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Nokia: “Ensure consumers stay connected to what matters most to them”
TU talks to Floris Van-de-Klashorst, Nokia’s director automotive services, about offering consumers ‘freedom of choice’ in in-car services and devices
What does your company do?
At Nokia, we are committed to connecting people. We combine advanced technology with personalized services that enable people to stay close to what matters to them. Every day, more than 1.2 billion people connect to one another with a Nokia device—from mobile phones to advanced smartphones and high-performance mobile computers.
Today, Nokia is integrating its devices with innovative services through Ovi (www.ovi.com), including music, maps, apps, email, and more. Nokia’s NAVTEQ is a leader in comprehensive digital mapping and navigation services, while Nokia Siemens Networks provides equipment, services and solutions for communications networks globally. Nokia’s Automotive team is focused on looking at bringing the best user experience to consumers in the car environment, to ensure they can stay connected to what matters most to them.
How do you differentiate your offerings from your competitors?
We believe the best option for the auto industry is to embrace technology that is inclusive of as broad a range of devices as possible, rather than limited to one manufacturer. This is why we have been involved in the development and promotion of an open standard technology called Terminal Mode. We developed this standard together with the Consumer Electronics for Automobile (CE4A) working group, which includes manufacturers such as BMW, Volkswagen, Audi, Daimler, and Porsche. Anyone can contribute to the Terminal Mode technology to make it a broadly adopted and supported industry standard.
As a technology, Terminal Mode is a broad enabler supporting and using a number of standard and existing technologies, such as BT, UPnP, USB, and VNC. The Terminal Mode approach simplifies implementation and lowers the implementation cost for manufacturers and consumers. With NAVTEQ content, Ovi Services, and applications from Ovi Store, Nokia and NAVTEQ can help car makers create the new generation connected car and better serve the growing number of consumers who also want to use their favourite mobile services in the car.
2010 has been a year of recovery. What services or trends have been integral to this time throughout the industry?Through restructuring and cost saving and support programs, we have seen a fast recovery of the automotive industry, which is now innovating at high speed to bring the next generation of cars to consumers. The Terminal Mode technology supports this development in the automotive industry.
What industry milestones have you recently achieved?We have seen a number of positive developments this year for Nokia in automotive. In March, with the CE4A working group, we released the Terminal Mode technology specification 0.9 as a proposed industry standard for the integration of mobile applications into the car environment. This was followed by the recent announcement from the Linux Foundation that GENIVI, an auto-alliance driving the adoption of in-vehicle infotainment (IVI), has adopted MeeGo as the standard for IVI in vehicles manufactured by car companies including BMW and General Motors. We welcomed this endorsement and think that with MeeGo as the preferred operating system for the IVI work group, we will see the development of applications and services for developers and carmakers becoming simpler and less costly.
Which trends will impact the industry the most in the coming years and why?We believe that consumers will continue to have a strong desire to use their favorite services and devices in the car environment. For automotive this means it will be important to offer a product that supports this ‘freedom of choice’. As a de-facto industry standard, Terminal Mode supports this development, and it is open for all manufacturers to adopt and implement in their products.
How integral is Telematics Munich 2010 to the European telematics market?With the increasing presence of connected smartphones in cars and better integration between cars and smartphones through technologies such as Terminal Mode, we expect to see a vast array of related new opportunities for a wider public. Telematics Munich is an important forum and platform for discussion and exchange of ideas around this subject.
Which gadgets, gizmos, or cars are on your current wish list?
I look forward to seeing the first mass-market electric vehicle. I believe that this type of transport will open up new use cases and will prove to be a great platform for new sustainable, innovative solutions that include services and smartphones as part of the overall concept.
Floris Van-de-Klashorst will be speaking at the Telematics Munich event. For more information, check out Telematics Munich 2010.
Tuesday, 21 September 2010
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