1

Connected car predictions at RAIN Summit West

paul heine 250w

Moderator Paul Heine

The “Dashboard Dynamics” panel wrapped RAIN Summit West 2014 with a robust discussion moderated by Paul Heine, Senior Editor of Inside Radio.

Talking about the land rush which characterizes how media and technology companies are jostling for position on digital dashboards, Michael Bergman noted, “Everyone is struggling for pole position. There are probably a lot of interesting discussion around who gets the best positioning.” Bergman is Senior Director of Technology and Standards, Consumer Electronics Association.

Joining Michael Bergman in the panelist chairs were Ty Roberts (Co-founder and CTO, Gracenote), George Lynch (VP, Automotive Business Development, Pandora), Carl Rohling (VP, Sales and Business Development, TuneIn), and Scott Burnell, global Lead, Business Development and Partner Management, Ford.)

“There is not an excellent system out there,” according to George Lynch. “There are several good ones, some fair, and some poor. We need to get them all to excellent.” Pandora and Ford have a long-standing distribution relationship, and Lynch noted that Ford offers a good solution.

Speaking for Ford, Scott Burnell advocated for the plug-and-play technology which governs Ford’s connected-car strategy. Ford’s SYNC dashboard allows the driver to safely use a smartphone and its personal settings through dashboard controls.

When the conversation turned to increased competition to AM/FM on the dashboard, Ty Roberts advised, “It’s important for radio stations to develop an Internet service that keeps customers in your brand, not flipping over to Pandora for custom listening.”

Future projections? Burnell put forward a timeline perspective on the progress of developing mainstream Internet-ready cars: “We are in a three-year sweet spot of people using connected audio in the car, from “How do I do it?” to “How did I ever live without it?”

Ty Roberts predicted that Apple will get some experimental uptake of its CarPlay system: “Most major automakers will probably do a project with Apple, and see how it goes.”

George Lynch had the plainest prediction: “In 24-36 months, every vehicle will be connected somehow.”

Brad Hill

One Comment

  1. This is a no brainer. Systems should be generic with each individual programming their choices as desired. The idea that corporate big shots can buy dominance of the dial is repulsive. Even more repulsive is the idea that the Digital Dash will be dominated by the same corporate idiots that have ruined terrestrial radio.

Comments are closed.