At the LA Auto Show in Los Angeles, California, Wireless and Mobile News reports on how apps are being embedded in dashboard systems for infotainment and more.
The NissanConnect Apps service powered by Airbiquity’s Smartphone integration and the Choreo private platform is demonstrated at the Los Angeles Auto Show on a Nissan Rogue. The demonstration is by Scott Frank, Vice President of Marketing Airbiquity. The in-dashboard apps include Google search, iHeart Radio, Facebook and Pandora. Twitter will be coming in the future. The same system is available in the 2014 Nissan Altima. This system is free for three years.
On the dashboard of the Nissan Rouge you have several options that enable you to load apps from the NissanConnect suite on a smartphone. There are both Android and iPhone options. The cellular data from the smartphone is used to get the music, search the web or other functions.
From the Nissan Connect smartphone app, choices are dynamically updated through cellular data on the smartphone.
There is a embedded connection for diagnostics. The smartphone is connected through Bluetooth, also.
Choreo on the Nissan Rouge can be operated with voice control. The technology is in the head unit itself. The screen is about seven inches and where the radio generally is in the dashboard. When the car is moving certain features are blocked.
If you were streaming Pandora from your smartphone it picks up where you left off.
For Facebook status when you read the news feed, the print is really big. When the car is moving you only see two lines of information of the Facebook feed because "we don't want people reading while driving." Instead, you can hear the Facebook news feed out loud with text-to-voice.
The system also offers hands-free text messaging using voice recognition and Bluetooth to the phone. SiriusXm gives weather forecasts. The Stitcher app can be used to listen to news, podcasts and radio shows.
Also coming to Nissan Connect apps are TripAdvisor for traveling and Yelp.
For Android smartphones the system works with Bluetooth for iPhones you can connect the iPhone to the USB port in console (with navigation). If the system does not have navigation, the iPhone has to pair with Bluetooth.
Nuance developed the voice command system. You can also make phone calls using voice commands.
Airbiquity did the backhaul for the OnStar system.
Nissan claims to be the first automotive brand to globally introduce connected car technology using a single connected vehicle services platform, Airbiquity’s Choreo. It enables driver smartphone apps and content to be fully integrated into the vehicle displays, switches and voice recognition systems.
The Airbiquity NissanConnect system is deployed in select Nissan vehicles worldwide and with the 2014 Altima sedan in North America. Regional rollouts will follow for more Nissan models, reaching 50 countries and 32 languages by the end of 2014.