I believe that many people have entangled a question when buying a car: why is it that the entertainment navigation system that it costs tens of thousands of yuan to buy is not as good as a smartphone or tablet with thousands of dollars in function, data update and ease of use? At present, mobile applications have grown to millions, and can be upgraded for free almost every month. However, the in-vehicle application has remained unchanged for 10 years. Upgrading a map will cost thousands of yuan.
In the future, competition in the automotive industry may jump out of the traditional machinery category and enter the software field. Automakers compete for who can produce cars that are smarter, easier to use, and have effective access to information.
"I heard customers say over and over again that you should help us develop at the speed of the consumer electronics industry, and the innovation rate in the automotive industry is no longer acceptable." Drake Kuhn, vice president of sales and marketing at automotive software company QNX ( Derek Kuhn) said.
The number of software installed in cars has exploded in recent years. After installing an advanced in-vehicle infotainment system connected to the cloud, a common new car has about 100 million lines of code. For GM and Toyota, software competitive advantage is no less important than Apple or Google (microblogging). The problem is that the development cycle of the automotive industry is several years, while the consumer electronics industry is calculated on a monthly basis. In order to speed up development, companies like Cisco have also joined the automotive sector, and consumer electronics industry executives like Apple executive Eddy Cue also have a place on the Ferrari board.
However, due to the closed nature of the automotive industry, the in-vehicle infotainment system has become an island in the era of the mobile Internet. As an important part of the driving experience, the revolution of the in-vehicle system is imminent. Automobile operating systems, like other mobile device systems, will face changes in the ecological chain in order to obtain a better user experience and faster updates.
Closed or open source?
Proprietary software still dominates, and QNX and Microsoft rule the field. Microsoft ’s Windows Embedded is best known as the operating system behind Ford ’s successful Sync system, while supporting similar systems from Kia, Fiat and 15 other car manufacturers. The infotainment software developed by QNX supports Audi, BMW, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Mercedes and Toyota, and is used in tens of millions of cars worldwide.
Linux also joined the game through the establishment of the AutomoTIve Grade Linux working group, which includes automotive manufacturers such as Nissan and Toyota, as well as first-tier suppliers such as Harman, Intel and Nvidia. Obviously, open source software will become more and more popular. Since its establishment in 2009, the non-profit Genivi Alliance has been calling for "wide adoption of open source development platforms for in-vehicle infotainment systems." Members of the alliance include BMW, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai and Nissan, as well as suppliers such as Harman, Bosch and ConTInental. In addition, two automakers, Ford and BMW, have also started open source projects, namely OpenXC and webinos.
Automobile manufacturers favor open source software because this system gives them more control over the software platform and can adjust functions and experiences according to user needs. They can develop their favorite products, not limited to the products they get. In addition, this software can make car manufacturers and suppliers have greater differences.
"If automakers or first-tier suppliers choose a supplier like Microsoft, they can get a very mature product, but they also have to rely on this supplier's tools. The appeal of open source is that if you Is a developer of a first-tier supplier or car manufacturer, you can really add some features to the car friends community. If you use QNX or Microsoft software, you ca n’t do this, they have some parts that you can modify, but You have only one source, and this source will control your destiny. "Said Joel Hoffman, a member of the board of directors of the Genivi Alliance and a strategic market development manager for the in-vehicle infotainment division of Intel.
Big companies like Microsoft dismiss open source software, and automakers like Ford almost know nothing about it. In extreme cases, car manufacturers are always victims, so they want a software that can run reliably during the car's life cycle. This allows Microsoft, with its unparalleled rich experience in the software field, to have an advantage in cooperation with car manufacturers.
