Analysis of Continental's AutoLinQ in-vehicle information communication solution

Since Continental AG of Germany unveiled its next-generation in-vehicle intelligent communication solution AutoLinQ at the Telematics 2009 conference in Detroit, it has attracted widespread attention from all parties. Sina Auto and other media held a discussion with Mr. Azmoon Ahmad at the China Telematics Industry Summit Forum, interpreting Continental AG's in-vehicle information communication solution AutoLinQ from all aspects.

Media: The life and R&D cycles of consumer electronics products are completely different from those of complete vehicles. As a consumer, you definitely want to get a brand new solution after buying a new car. How do you handle the relationship between the two?

Azmoon Ahmad: We in mainland China recognize that such a problem does exist in the industry, and our solution is AutoLinQ, an open platform and architecture that subverts the previous business model and allows users to obtain new applications after purchasing a car. We achieve this from several aspects: one is affordable, one is available anytime and anywhere, and one is easy to use. All three are accomplished through our purely open architecture and platform.

Media: What are the similarities and differences between AutoLinQ and ACMI?

Azmoon Ahmad: The concept of ACMI is seamless connection, which allows mobile phones or portable devices to seamlessly communicate with the car radio and navigation system, and can easily map the mobile phone applications to the screen of the car navigation system. The concept of AutoLinQ is even bigger, which is equivalent to Apple's App Store. It allows third-party development products to be placed in the store after being certified by us, and end users can download these applications to the car. Different car owners have different interests and needs. Through AutoLinQ, car owners can download their favorite applications independently. ACMI is to create applications that users can use, while AutoLinQ is to create a platform for third parties, and users can download them to the driving device at will.

Media: Which communication method is more suitable for AutoLinQ in China? 2G? 3G? 4G?

Azmoon Ahmad: It depends on the application. Ultimately, it is the application that determines what kind of network is needed. We will adopt the communication technology that can be used in telematics vehicles and accepted by customers. If high-speed download is required, 3G and 4G can also be used. Currently, the basic carrying range of 2G and 2.5G is acceptable. If it is just remote control of the car and the data volume is not large, 2G is enough. If a data recorder is needed to continuously upload all data, or a street view data camera in North America needs real-time data stream download, then 3G is needed.

We recently announced AutoLinQ, a technology that we will have a big demonstration at CES in Las Vegas next month . We will also have a large-scale demonstration and display in Europe at the CBIT exhibition in Hannover, Germany in the middle of next year. Many OEMs are very interested in this and are discussing cooperation with us, but it will take several years for these things to be commercialized in the market. It does not mean that the Chinese market is not our most important market. We have already started and will vigorously introduce AutoLinQ technology and solutions to the Chinese market in the next few years.

Media: The connection between cars and the Internet will also be a development direction in the future. What research and development results and plans does the mainland have in this regard?

Azmoon Ahmad: On the one hand, we firmly believe that AutoLinQ is a good open platform that connects cars to the Internet, is economical and available at any time. Putting a PC in the car is a good idea that everyone is looking forward to, but it is not realistic to use a PC while driving, and the price of PC is relatively expensive. We need a user-friendly interface that car owners can afford and can use a lot of software, which is AutoLinQ. We attach great importance to investment in this area in China. We built two R&D centers this year, one in Yangpu and one in Jiading, with an investment of 60 million euros. We are optimistic about the future of this in China.

Media: Can it be understood that a platform like AutoLinQ is more similar to the iPhone or Google's mobile phone platform?

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Azmoon Ahmad: If we compare them, AutoLinQ is based on Linux OS in terms of software and hardware platform, and uses Google's Android application software on top of it, which can be compared to Google's GPhone. For traditional in-car entertainment systems, because they are relatively closed systems, the development cycle and cost are very high, and it is difficult for users to upgrade after buying a car, which is not a good thing for end users. Nowadays, with the use of open platforms, many new applications can be loaded on them. As long as we provide good security measures to make the applications safe and reliable, we can reduce the user's car use costs. This is also the fundamental intention of our provision of AutoLinQ.

Media: How to solve the contradiction that car owners who enjoy the service must terminate the service when they buy a new car?

Azmoon Ahmad: We don’t have a final strategy yet. The behavior patterns of car owners in Europe, North America and Asia are also different. It is possible that we will coexist in both and support both.

Media: What are the similarities and differences between AutoLinQ and BMW's NGTP?

Azmoon Ahmad: The two concepts are different. AutoLinQ creates an application model, provides the entire software and hardware in the car, and the background industry chain architecture, which allows new third-party applications to be downloaded and used by car owners after security certification. NGTP is more of a service architecture in the Telematics background. There is a core gateway in the middle, allowing different third-party new applications or service providers to access as a new TSP. After the gateway is unified and integrated, we have a public API. In this case, it is easier to add a new service, business, TSP, or service provider. It provides a background access mode, and AutoLinQ provides an overall user experience mode. The two cannot be directly compared. NGTP is shielded from users, while AutoLinQ can provide user experience and is determined by users.

Media: Which cars can this be used on at present?

Azmoon Ahmad: European, American , and Asian car companies are very interested. The earliest application will be in 2012, but it is not convenient to provide the name of the specific car manufacturer.

Media: CES is more about consumer electronics end products, while AutoLinQ is a solution. How do you treat it?

Azmoon Ahmad: If you come to CES, please contact us in advance and we will send someone to meet you. We will have product demonstrations. We started developing the AutoLinQ architecture a year ago and started doing market research. The official computer simulation product will be released in 2010, so you will see more real products at CES and CBIT.

Media: As a supplier of OnStar, what is your strategy?

Azmoon Ahmad: We believe that localized services and R&D are critical, including our latest AutoLinQ technology. We will look for cases suitable for China, do R&D locally, and bring applications that are truly suitable for Chinese users to the Chinese market. We plan to grow our localization process by 200%.

Media: Telematics is still relatively new to Chinese users. What are the plans in mainland China? For example, will you first launch entry-level products and then upgrade them?

Azmoon Ahmad: As a mainstream supplier, our direct customers are car manufacturers . We need to cooperate with them to introduce technology. Car manufacturers will also consider their target users and usage habits. For us, it is more appropriate to introduce gradually, rather than all at once. Of course, we need to formulate their strategies through our customer car manufacturers.