Is The Car The Next Frontier For The Mobile Revolution?

Now that the mobile floodgates are open, developers, manufacturers, and platform operators are trying to find devices that will channel the next wave of mobile usage and innovation.

One line of thinking looks to wearable tech, such as Internet-connected watches and eyewear, as the natural progression of mobile technology. But computing platforms — including mobile operating systems — are also becoming ubiquitous in consumer electronics and appliances.

Perhaps the greatest potential for mobile platforms and services is not in household appliances, but in cars.

To state the obvious: Cars are inherently mobile. Additionally, many of the activities people do in their cars — listen to music, look up directions — mesh nicely with popular activities on mobile. Americans spend an average of 1.2 hours a day traveling between locations and American commuters spend an average of 38 hours a year stuck in traffic. If mobile apps and Internet-based services can shoehorn their way into the in-car environment, that means a great opportunity to expand their ability to engage consumers, absorb their attention, and gather data.

In a new report from BI Intelligence, we examine the technical underpinnings and leading initiatives for bringing mobile into the car, analyze the three main ways to bring mobile products and services into cars, explore whether app usage in the car will be centered on the phone or in computing systems and connectivity embedded into the car, look at whether car companies will bring the war between Android and iOS into the car or if they will build their own Web-ready platforms, and detail what apps and services might stand to gain the most from in-car usage.

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Here's a brief overview of the prospects for the mobile car:

• There is already a sizable and growing mobile market in the car: Five years from now, there will be over 60 million connected cars on the road globally, according to estimates from the GSMA and others. Car-focused telecom, hardware and software services will drive some 40 billion euros ($51 billion) in annual revenue by 2018. Pandora, for example, is now being used in 2.5 million cars and 100 car models through one of its 23 partnerships with auto brands and eight partnerships with stereo manufacturers.
• Integration is one of the three main ways to bring mobile products and services into cars: The owner's Internet-connected handset connects with vehicle-based hardware and computing systems. However, the mobile device drives all key facets of the app, including Internet access, and the car simply provides some tools to facilitate it (i.e., dashboard user interface, voice controls, speakers, jacks, and/or steering wheel-based controls). Currently, many in-dash automobile app suites in cars are nothing more than an interface that provides control over a Bluetooth or audio jack-connected smartphone.
• Tethering is another option: Connection is provided through external means, but the computing and delivery of the services is done within the car. For example, a Bluetooth or USB connection might link a car's navigation system to your phone-stored contact list, and from that moment forward a simple press of a button in the car would guide you to a friend's house from any location. In this scenario, the car depends on the external device to gather Internet-based data.
• As is embedding: Connection and intelligence are baked into the car. The car houses the operating system, apps, and other services that will deliver the Internet-based mobile services to the user. A mobile device might sync with whatever's in the car, but external mobile gadgets aren't essential to running the car-based apps. GM is moving in this direction with its new fleet of 4G cars. Means of integration can be blended, and often are.

In full, the special report:

• Examines the technical underpinnings and leading initiatives for bringing mobile into the car
• Analyzes the three main ways to bring mobile products and services into cars
• Explores whether app usage in the car will be centered on the phone or in computing systems and connectivity embedded into the car
• Looks at whether car companies will bring the war between Android and iOS into the car or if they will build their own Web-ready platforms
• Details what apps and services might stand to gain the most from in-car usage