All articles by Arjen Bongard – Page 47
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carIT Congress: Audi's Hackenberg vows to reduce complexity
Hackenberg says Audi's infotainment can be upgraded every year to accommodate new devices (Photo: Claus Dick)HANOVER -- Audi's connected-car strategy is moving to the next level as more powerful processors make it easier for drivers to operate increasingly complex functions, said Ulrich Hackenberg, the brand's head of technical development.In ...
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Study: Automotive suppliers lack well-defined social media plan
Suppliers can benefit from greater use of social media (Photo: LinkedIn)The world's biggest automotive suppliers only rarely have a clear social-media strategy, according to a study conducted by German PR agency vibrio. They need one, says the agency, because supplier content is becoming ever more important for automakers.As the ...
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Study finds national differences in HMI experience
Operating navigation systems continues to be a challenge for many drivers (Photo: BMW)Drivers appreciate different functions in their in-car infotainment systems, depending on where they live, according to a new study. GfK, a German market researcher, found that drivers in Germany, Italy, Japan and the US consider entering a ...
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Porsche unveils movable "pop-up" store
Porsche's pop-up store will move to London and Shanghai at later dates (Photo: Porsche)Porsche, attempting a new approach to attract younger customers, opened a temporary "pop-up" store in New York.The store, which will move to London and Shanghai at a later date, supplements existing marketing activities and aims to ...
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WSJ: Tesla CEO predicts autonomous driving in next decade
Musk is disappointed with industry-wide EV growth (Photo: Tesla)Tesla CEO Elon Musk predicts the technology for fully autonomous driving will be ready in five or six years, but it will then several more years to address regulatory restrictions.In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Musk said the electric ...
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ZF takes over TRW
ZF will continue to be headquartered in Friedrichshafen. TRW will be a separate division (Photo: ZF)Germany's ZF Friedrichshafen is taking over TRW Automotive to form a new global supplier group that, with combined annual revenue of around 30 billion euros and 138,000 employees, will be among the world's 10 ...
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Uber gets green light to continue in Germany - for now
Uber uses private chauffeurs for its ride-sharing operations (Photo: Uber)A Frankfurt court has overturned an earlier verdict banning Uber from conducting business in Germany. The California-based ride-sharing services is free to continue operations in Germany for the time being.The verdict was largely based on a procedural flaw. Originally, a ...
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EU's designated digital boss doesn't want Google building cars
If the European Union gives the green light, Oettinger will become the EU's digital chief in November (Photo: EU)Europe's designated commissioner for the digital economy says Europe has to modernize faster to avoid being overtaken by high-tech companies such as Google. "We shouldn't get to the point that Google ...
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Porsche acquires 10 pc of Inrix
Volkswagen Group has made connected services an investment focus (Photo: VW)Porsche Holding has acquired a 10 pc stake in Inrix, underscoring the importance of connected information for the Volkswagen Group.Citing the quickly growing need for traffic-related information and data-based solutions, Porsche board member Philipp von Hagen said: "We see ...
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Study: Consumers warm to usage-based insurance
73 percent of fleet managers are very keen to save money on commercial auto insurance (Source: LexisNexis)Consumers in the US are growing more comfortable with usage-based insurance policies, according to a new study. According to the 2014  LexisNexis Insurance Telematics Study, insurance rate discounts are still the main ...
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Inrix, PTV cooperate on smart-city mobility
Inrix offers a wide range of traffic data services (Photo: Inrix)PTV and Inrix plan to work together to provide modeling software to address mobility issues in smart cities.PTV, a Germany-based logistics software group, and Inrix, a provider of real-time traffic information, said the cooperation will combine PTV's analytics tools ...
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AT&T offers 6 apps for connectivity platform
AT&T directly addresses the needs of the auto industry at its At&T Drive studio (Photo: ATT)AT&T is offering carmakers six new voice-enabled apps that will add features such as weather forecasts, parking updates and personalized radio to its its connected-car platform.The US wireless company said the apps were developed ...
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SAP invests in Africa
SAP executive Enslin says now is the time to invest in Africa (Photo: SAP)SAP plans to invest as much as 500 million dlrs in Africa through 2020 in a bid to help the continent accelerate growth in its biggest economies. The business software maker's focus is on South Africa, ...
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Nissan's Palmer to become Aston Martin CEO
Andy Palmer (Photo: Aston Martin)Nissan's Andy Palmer will become CEO of  Aston Martin, succeeding Ulrich Bez, who became non-executive chairman of the luxury sports car maker late last year.Palmer, 51, is chief planning officer of Nissan. He will assume his new position after a transition period, Aston Martin ...
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Connectivity market set to soar, but data security is big worry
Daimler is one carmaker that uses advanced connectivity functions to test autonomous driving (Photo: Daimler)The market for networked mobility products and services is set to almost quadruple between 2015 and 2020, but data security issues will become a big problem once more cars are connected, according to a new ...
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Report: Software anarchy endangers Industry 4.0
Without proper IT governance Industry 4.0 won't work, Steria Mummert says (Photo: Kuka)Failing IT governance is jeopardizing "Industry 4.0," according to a new report from German IT management consultants Steria Mummert.The study cites uncontrolled growth of software in the area of manufacturing as production facilities are networked. As a ...
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Infineon to acquire International Rectifier
Infineon CEO Ploss: The International Rectifier acquisition "will unleash great potential.” (Photo: Infineon)Infineon has signed an agreement to buy International Rectifier Corp in a bid to further strenghthen its position in the global semiconductor and power management market.The German chip maker will pay 40 dlrs a share or a ...
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Germany presents IT security legislation
German cabinet ministers propose stricter rules for reporting IT security breaches (Photo: German Interior Ministry)The German government has presented a draft IT security law that aims to boost data protection in companies, public offices and private households. The paper, drafted by the Interior Ministry, proposes to have IT security ...
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Study: VW could be world's biggest carmaker in 2014
A new study predicts that Volkswagen Group, which wants to be the world's biggest automaker in terms of unit sales by 2018, could achieve that goal this year already.Europe's largest automaker has "a good chance" to reach the target in 2014 after selling more cars than Toyota in the first ...
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Continental hires Google exec for new Silicon Valley unit
Former Google executive Seval Oz will head Continental's new Silicon Valley unit (Photo: ContinentalContinental is setting up a beachhead in Silicon Valley, in a move to make sure it is part of a growing automotive and IT community in California mapping out the future of personal transportation.The Hanover-based automotive ...