In-car entertainment

Aligning content and technology for in-car entertainment

In the next generation of cars there will be massively upgraded In-Car Entertainment (ICE) systems consisting of larger Head Unit (HU) screens and, in some cases, Rear-Seat Entertainment (RSE) screens, too.

Once these new cars take to the streets they will drive a surge in demand for ICE and services around it as they become a key factor in car-purchasing decisions. There will be an element of keeping up with the neighbours in driving demand, but the main factor will be that we’re living in a digital “always on” environment.

Providing these services in a homogenous experience will require changes on the OEM side but also industries with very different ways of working to come together.

The car industry has production cycles in which car designs are signed off and then manufactured in their tens or even hundreds of thousands annually for a global marketplace. ICE systems of the future rely on software that is developed and maintained with a Silicon Valley attitude and need to be updatable, flexible and enable new aftermarket business models. Then there is the content providers, with pre-set business models, licensing agreements and strategies not all already prepared for automotive.

ACCESS is uniquely placed to bridge the gaps between these different industries. ACCESS have developed a unique, in-car App Store that is wrapped into our ACCESS Twine™ for Car (Twine4Car) system, providing apps and services specifically tailored for automotive use for global use, which allows both industries to rely on a unified platform and minimise development efforts and time to market.

If you would like to know more about our approach to In-Vehicle Entertainment and ICE, we have published a blog series which you can access here. An eBook that combines all the blogs can be downloaded here. Or of course you can always get in touch with me directly through LinkedIn – I look forward to discussing with you how our App Store and Twine4Car can be a part of your in-car entertainment solution or if you want to see your content in automotive.

Published by Robert Guest

Robert is VP Product and Content at ACCESS Europe, with a focus on HTML5 platforms and media sharing solutions, including industry specific extensions such as HbbTV and W3C Vehicle APIs, so that ACCESS customers can deploy standards based state of the art products. He has been involved in projects with major customers in both automotive and TV and ensures a customer focused development strategy for ACCESS. His role involves working with telcos, middleware suppliers, STB OEMS, automotive tier 1s and automotive OEMS to ensure that ACCESS products deliver the features needed in these fast evolving markets.
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