Location Based Systems

TomTom took advantage of the Geneva motor show to announce that it is to collaborate with its partner Harman to integrate TomTom HD Traffic into the next generation Touch&Go multimedia platform. Toyota Motor Europe (Toyota) will offer TomTom HD Traffic as standard in all vehicles with Toyota's next generation Touch&Go navigation and infotainment systems. TomTom HD Traffic will be integrated in Toyota Motor Europe's next Touch&Go platform from January 2014 and will be available in most European countries. Ac

G-STEP, a University of Leicester Project part funded by the ERDF, is holding a free, interactive breakfast workshop on Thursday 7 March, to introduce their new freight route mapping service for mobile devices. The service, which has been developed in collaboration with Leicester City Council and the Road Haulage Association, comes in the form of an app, which can be loaded onto mobile devices for use remotely, and identifies approved routes for large vehicles, allowing drivers to avoid roads that are unsui

The second stage of the EC’s HeERO project, which aims to address some of the issues surrounding the eCall system, has just got underway. Jason Barnes reports. As the European Commission (EC)’s Har­monised eCall European Pilot (HeERO) project progresses into its second stage, ‘HeERO 2’, significant progress has already been made in addressing the technological and institutional issues relating to the pan-European deployment of an eCall system based around the new ‘112’ universal emergency telephone number.

Connected Car, Delphi’s plug-and-play connectivity device, connects into an OBDII port on any vehicle sold in the US from 1996 onwards and allows consumers to quickly lock and unlock their vehicle’s doors, as well as locate, track and even monitor their vehicles through a smartphone app or the internet. Delphi has teamed up with Verizon Wireless to ensure data transmitted through the device and via the internet remains secure and encrypted, allowing users to safely lock their vehicles remotely, track their

The new lightweight MT1010 Windows tablet from DAP Technologies blends a large touch-screen with enterprise-friendly qualities including seamless Windows integration and multiple I/O ports for con­necting to peripherals. The Windows operating system enables the tablet to be integrated into existing net­works and its rugged magnesi­um-alloy construction is built to survive heavy use in challenging environments. The 10.1-inch, sunlight-viewable touch-screen supports both handheld and vehicle-mounted use, and

Drivewyze aims to revolutionise the way weighstation bypass systems work with its Pre-Clear system. And it’s not just looking at weighstations, either… Pete Goldin reports. Truck drivers know the drill: pull off the high­way at every weighstation and wait. Carriers know the drill, too: every minute spent waiting there translates directly into dollars lost. Traditionally, the only alternative to this scenario is a transponder-based system, which allows trucks to bypass the sites using technology similar to

Audi drivers in Europe will soon be able to access accurate train information in their cars, thanks to a partnership between the vehicle maker and software solutions provider HaCon. Audi is integrating timetable data from HaCon into its multi­media system, enabling drivers of Audi A3 models equipped with Audi Connect to access real-time timetable data via an internet connection. The system is already available in Germany. Hacon says receiving time­table data in a car via an inter­net connection is unique in

Fiat Chrysler product concept and infotainment director Pierpaolo Tona told the conference that the big car manufacturers need to organise their telematics approach around three key pillars – and the first one of those is people. “OEMs need to understand consumers and their needs better than they understand them themselves,” he commented. The second pillar, suggested Tona, is technology. “Technology is never for the sake of it. Choose the right technology with the right performance to fulfil every consumer’

umors that self-driving taxis are about to hit the streets of Las Vegas have turned out to be untrue… but the age of the driverless vehicle is only just around the corner, as Pete Goldin finds out. From Herbie the Love Bug to Knight Rider to the cast of the Pixar film Cars, the autono­mous auto has long been a beloved icon in the entertainment industry. But how close is the fiction to fact? The general public might be surprised to find out just how soon autonomous vehicles could be driving on our roadways.

Internet-connected cars are poised to flood the market in the near future. Pete Goldin considers the functionality they offer, the technology they use and the challenge they represent in terms of driver safety. Many vehicles on the road today offer some sort of inter­net connectivity and experts agree that this capability will become a competi­tive differentiator in the automotive industry in the next few years. The era of the digital vehicle, it seems, has started. “We clearly see that cars in the near f