Location Based Systems

A UK motorist has escaped a fine and points on his licence after anti-motor fraud specialist, Asset Protection Unit (APU), was able to prove his innocence by analysing the vehicle’s telematics data. The driver, from Wembley, London was accused of speeding in Lincoln in November last year even though the vehicle thought to be involved, a BMW 2 Series, was actually still in Wembley. Police issued the fine of £100 and three penalty points when a vehicle was caught by a fixed speed camera in Lincoln trave

Inrix has completed the acquisition of OpenCar, a US-based automotive software and services provider, in a purchase which enables Inrix to extend its cloud platform into the dashboard with a broad portfolio of third-party content and applications in a customisable automaker-controlled user experience. OpenCar, backed for the last five years by a strategic partnership with Mazda Motor Corporation, offers a white label, standards-based application development environment and framework, fully controlled by

New research by ABI Research forecasts that shipments of new cars featuring autonomous parking technologies to grow at 35 per cent CAGR between 2016 and 2026 and for revenues to likewise show growth at 29.5 per cent CAGR. ABI Research identifies three phases of autonomous parking, with each successive stage set to gradually displace the former and all three coexisting to some degree over the next decade. Ultimately, technology will reach a point in which the car parks itself entirely, with no driver assi

Owners of Hondas with crash avoidance features are much more likely to have forward collision warning turned on than lane departure warning, IIHS researchers found in a recent observational survey. The researchers observed vehicles brought in to Honda dealerships for service. They found that all but one of 184 models equipped with the two features had forward collision warning turned on, while only a third of vehicles had lane departure warning activated. IIHS says the findings are consistent with pre

Here and Samsung have extended their technology collaboration to Samsung’s new connected car network. Here will make its Rest APIs for maps, geocoder and traffic and others available to third-party developers via the Samsung connected car network, enabling the development of location-enabled applications and services that pair with a range of connected devices from Samsung, such as the new Samsung Connect Auto. Plugging into the vehicle’s standard diagnostics port, Samsung Connect Auto turns any vehi

According to news reports, UK Chancellor George Osborne is expected to announce funding for driverless truck trials on the M6 motorway when he delivers his budget this month. A stretch of the M6 near Carlisle has reportedly been earmarked for the trials, which could see platoons of up to ten driverless lorries take to the road as the government pushes ahead with next-generation transportation in a bid to reduce congestion and journey times. The trucks would each have a driver in the cab as a safety me

The latest research by ABI Research forecasts the global penetration of embedded and hybrid factory installed OEM telematics in new passenger cars to exceed 72 per cent by 2021. Growth will mainly be driven by key volume car OEMs in the US, European Union and China markets. Brands within these markets showing accelerated growth include GM, which expects to reach 12 million OnStar subscribers globally by the end of 2016, including its Opel brand in Europe and Cadillac in China; and Ford, which claims to have

New research has revealed that half of British drivers (49 per cent) are concerned about the safety of the connected car, with automotive manufacturers also admitting there could be a security lag of up to three years before systems catch up with cyber threats. The report, commissioned by Veracode and carried out by the International Data Corporation (IDC), revealed half of drivers are concerned about the security of driver-aid applications, such as adaptive cruise control, self-parking, and collision av

WSP/Parsons Brinckerhoff has released a guide for state, regional and local government officials in responding to the infrastructure and policy changes that the advent of driverless vehicles will require. The guide, Driving Towards Driverless: A Guide for Government Agencies, was researched and written by Lauren Isaac, manager of sustainable transportation at WSP/Parsons Brinckerhoff and the firm’s William Barclay. According to Isaac, driverless vehicles have the potential to change all aspects of mobility