1. Infotainment (1) General description
Infotainment include
head unit (radio, DVD, TV, Internet), navigation, telematics services, Human Machine Interface
The car subsystem with the highest relationship with other large industries:
communications, consumer electronics, Internet providers, services providers, which have a much faster development and evolution time.
A very visible part of the car
contributes strongly to consolidate the brand
The largest embedded software for premium cars
Need for a common platform
Market
Still limited to premium cars
May become a commodity product when (if) a standard arise for a basic software platform
The car subsystem most accessible for Internet and navigation (Tomtom) companies
We may point that infotainment may have a significant impact on V2X development, as well as on general HMI for drivers.
APE 28 April 2010

2. Infotainment (2) Trends and drivers
increasing availability of high bandwidth mobile communication at a decreasing cost: 2G, 3G, 4G. automotive-grade SIM card.
Cost decrease: infotainment systems are still expensive
Expected increased simplicity of use
Growing interest by Internet companies
A potential connection to larger issues
the networked vehicle, with its multiple impacts on maintenance, security, efficiency, safety, comfort, mobility, information, entertainment and new services
Contributing to a new man machine interface
Software is not the most important factor for EV now
Autosar is very important now, EV will be in 5 to 10 years (timing to be discussed), infotainment earlier
Services may include:
telediagnosis, vehicle tracking, electronic tolling, mail access, real time traffic, hazard warning, internet radio, and a whole set of services; Communication may be vehicle to vehicle, to infrastructure or to Internet
Standard technology exist for Car to Car communication DSRC (Wi Fi family)
APE 28 April 2010