Though US traffic facilities are declining, the administration worries driver distraction may reverse that trend (Photo: NHTSA)

The US administration is stepping up the pressure on carmakers to make in-vehicle electronic devices less distracting to drivers.

US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood on Thursday issued a series of proposed voluntary guidelines for in-car communications, entertainment, information gathering and navigation devices.

The guidelines, which were issued by the department’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), establish specific recommended criteria for electronic devices installed in vehicles at the time they are manufactured. It applies to devices that require visual or manual operation by drivers.

Though the number of people dying in traffic accidents on US roads actually dropped 1.6 pc in the first nine months of 2011 to 24,050 persons, the administration believes the proliferation of in-car electronic devices and their controls pose serious risks.

“Deadly habit”

“Distracted driving is a dangerous and deadly habit on America’s roadways – that’s why I’ve made it a priority to encourage people to stay focused behind the wheel,” LaHood said in a statement. “These guidelines are a major step forward in identifying real solutions to tackle the issue of distracted driving for drivers of all ages.”

US President Barack Obama’s fiscal year 2013 federal budget  includes 330 million dlrs for distracted driving programs over the next year six years.

FY 2013 budget request, which includes $330 million over six years for distracted driving programs that increase awareness of the issue and encourage stakeholders to take action.

In a first phase, the guidelines focus on functions and systems that aren’t directly safety-related.

Guidelines

David Strickland, the NHTSA administrator, said: “The guidelines we’re proposing would offer real-world guidance to automakers to help them develop electronic devices that provide features consumers want—without disrupting a driver’s attention or sacrificing safety.”

The proposed Phase I distraction guidelines include recommendations to:

•  Reduce complexity and task length required by the device
•  Limit device operation to one hand only (leaving the other hand to remain on the steering wheel to control the vehicle)
•  Limit individual off-road glances required for device operation to no more than two seconds in duration
•  Limit unnecessary visual information in the driver’s field of view;
•  Limit the amount of manual inputs required for device operation.

In addition, the guidelines recommend disabling a number of functions while driving. These include:

• Visual-manual internet browsing
• Visual-manual social media browsing
• Visual-manual navigation system destination entry by address
• Visual-manual 10-digit phone dialing
• Displaying to the driver more than 30 characters of text unrelated to the driving task.

For a second phase, the NHTSA is considering guidelines for aftermarket and portable personal electronic devices that can be used in cars.

And in a third phase, guidelines may be developed for voice-activated controls.

A copy of the NHTSA’s distracted-driving guidelines can be viewed at http://www.nhtsa.gov/staticfiles/rulemaking/pdf/Distraction_NPFG-02162012.pdf

-By Arjen Bongard

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Audi's MMI in the A3 features a 7-inch display that is a mere 11mm thick (Photo: Audi)

Audi confirmed that it will be present at the CeBIT fair with its own dedicated exhibition stand for the first time.

The premium car maker said it will participate in the trade fair under the “Audi connect” banner. Audi connect groups its present and future solutions for mobile IT applications.The carmaker will show how its cars are networked with the internet, the infrastructure and other vehicles.

Audi will also provide more details on its plans to improve car connectivity using the new LTE standard. LTE , which stands for Long Term Evolution, is also known as 4G. It is the next-generation wireless communication standard, which, once it is rolled out, will  be significantly faster than current technologies. Telecommunications companies are just beginning to build LTE networks.

Showcasing its new modular infotainment platform (MIB), Audi willl bring the next-generation A3 model to CeBIT. The modular infotainment platform gives Audi the option to upgrade the hardware and software of its systems whenever it wants. That will help keep its technology in sync with the consumer electronics industry, where development cycles are much shorter than in the automotive sector.

Audi said it will show, in addition to Audi connect, a touchpad integrated into the rotary pushbutton controller inside the car. The device, which it first demonstrated at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January, aims to make controlling various functions in the car easier.

The Volkswagen Group premium-car division will also present its concepts for invidual urban mobility at CeBIT. The Audi Urban Future Initiative will feature five concepts for dealing with urban mobility challenges. The company’s underlying message is that it wants to a cooperative approach between various stakeholders.

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The US carmaker posted a net of 7.6 billion dlrs in 2011, up from 4.7 billion dlrs in 2011.

In the fourth quarter, earnings m to $468 million from $510 million a year earlier.

GM’s 2011 operating profit, which provides a better indicator of the underlying profitability of the company’s core car business, rose to 7.4 billion dlrs from 6.6 billion dlrs in 2010.

The strong results mostly reflected the carmaker’s performance in its North American home market, which continues to recover from a sharp decline a few years ago.

But in Europe, GM lost 562 million dlrs in the fourth quarter and for the full year posted a loss of 747 million dlrs. That shortfall narrowed from 2 billion dlrs in 2010.

CEO Dan Akerson said in a statement that GM will build on its 2011 results and bring a range of new cars to market this year. He also pledged to “make GM a far more efficient global team.”

Akerson said he intends to reduce the break-even level in Europe and South America and boost global revenues for the company. He didn’t provide details.

