Comprehensive Solution Enables Safe Integration of Smartphones and Applications into the Vehicle
DETROIT, MI – Airbiquity, a global leader in wireless connected services, today announced the introduction of its Mobile Integration solution, designed to safely enable the use of smartphones and applications in the vehicle.
Airbiquity’s comprehensive Mobile Integration solution allows automotive OEMs to craft connected vehicle programs integrating the consumer’s smartphone – a hyper-personalized centerpiece for connectivity – to provide in-vehicle services, information and entertainment.
The solution permits sourcing of applications and content from anywhere. Applications residing on a consumer’s smartphone or in the cloud can each be safely integrated into the driving experience, including assigning functions to the vehicle’s resources like steering wheel controls and buttons. This flexible architecture incorporates OEM-defined content and services with consumer-specific applications and services from smartphones or the cloud, while allowing the OEM to maintain control of the in-vehicle experience.
As part of the introduction, Airbiquity is demonstrating the Mobile Integration capability at Telematics Update Detroit 2010. The demonstration includes the integration of smartphone and cloud applications from Personal Radio pioneer Slacker Radio.
Airbiquity is enabling the Slacker Radio Mobile application for smartphones to deliver custom music stations and over 120 expert-programmed stations wirelessly to the automotive head unit using Bluetooth technology. It also allows consumers to view the artist information, song title and album art powered by Slacker through their car’s head unit.
“The Slacker personal radio experience is designed for those on the go, and listening to Slacker in the car is very important for our listeners,” said Steve Cotter, senior vice president of sales and business development at Slacker. “Our relationship with Airbiquity eliminates yet another barrier to getting listeners their favorite music wherever they happen to be.”
Central to the Airbiquity solution are off-board policies that enable OEMs to manage driver application interactions and maintain control of the in-vehicle experience at all times, allowing for legislative compliance and safe driving practices.
“We’re very excited about this solution. It changes the binary driver distraction conversation – ‘phone is good or phone is bad’ – to a more nuanced conversation of which applications should be allowed, when and by whom,” said Leo McCloskey, vice president of marketing, Airbiquity. “Working with a market leader like Slacker to demonstrate this has been a real plus, as they are representative of the industry leaders in consumer software and services that need to be incorporated into such a solution.”
Airbiquity’s Mobile Integration solution will be showcased at the Telematics Detroit Conference and Exhibition, June 8-9, 2010, at the Rock Financial Showplace in Michigan, USA.
About Slacker, Inc.
Slacker is the world's first Personal Radio company offering "Your Radio Everywhere." Slacker enables music lovers to play highly personalized music online at the Slacker web site or on the go with Slacker Personal Radio players and mobile phones. Slacker mobile applications are currently available for Android, iPhone/iPod touch, Palm webOS, Windows Mobile and BlackBerry smartphones.