Walter Sullivan, senior project manager of Windows Embedded, said: "Windows Embedded is built on a strong real-time software platform, and tens of millions of devices can be sold each year. We can make full use of various other devices to accumulate Rich experience and make its kernel more stable. The long-term nature of the platform, long-term focus and hard work can enable us to provide software that others cannot. "
Joining of mobile operators
Proponents of proprietary software systems believe that these software updates are more convenient. But so far, the update of the car infotainment system is not common. As consumers expect the automotive electronics industry to provide real-time function updates, and more and more mobile operators enter the automotive Internet field, this situation will definitely change.
Recently, Verizon acquired Mercedes-Benz supplier Hughes TelemaTIcs, and Sprint plans to launch Velocity, an "end-to-end" connectivity solution for cars. With the help of in-vehicle Wi-Fi and applications, this system can integrate remote services such as 911 emergency assistant And car diagnostic services. The service has been applied to Dodge Ram and Viper cars under the name Uconnect Access, and Sprint also plans to sell it to other car companies.
Sullivan pointed out that Sync, the first car infotainment system that can be updated with software, is evidence of the flexibility of proprietary software. He said: "We designed the platform to allow it to be updated at the beginning, and as the only developer of all core components of the platform, we can ensure that every software component can be updated."
However, with the increasing popularity of wireless updates, this situation will change. Tesla Motors is the first company to update in-vehicle software wirelessly, and open source advocates say the inherent flexibility of this system can make updating extremely simple. They believe that if the company behind the proprietary software system abandons the system, its update will become meaningless.
Rudolf Streif, head of embedded solutions for the Linux Foundation, said: "If Microsoft determines that Windows Embedded is no longer a profitable business and decides to terminate the system, then the car company is dumbfounded. . And if you use open source software, you can have hundreds of millions of providers, you can get the source code, so that when necessary, you can also maintain the system yourself. "
Moderate opening
For now, Microsoft and QNX have won the battle, but have not won the war. So far, only the Linux-supported CUE infotainment system equipped with the 2013 Cadillac XTS has made a big impact, but Strev firmly believes that we will see more open source systems, because open source can enable car manufacturers to meet their needs. Adjust your own system.
He said: "The differentiation of the user interface is a trend, which is mainly done by open source software. I know many companies are doing research and development." Intel ’s Joy Huffman is more optimistic, he said: "At least 90% Automotive companies and suppliers are interested in Linux, and this interest in the automotive industry continues to increase. "
Even if the war on automotive operating systems is escalating, there are still some signs that this war will disappear invisible. Microsoft maintains a good relationship with the open source community, especially in the enterprise field, and there is reason to believe that we will see a similar situation in the automotive field. Such a compromise allows automakers to use any system according to their needs and provide the best products at the lowest cost.
Thilo Koslowki, an automotive industry analyst at market research firm Gartner, said: "I think that a modest opening will become a standard principle so that you can not only provide Internet functionality to users faster, but also It can save costs. Cost savings are very important, because car manufacturers can never achieve sales like smartphones. Therefore, they must take full advantage of this modest opening, but in the end they cannot fully open, otherwise you will lose the difference. "
HTML5 impact
HTML5 is also gradually entering the field of automotive infotainment systems, which can further extinguish the smoke of this war, because HTML5 can enable car manufacturers to design easy-to-update systems on various platforms, while adding smart phone-like applications to the dashboard. Although QNX suffers setbacks in the mobile field, it is moving fast in the automotive field with HTML5.
Jim Buczkowski, a technical researcher at Ford, said: "There are still some areas that need to be improved, especially for automotive applications. But I firmly believe that HTML5 will have a huge impact."
Although the outcome of this war directly affects the consumer experience, most people may not care whether their in-vehicle infotainment system uses Microsoft or Linux, or an operating system that is not yet available. It is almost certain that there will be at least two or three mainstream operating systems in the automotive industry because Ford and General Motors, Toyota and Honda, BMW or Mercedes want to be different.
But consumers do not care, they just want a simple, intuitive and beautiful experience. Hoffman said: "Whether it is connected to Microsoft or Linux, it does not matter, what really matters is who can do the best in the implementation, as we have seen in the field of mobile phones."
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