GM filed for bankruptcy protection nearly three years ago and subsequently received a $50 billion U.S. government bailout. Following a 23 billion dlr initial public offering late last year, the government still owns 26.5 pc of the company.

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Toyota N. America chief Inaba has a long to-do list for in-car IT functions (Photo: Toyota)

Toyota’s top North American executive said the carmaker will likely engage in more alliances and partnerships to meet customer demands.

“When you ask the question…’What do customers want?’ most people in business today will answer with one word: Everything!” said Yoshi Inaba, president and COO of Toyota Motor North America.

“Even the world’s largest automakers are finding that hard to deliver totally by themselves,” he said in a speech at the Economic Club of Chicago earlier this month.

Toyota used to prefer an independent approach to business, Inaba said, “but that’s changing in a major way.”

He said the group’s CEO, Akio Toyoda, is “reaching out” to other companies to make sure Toyota can deliver what customers want.

In an overview of tie-ups concluded in the last 21 months, Inaba noted that Toyota has

• Forged an alliance with electric-vehicle specialist Tesla to market an electric RAV4 small SUV
• Teamed up with Ford to develop hybrid systems for pickups and small SUVs
• Partnered with software giant Microsoft to better connect cars to Cloud-based services
• Started work with chipmaker Intel to improve in-car touch, gesture and voice technologies
• Formed a partnership with BMW to jointly develop lithium-ion batteries.

Said Inaba: “There is more to come from Toyota, a lot more.”

Carmakers have in recent years partnered in a growing number of areas. For example, Toyota and France’s PSA/Peugeot-Citroen are jointly building small cars in the Czech Republic; PSA and Mitsubishi are doing the same; Fiat is building cars for Ford; and several car companies are sharing engines and other core technologies.

In 2011, Toyota's Toyoda (right) and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer agreed to cooperate (Photo: Toyota)

Now, however, far-reaching changes to the automotive landscape are forcing carmakers to look outside the industry to other sectors, notably consumer electronics.

The reason: buyers increasingly want their cars to have the latest infotainment and connectivity, functions that traditionally came to their vehicles years after they entered living rooms.

“You will see more automotive alliances as carmakers stretch to meet the growing needs of consumers,” Inaba said.

In the area of in-car IT, the Toyota executive said his company was developing better voice recognition systems that will help  combat driver distraction. Other technologies on Toyota’s to-do list include:

•  iPad-type consoles
•  wave switches that operate touchpads
•  cameras that replace inner and outer rear-view mirrors
•  new glass technologies that block sun rays
•  steering-wheel health monitors.

Said Inaba: “We’re entering an era of innovation that will significantly alter transportation in the 21st century.”

-By Arjen Bongard

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The German premium car maker, a member of the Volkswagen Group, will have its own stand at the high-tech trade show, which is held in Hanover March 6-10.

Audi will showcase its Audi connect vehicle networking suite of products. It is expected to show a range of infotainment and telematics-driven driver assistance systems. Among these, will be new products that will take advantage of the fast new LTE mobile communications standard.

LTE , which stands for Long Term Evolution, is also known as 4G. It is the next-generation wireless communication standard, which, once it is rolled out, will  be significantly faster than current technologies. Telecommunications companies are just beginning to build LTE networks.

Audi Finance Chief Axel Strotbek will give a keynote speech at the annual automotiveDAY conference during CeBIT on March 8. The  automotiveDAY  conference is organized by automotiveIT in cooperation with CeBIT.

Audi’s CeBIT plans are in line with automakers’ heightened interest in forging closer ties with the IT and consumer electronics industries. That is because in-car internet access and improved connectivity are seen as key requirements for today’s and tomorrow’s cars.

Audi CEO Rupert Stadler and Ford CEO Alan Mulally were keynote speakers at the Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show last year. Mulally also gave a keynote address at CeBIT last year. And Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche gave a CES keynote this year.

Underscoring the importance of IT and mobile communications events for the car industry, Ford recently announced that its executive chairman, Bill Ford, would unveil the US carmaker’s new B-MAX model at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona later this month.

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TRW says its display makes controlling vehicle functions faster and easier (Photo: TRW)

TRW is developing a new type of display that will make it easier to control in-car and other functions at the touch of a fingertip.

The US based automotive supplier said its multi-graphic projection display will transform traditional control systems. It will likely be ready for production this year.

“Just as today’s remarkable smart phones offer consumers the opportunity to quickly switch from one type of control function to another, TRW is using multi-graphic rear projection display and capacitive touch sensing to allow vehicle owners to control a variety of vehicle functions quickly and easily,” said Vic Peltola, director of sales for TRW North America Body Control Systems.

TRW said its new display is a low-cost solution that allows different symbols to appear on a surface in the same physical space at different times. The display does not require an expensive graphics processor, the company said.

Applications could include keypad entry systems that allow a vehicle owner access to a vehicle through a security code. With the TRW display, the keypad can instantly offer the  choice to control other functions such as trunk access, interior lights, power windows and more. Symbols for these various functions automatically appear when a user touches the control panel surface.

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Bill Ford will unveil the B-MAX and hold a keynote speech at the Barcelona event (Photo: Ford)

Ford Motor Executive Chairman Bill Ford will unveil the carmaker’s new B-MAX model at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona later this month.

