TELECOM-CAR COMPANY TELEMATICS PARTNERSHIPS URGED
PALO ALTO -- “Major disconnect” between auto and tech industry cultures must be overcome for telematics to reach its potential, academic expert said. Car makers are accustomed to installing proved, proprietary systems that can last for life of vehicles and not tarnish brands, U. of Cal.-Berkeley Prof. Robert Cole told Telematics Japan symposium here late Mon., sponsored by Japan External Trade Organization. They somehow must sync up with communications and digital content companies that have thrived on frequent revisions based on feedback about products and services launched quickly. Industry lead-time differences are months , not years, speakers said. Extensive existing partnerships can succeed, but face severe challenges, said Cole, co-dir. of Berkeley’s technology-management program. AOL Time Warner, AT&T Wireless, IBM, Intel, Microsoft and Motorola are just as used to dominating relationships as their partners at BMW, Daimler Chrysler and GM, he said.
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Cole cited keys to profitable collaboration: (1) Designing for upgrades. (2) Relying on the aftermarket to supply upgrades. (3) Emphasizing “thin clients,” concentrating as much intelligence as possible in the network to hold down customer system costs. (4) Taking more risks on performance with telematics than other auto systems. (5) Willingness and ability to make good partnerships, in recognition of risk-spreading and differing competencies. “Smart, effective partnerships will be the most important determinant of success in telematics,” he said.
Players also confront significant differences among markets. American drivers, unless Japanese, use their cellphones mostly in cars, and “every person’s nightmare in the U.S. is what happened to the protagonist in Tom Wolfe’s Bonfire of the Vanities, who gets lost in a bad part of town at night,” Cole said. He said American priorities therefore were smart and safe communications, then emergency support, and traffic and navigation help -- whereas in Japan emergency support ranked last, traffic and navigation first.
Cellport Systems CEO Pat Kennedy, said his company showed the way forward with an open architecture incorporating many kinds of mobile phones, standard in-car docking units and customized pockets to link them. “This is a plug-and-play environment,” he said, “and it’s very easy for innovation to be born and bred in this environment.” Cellport has deals involving AT&T Wireless, Best Buy, Circuit City, Ford, Nextel and Nissan Q45 Infiniti. Joint venture with Omrom Corp. launches Japanese service commercially in spring and plans a telematics M2M (machine-to-machine) development center in Boulder.
Toyota has array of Japanese initiatives. It’s based on broad national telematics vision encompassing wireless communication in everything from auto production and use- monitoring to fleet management, consumer-goods distribution and information-retrieval within or regarding public transportation, said Toyota Info Technology Center USA Mgr. Norizaku Endo. Company participates in Japanese govt.’s Internet ITS (intelligent transportation systems) Project developing an IPv6 telematics infrastructure. Major launches are expected next year, and telematics revenue is projected to double every 5 years, to $500 billion by 2015 -- 35% hardware, 65% services -- Endo said.
Toyota has 6 consumer projects, including EZ@NAVI.com, which provides graphic displays, with information on all transportation including walking, on cellphones, via No. 2 carrier KDDI, for less than $2 per month; PDA support is coming. MONET, for “mobile network,” aggregates local-guide information, Internet access and spoken e-mail via digital cellular network. Starting in midyear, G-Book will combine and extend MONET and Gazoo, Toyota’s auto-information and e-commerce Web portal, officials said.