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innovation
High-flying Connectivity
By: James Hilton
Smartphone sales are on a spectacular rise as users customize
their phones with apps that best match their lifestyles.
Smartphones currently stand for 22% of worldwide mobile
phone sales and should climb to 30% by 2013. Now, apps
are on their ways to our cars’ multimedia systems too.
That is what visitors have discovered at Parrot’s booths during
CES. There, Parrot, a reference supplier in connectivity solutions
for the automotive world, was demonstrating an impressive
implementation of the Android platform on its flagship module
FC6100. With this new solution, Parrot opens the way to a wealth
of apps in automotive systems thanks to this open-source platform.
Automotive Industries (AI) spoke to executive OEM Director Eric
Riyahi at the Parrot CES booth.
AI: How do you envision the future of automotive
connectivity?
Riyahi: Automotive connectivity is currently focused on handsfree
telephony and multimedia connectivity with portable devices
such as USB flash drives and media players such as the iPod. The
growing trend in mobile phone use is represented by smartphones,
with the integration of telephony, internet access and multimedia
devices in one single device. Automotive connectivity should
keep the pace with mobile devices and enable drivers to enjoy a
Smartphone-like feature embedded in their vehicles.
AI: How do you justify your focus on embedding
smartphone features in the car?
Riyahi: Smartphones are the fastest growing segment in the
mobile phone market, with a projected 30% worldwide market
share in 2013. This trend is especially strong in North America
and Europe, both markets where automotive connectivity is
widespread. Moreover, carriers have been fuelling this growth
by subsidizing smartphones in order to maximize their ARPU
through data services and multimedia applications, both features
smartphones are designed for. These services and applications
are also well adapted to the automotive world, with location-based
services, mapping information and off-board navigation.
AI: How will you implement this new type of
connectivity?
Riyahi: The main characteristics of smartphones are: internet
access, messaging, multimedia playback and the ability to install
applications in the field. Parrot aims at offering these very features
in its upcoming connectivity solutions, via the FC6100 module. In
addition to existing Bluetooth and USB use cases, internet access
is provided through 3G+ (via Bluetooth through the user’s phone,
with a USB 3G+ dongle or with an embedded GSM module).
The Parrot FC6100 can be embedded in the car and opens the
automotive connectivity market to a wider panel of Tier 1 suppliers,
considering the potential for integration into the in-vehicle display
“ Automotive connectivity should keep the pace with
mobile devices and enable drivers to enjoy a Smartphonelike
feature embedded in their vehicles.
”
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ABOVE: Example of an
FC6100-powered solution’s
user interface