The presence at the gathering of the Ford chairman underscores the growing importance of mobile communications for the car industry. The official automotive unveiling of the B-MAX will take place at the Geneva auto show in early March.

At the Mobile World Congress, Ford hopes to highlight the new technologies built into the B-MAX. Car companies are keen to show new driver assistance and telematics systems to potential car buyers who may not be attending traditional car shows.

In Barcelona, Bill Ford will deliver a keynote at the event and discuss Ford’s vision for future mobility and the integration of mobile and automotive technologies.

“Revealing the B-MAX at Mobile World Congress underlines how important technology is to customers and to Ford,” said Stephen Odell, chairman and CEO, Ford of Europe.

Telecommunications and IT gatherings have gained greater prominence in the auto industry in recent years. Last year, Audi CEO Rupert Stadler and Ford CEO Alan Mulally were keynote speakers at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Mulally also gave a keynote at the CeBIT high-tech fair in Hanover last March.

This year, Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche spoke in Las Vegas and CeBIT, which will take place in March, also boosts a higher automotive presence.

The Mobile World Congress, one of the biggest annual gatherings of the global mobile communications industry, takes place in Barcelona Feb. 27 – March 1. The event features a conference with a range of keynote speakers, including Ben Verwaayen, CEO of Alcatel-Lucent; Li Yue, president China Mobile; Vikram Pandit, CEO Citigroup; John Chambers, Cisco CEO; and Rene Obermann, head of Deutsche Telekom. Bill Ford is the only automotive CEO among listed keynote speakers.

More information on the Congress can be found here.

-By Arjen Bongard

# # #

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The Japanese carmaker said in a press release that its Smart City Brake Support (SCBS) system will use a laser sensor to detect obstacles. The technology will then automatically reduce the extent of the brake rotor travel to quicken braking operation.

If a driver doesn’t take action to avoid a collision, the SCBS automatically activates the brakes and reduces the engine output.

Mazda said the system will, in particular, help avoid collisions or mitigate the damage from rear-end collisions at low speeds, which are the most common accidents with other vehicles.

SCBS operates at speeds of between 4km and 30 km/hour.

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Consultants Steria Mummert find views differ on data security measures in German companies (Photo: Singapore government)

A majority of German top executives don’t see any need for more data security in their companies, according to a survey by consultants Steria Mummert.

The poll, conducted in the second half of 2011 among 205 senior German executives, found that two-thirds of the board members interviewed felt their companies are doing enough to safeguard their data or may even be doing too much.

That point of view contrasts with the general views expressed by all of the executives – including CIOs – polled for the study. A majority of the sample was unhappy with the data security in their companies, either because they felt policies were too restrictive or not effective enough.

Steria Mummert found that about 20 pc of German companies considered their management and surveillance of IT security insufficient. About 25 pc, on the other hand, said measures undertaken in their companies were excessive.

Executives in the telecommunications, media and IT industries were in the latter group, while banking and public-sector executives would like to see more being done.

Steria Mummert said its findings show that company managers are unclear on standards that should be applied for data security. “This broad unhappiness with the status quo shows that companies don’t have a clue how much control and surveillance can be accomplished and is appropriate,” said Gerald Spiegel, a Steria Mummert IT security expert.

Control, monitoring and logging are essential elements to get compliance and security in IT, Steria Mummert said in a press release. It noted, however, that barely 20 pc of companies polled uses tools that automatically take stock of hardware and software or automatically analyze log data. A mere 17 pc use tools to automatically test IT security configurations and only 14 pc automatically test systems for vulnerabilities.

Said Spiegel: “A lack of resources often makes the continuous checking and monitoring of security-relevant parameters an unattainable vision.”

-Arjen Bongard

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The annual event, the world’s biggest IT fair, will include a special automotive focus under the “Digital Drive” banner. Various automakers, suppliers and service providers will provide solutions that are increasingly finding their way into the car.

As the car increasingly becomes a digital platform, automakers are diversifying the marketing of their vehicles. Many see their future as mobility service providers rather than traditional makers of cars.

“Using a variety of different formats, we plan to show this networking of comfortable, efficient and safe mobility with the latest information and communication technology at CeBIT,” said CeBIT boss Frank Poerschmann.

As part of “Digital Drive,” CeBIT will dedicate a sizeable part of Hall 11 of the Hanover Fair to a range of exhibitors under the banner “Desination ITS.” ITS stands for intelligent transport systems.

“Destination ITS” will provide information on intelligent traffic telematics, the European eCall system, and the “smartphone on wheels,” which is expected to play an important role in connecting cars with other cars and with the surrounding infrastructure.

CeBIT will officially kick off on the evening of March 5 and will run through March 10. One of the main automotive events will  be the annual automotiveDAY conference, organized by automotiveIT. This year’s conference, which features top auto industry CIOs and is expected to draw in excess of 400 participants, has as its theme: “IT – the nerve cord of the auto industry.”

The conference language is German and registration information – also in German – can be found here.

Information on CeBIT can be found here.

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