quarterly earnings, Here posted sales of $305 million, down 18% over last year, up 8% on the previous quarter and it remains loss-making, with a $116 million operating deficit, which is at least marginally better than the $120 million a year ago.
Still, Nokia has in its hands a very key asset: it holds 1 of the biggest databases of mapping information in the world, meaning it doesn’t need to rely on 3rd parties for it. 1 even with its many layoffs, it still employs hundreds of engineers that are thinking of clever ways of using that to Nokia’s advantage. Nokia has nothing to lose by trying to get out into pole position in this space at this still-early stage in the connected car revolution.
Trending Topics
02-23-14, 05:08 PM
#9
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Thread Starter
Switch to BlackBerry
Ford Motor Co., struggling with in-car technology glitches, will base the next-generation Sync system on BlackBerry Ltd.'s QNX and no longer use Microsoft Corp.'s Windows, according to people briefed on the matter.
Using QNX will be less expensive than licensing Microsoft technology and will improve the flexibility and speed of the next Sync system, said the people, who declined to be identified because the decision hasn't been made public. Ford has more than 7 million vehicles on the road with Sync using Microsoft voice-activated software to make mobile phone calls and play music.
Ford CEO Alan Mulally, who was said to be a candidate to become Microsoft's CEO until early this year, has seen Ford slump in surveys by J.D. Power & Associates and Consumer Reports, with customers citing malfunctioning tech systems and touchscreens. Ford has said the quality of its vehicles have been "mixed" each of the past 3 years and fell short of its plan to improve those results in 2013.
Improving Sync is crucial for Ford to draw car shoppers who are increasingly looking to be connected at all times. In-vehicle technology is the top selling point for 39 percent of auto buyers, more than twice the 14 percent who say their 1st consideration is traditional performance measures such as power and speed, according to a study by the consulting firm Accenture released in December.
Apple, Google
Jay Cooney, a Ford spokesman, didn't immediately respond to phone and e-mail messages left outside of normal business hours. Peter Wootton, a spokesman for Microsoft who works for Waggener Edstrom, declined to comment. Paul Leroux, a spokesman for QNX, declined to comment.
The Ford and Lincoln brands ranked No. 26 and No. 27 out of 28 brands in Consumer Reports' annual reliability survey released in October. While the Lincoln luxury line matched the industry average in J.D. Power's Initial Quality study in June, the namesake finished 27th out of 33 brands.
Technology companies are battling for a greater presence in vehicles. Google Inc. announced an alliance with General Motors Co., Honda Motor Co., Hyundai Motor Co. and chipmaker Nvidia Corp. in January to bring the Android operating system to cars. Apple Inc. is working with BMW AG, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan Motor Co. and others to introduce its iOS operating system to cars with devices such as the iPhone.
BlackBerry's QNX Software Systems can be found in cars made made by Volkswagen AG's Audi unit and BMW, according to its Web site. QNX and Microsoft are the main suppliers of automotive operating system software, according to researcher IHS iSuppli.
BlackBerry, at the time named Research in Motion Ltd., bought QNX Software Systems for $200 million in 2010. In addition to its presence in cars, QNX technology is used to manage nuclear power plants and by the U.S. military for unmanned aerial drones. Its customers include Cisco Systems Inc., General Electric Co. and Caterpillar Inc.
Last edited by GS69; 02-23-14 at 05:13 PM.
02-23-14, 05:35 PM
#12
Technology companies are battling for a greater presence in vehicles. Google Inc. announced an alliance with General Motors Co., Honda Motor Co., Hyundai Motor Co. and chipmaker Nvidia Corp. in January to bring the Android operating system to cars. Apple Inc. is working with BMW AG, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan Motor Co. and others to introduce its iOS operating system to cars with devices such as the iPhone.
BlackBerry's QNX Software Systems can be found in cars made made by Volkswagen AG's Audi unit and BMW, according to its Web site. QNX and Microsoft are the main suppliers of automotive operating system software, according to researcher IHS iSuppli.
BlackBerry's QNX Software Systems can be found in cars made made by Volkswagen AG's Audi unit and BMW, according to its Web site. QNX and Microsoft are the main suppliers of automotive operating system software, according to researcher IHS iSuppli.
02-23-14, 06:31 PM
#13
02-23-14, 09:31 PM
#15
Lexus Test Driver
My worry with Apple's entry into infotainment is that they will put an effective end to android connectivity with most cars. I've been very lucky that my android phone works with Sync. I don't know about blackberry's system. I hope it's open.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using IB AutoGroup
Sent from my Nexus 4 using IB AutoGroup