World’s top auto makers to work on putting NFC in cars

Daimler, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Toyota and Volkswagen have joined Nokia, Samsung and others as founder members of the Car Connectivity Consortium with the aim of developing common standards for connectivity between handsets and vehicles.

CONSORTIUM: Smartphones are expected to integrate tightly with future cars

Mobile phone firm Nokia has announced the launch of a new partnership with major car and phone manufacturers to develop common standards for connectivity between handsets and vehicles.

The Car Connectivity Consortium (CCC) will work towards integrating mobile technology with in-car entertainment, near field communications (NFC) and wireless charging, using the Terminal Mode standard.

Founding members include vehicle manufacturers Daimler, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai Motor Company, Toyota, and Volkswagen; system suppliers Alpine and Panasonic; and consumer electronics makers LG Electronics, Nokia and Samsung. New players are expected to join in the near future.

“Nokia understands that people want to use their smartphones everywhere including in their cars,” says Floris van de Klashorst, director and head of Nokia Automotive.

“The Car Connectivity Consortium now has the power to turn Terminal Mode into the global standard for the integration of smartphones into vehicles, bringing together the exciting and innovating worlds of mobile ecosystems and applications and with the automotive industry. The industry support we received through the members has been excellent and makes Terminal Mode a truly global effort.”

With the Terminal Mode standard, smartphones can be connected with in-car systems such as digital displays, steering wheel buttons, rotary knobs and car audio systems.

The CCC will focus on further developing the Terminal Mode standard, address certification and branding, and start looking at ways to introduce NFC and wireless charging.

“Due to the wide consumer acceptance of smartphone and apps, Samsung expects that the smartphone will be the dominant hub for in-vehicle infotainment and connectivity,” says  Dokyun Kim, director of the product strategy team at Samsung Mobile Division.

“We believe that the smartphone, when connected with an in-car device, will play an important role in providing users with multimedia experience in the vehicle, and that Terminal Mode will be one of the key enabling technologies.”

The news comes after German car manufacturer BMW released a report in January outlining its vision of the NFC-enabled “car key of the future”.

An NFC key would allow “personal access to a new mobility experience” and offer a significantly wider range of features, the car maker explained.

Meanwhile, at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona last month, NXP showcased a concept car developed by Continental which had NFC features built in, days after Morpho and Simlink unveiled an NFC car key fob that connects to any WiFi-enabled phone to enable consumers to pay for items at the point of sale with their existing mobile device.

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