LA Auto Show: Audi and Jaguar Land Rover Announce Infotainment Changes

The day before the LA Auto Show kicks off, the organizers hold a Connected Car Expo where automakers, suppliers, technology companies, and others show off what tech will be heading into vehicles from the near future to way out there. The expo saw two big announcements from Audi and Jaguar Land Rover concerning what the future holds for their infotainment systems.

First up is Audi. The German luxury automaker announced their newest infotainment system, MIB-2 (short for Modular Infotainment Platform). This new platform will allow Audi introduce new and faster processors for their vehicles, and allow owners to easily upgrade their infotainment system for improved functions. Currently the only automaker who can boast this is Tesla as they allow their owners update their vehicles when a new update comes out.

The basis of this new system is a NVIDIA Tegra 30 system on chip, which allows the infotainment system to drive two screens (one in the instrument cluster and one in the center stack), utilize a virtual 3D platform, and provide a redesigned user interface.

The new system will debut on the 2016 Audi A6 and A7 lineup, both making their North American debut at the LA Auto Show.

Source: Audi

Press Release is on Page 3

Next is Jaguar Land Rover which announced new service for their InControl infotainment system call JustDrive. The service developed by CloudCar allows a single voice controller to control a wide variety of applications such as Spotify, Twitter, Yelp, Pandora, Stitcher, and about 12 other apps. JustDrive works by a driver plugging in their phone (iOS 8 devices only for the time being; Android support coming in 2015) into the USB port.

Once plugged in and the application activated, drivers will be able to take advantage of what the company calls "an advanced plain speech recognition package" which should allow drivers to speak naturally to their cars, not the stilted dialogue that is prominent with the "simple syntax command."

"Our InControl system already allows the driver to plug their smartphone into the vehicle and then safely control their apps through the vehicle's touchscreen. The apps are enhanced for in-car use, so it is like having your smartphone installed in your dashboard. Today, we are advancing our InControl system a stage further and to the forefront of the industry with the launch of justDrive. This moves the driver from the task-oriented, app-specific touch-based use of individual apps, to full control of all aggregated app content through plain natural speech or a common touch interface," said Dr. Wolfgang Epple, Director of Research and Technology for Jaguar Land Rover.

You can take advantage of this if you have either a 2015 Jaguar F-Type or any 2015 Land Rover vehicle. The remainder of the two automaker's lineups will get in the 2016 model year.

Source: Jaguar Land Rover

Press Release is on Page 4

Audi showcases MIB-2 technology and virtual cockpit at Connected Car Expo in Los Angeles

- New Audi MIB-2 features NVIDIA Tegra 3 processing power for improved performance, higher resolution graphics and an upgradable platform- MIB-2 debuts in the 2016 A6 and A7 model lines; Audi virtual cockpit debuts with the 2016 Audi TT

- Audi zFAS piloted driving technology also on display at the Expo

Audi today detailed key aspects of the advances in the electronics technology appearing in two of its newest models for 2015. At the 2014 Connected Car Expo (CCE) in Los Angeles, Audi explained how it’s MIB-2 (Modular Infotainment Platform) electronics architecture has dramatically shortened the timeline to introduce newer and more powerful processors used for infotainment and driver assistance systems.

MIB-2 debuts in the 2016 A6 and A7 model lines, which also make their North American debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show this week.

The new Audi MIB-2 uses the NVIDIA Tegra 30 system on chip, driven by a quad-core processor from the NVIDIA Tegra 3 series, for fast performance, higher resolution graphics and an upgradable platform. As more sophisticated technology becomes available, the highly flexible Audi MIB-2 platform will allow owners to simply upgrade their software for improved online, media, voice command, navigation and telephony functions.

With double the processor performance and a faster graphics processing unit, it can drive two displays simultaneously, one in the center stack and one in the instrument cluster display. The T30 graphics processor empowers a virtual 3D platform and a completely redesigned user interface to allow Audi to implement and display a full three-dimensional graphical user experience in its vehicles.

JAGUAR LAND ROVER FIRST TO MARKET WITH justDrive™ – AN INDUSTRY LEADING SMARTPHONE APP AND PLATFORM FOR IN-CAR CONNECTIVITY

• Jaguar Land Rover announces next stage of development of its InControl™ infotainment and connectivity platform
  
• Silicon Valley's CloudCar™ develops a consistent experience for all smartphone users through justDrive in Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles within company's proprietary InControl Apps™ system
  
• Using one of the most advanced voice recognition packages in the world, justDrive presents the driver with a unified, voice-enabled interface to a wide variety of popular apps and services
  

(LOS ANGELES) – November 18, 2014 - Today, Jaguar Land Rover has announced the launch of justDrive, an industry-leading app technology that integrates multiple smartphone apps into a single, voice-activated in-car experience.

Developed by Silicon Valley-based CloudCar, Jaguar Land Rover has optimized justDrive for its InControl™ platform for Apple iOS8 users. 'justDrive for Jaguar Land Rover' integrates popular apps and services, services, such as Spotify, Twitter and Yelp, to give Jaguar and Land Rover drivers an unprecedented level of integration with navigation, media, social interaction, voice search and information services while minimizing driver distraction. Free to download, justDrive is also available on Android from early 2015 and offers drivers continuously updated apps and services throughout their vehicle ownership.

justDrive will join 17 other apps including Stitcher, iheartRadio and Parkopedia currently in Jaguar Land Rover's InControl Apps in-car infotainment system. The InControl™ Apps in-car infotainment system allows the driver to plug their smartphone into the vehicle and then control select apps through the vehicle's Touch-screen or voice recognition*. InControl Apps is currently available on the 15MY Jaguar F-TYPE and all 15MY Land Rover vehicles. It will be available throughout the entire Jaguar and Land Rover product lineups by Model Year 2016.

Dr. Wolfgang Epple, Director of Research and Technology, Jaguar Land Rover, said: "Our InControl system already allows the driver to plug their smartphone into the vehicle and then safely control their apps through the vehicle's touchscreen. The apps are enhanced for in-car use, so it is like having your smartphone installed in your dashboard."

Today, we are advancing our InControl system a stage further and to the forefront of the industry with the launch of justDrive. This moves the driver from the task-oriented, app-specific touch-based use of individual apps, to full control of all aggregated app content through plain natural speech or a common touch interface."

"CloudCar is excited to be collaborating with Jaguar Land Rover, a thought leader in bringing the connected car experience to their discerning customers", stated Luke Smithwick, Vice-President of Marketing and Business Development at CloudCar. "As the first to adopt justDrive, Jaguar Land Rover brings customers a thoughtful, connected experience that evolves with the driver and remains current throughout the vehicle's lifetime."

justDrive uses an advanced plain speech recognition package so customers can communicate naturally with their car, rather than using simple syntax commands. justDrive's intelligence takes care of finding the best results for a user's request from among the many applications and services that it has aggregated. So instead of the driver having a separate fuel search app, they can simply ask justDrive for directions to the closest gas station.

The driver can dictate and then send a tweet or SMS by simply saying: 'Tell George I'll be late', with justDrive reading the content of the message back to you before it is sent. You can also ask justDrive to play a particular song just by asking for it.

"While our aim is to significantly enhance the driving experience through unprecedented levels of connectivity, we also want to reduce driver distraction*. So we have worked closely with the CloudCar team to ensure justDrive is 'right for driving'," added Dr. Epple. "Using speech as a key enabler, together with justDrive's simple and clean user interface, means we only show essential information to help create a safe, non-distracting driving environment."