In Car Infotainment
In car entertainment (infotainment) is set to make great strides over the next few years. Telematics technology is finally able to allow car manufacturers to stock their car with amazing gadgetry and technology. These cars are dubbed connected cars as they benefit from advanced telematics technology which enable them to perform a variety of functions from social media to voice control.
Some of the was that telematics will change the world of infotainment are below:-
The Social Car – Imagine being stuck in traffic and being able to access your facebook page, Twitter profile and other social media direct on your dashboard. This is something that is in the pipeline now. There are concerns about distracting the driver and these need to be alleviated first but we would expect to see social media playing a big part in car technology over the next few years and beyond.
Direct Streaming – With the rise of services like Sky On Demand and Netflix, we expect these services to become integrated into your car. You will be able to download films directly to your car dash and watch them in-car. High speed internet will allow this to happen seamlessly.
Voice Recognition – Soon you will be able to truly get to know your car and it will learn to recognise your voice. You will be able to activate in car functionality by simply telling the car what you want it to do. The car will in turn learn to understand you better through self-training and a beautiful relationship will blossom where you won’t need to press a button.
What is uncertain is how car manufacturers and Internet/media companies will charge for these services. They may build the cost into the new cars or charge monthly fees for people to use selected services from the suite of infotainment offerings. What is certain, is that to have a customer’s attention in the car is worth a fortune in advertising revenue to major brands and as such there could be free offerings that are subsidised by adverts.
Google has signed a deal with Kia to offer connected car features and it is predicted that Google will be at the forefront of the car infotainment industry for a long time to come.