Telematics provider ATX expands into personal navigation
Telematics services provider ATX Group (www.atxg.com) plans to enter the market for portable and desktop communications and navigation devices in North America and Europe.
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SiRF sues Global Locate for patent infringement
Global positioning systems technology provider SiRF Technology, Inc. (www.sirf.com) has filed a patent infringement complaint against Global Locate (www.globallocate.com) and its distributor, Innovation Sales Southern California (www.innovationsc.com). ...
Digital media boots car audio in Europe
The automotive audio systems market in Europe is near stagnation, so OEMs and suppliers are looking at promising digital media alternatives, according to a new report from Frost & Sullivan (www.transportation.frost.com). ...
Research firm reports on automotive audio
A research report from Strategy Analytics (www.strategyanalytics.com) concludes that Blaupunkt (www.blaupunkt.com), Siemens VDO (www.siemensvdo.com), Delphi (www.delphi.com) and Visteon (www.visteon.com), which collectively own 68% of the market for audio head units in new vehicles in Europe and North America, are likely to maintain their dominance despite increasing competition.
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D&M Holdings acquiring Philips Sound Solutions
D&M Holdings Inc. (www.dm-holdings.com) has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Royal Philips Electronics’ (www.philips.com) Philips Sound Solutions, a developer of audio products for automotive and consumer markets. ...
NAVIGON acquires NAVTEQ
Navigation software developer NAVIGON Inc. (www.navigonusa.com) has acquired map information provider NAVTEQ (www.navteq.com). ...
American Honda and GM stay tuned to XM
American Honda Motor Co., Inc. (www.honda.com) plans to install XM Satellite Radio (www.xmradio.com) in more than 650,000 of its 2007 model year vehicles and General Motors (www.gm.com) plans to equip more than 1.8 million vehicles with the service. ...
BMW, Mitsubishi and Audi select Gentex
Gentex Corporation (www.gentex.com) said it is supplying its SmartBeam high-beam assist feature to BMW (www.bmwgroup.com) for the 2007 model year 3 Series and supplying its auto-dimming mirrors for the 2007 Mitsubishi Galant (www.mitsubishicars.com) and Audi TT Coupe (www.audi.com).
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Johnson Controls develops modular floor console for Volvo S80
Johnson Controls has developed a modular floor console for the Volvo S80. The console is said to be easy to assemble and to customize, and better able than previous versions to integrate electronic components.
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Lithium Technology battery powers HEV based on Smart Forfour
Lithium Technology Corporation (www.lithiumtech.com) said a battery system developed jointly by its GAIA Akkumulatorenwerke (www.gaia-akku-online.de/) subsidiary and Zytek (www.zytekgroup.co.uk) has been integrated into a four-door demonstration vehicle based on the Smart Forfour and manufactured by DaimlerChrysler (www.daimlerchrysler.com). ...
Avago introduces half-Watt surface-mount red-orange, amber LEDs
Avago Technologies (www.avagotech.com) has introduced a family of 0.5-W high-brightness red-orange and amber light-emitting diodes in an automotive-industry-standard PLCC-4 surface-mount (SMT) package for automotive exterior lighting applications.
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Tensilica adds to Xtensa configurable processor core family
Tensilica Inc. (www.tensilica.com) has introduced two new configurable processor cores, the Xtensa LX2 and Xtensa 7, both of which include on-the-fly error correcting code. ...
Analog Devices expands Blackfin processor line
Analog Devices, Inc. (www.analog.com) has added the four-member ADSP-BF54x family to its
16/32-bit Blackfin (www.analog.com/processors/blackfin/) processor line. ...
Freescale launches 16-bit MCUs for use in FlexRay networks
Freescale Semiconductor (www.freescale.com) has introduced an S12XF series of 16-bit microcontrollers for use in embedded nodes on FlexRay networks for body, chassis and safety applications.
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Canesta patents ambient light sensor technology
Canesta (www.canesta.com) has been granted U.S. Patent No. 6,919,549 (“Method and System to Differentially Enhance Sensor Dynamic Range”), which the firm said covers its SunShield technology that allows image sensors to operate effectively in extreme sunlight and rapidly changing lighting conditions. ...
Infineon licenses austriamicrosystems’ FlexRay transceiver IP
Infineon (www.infineon.com) has agreed to license FlexRay transceiver intellectual property from austriamicrosystems (www.austriamicrosystems.com), which will continue to market its AS8221 bus transceiver IC. ...
FlexRay debuts in BMW X5
FlexRay protocol has entered its production phase with devices from NXP (www.nxp.com) (formerly Philips Semiconductors) and Freescale Semiconductor (www.freescale.com) in BWM’s newest X5 sport activity vehicle (www.bmwusa.com/vehicles/x5/).
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IMS researches automotive sensors
IMS Research (www.imsresearch.com) has published “The Worldwide Market for Automotive Sensors,” a report that predicts rapid growth in unit sales of automotive laser, radar and image sensors primarily in driver assistance systems. ...
Strategy Analytics offers automotive vendor profiles
An “Automotive Vendor Profiles” report from Strategy Analytics’ Automotive Electronics Service (www.strategyanalytics.com) charts the relative successes and failures of the leading global automotive electronics vendors. ...
Research firm reports on automotive electrical products
Allbizreport.com has published a market research study focused on automotive electrical products including alternators and starters, batteries, ignition system and parts, lighting equipment and other electrical equipment (www.allbizreport.com/Automotive-Electrical-Products- Market-Research.html). ...
Panasonic Automotive forms company in Thailand
Panasonic Automotive Systems Company (http://panasonic.co.jp/pas/en/), a division of Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (www.matsushita.com), has formed Panasonic Automotive Systems Asia Pacific (Thailand) Co., Ltd. in the Kingdom of Thailand to serve customers in India, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam.
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Dave Hermance
David W. Hermance, Toyota's (www.toyota.com) top North American engineer for advanced technology vehicles, died Nov. 25 while performing aerobatic maneuvers in his plane off the coast of San Pedro, Calif. He was 59.
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Mobileye sees Denali DDR controller IP in automotive systems
Mobileye N.V. (www.mobileye.com) has licensed Databahn DDR memory controller intellectual property from Denali Software (www.denali.com) for use in Mobileye’s EyeQ2 Vision system-on-chip. ...
