Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
Volvo Cars has announced a close partnership with technology giant Google to develop the next generation of its in-car infotainment and connectivity.
Based on Android, drivers will be offered access to a wide array of new apps and services on Volvo models within two years in a partnership promising to ‘revolutionise’ how customers engage and interact with their cars.
The large catalogue of popular Android apps – developed by Google, Volvo, or third party app developers – will offer connected and predictive services in and around the car.
“We are making an important strategic step with the Google partnership. Google’s platform and services will enhance the user experience by enabling more personalisation possibilities, while Android will offer increased flexibility from a development perspective,” said Henrik Green, senior vice president research & development at Volvo Car Group.
“With the advent of Android we will embrace a rich ecosystem while keeping our iconic Volvo user interface. We will offer hundreds of popular apps and the best integrated experience in this broad, connected environment.”
The partnership reflects the ongoing convergence between the automotive and technology industries as cars become increasingly connected.
Volvo believes smart partnerships are the future for the car industry. It says using Android as the base operating system will increase speed and flexibility in the development.
“We’re thrilled to partner with Volvo to bring Android into their next generation connected cars,” said Patrick Brady, vice president of Android engineering at Google. “This partnership gives us the opportunity to deliver a more seamless experience to Volvo drivers through a full-featured infotainment platform and rich ecosystem of Android applications and Google services.”
Volvo is also collaborating with Google on another initiative to update recent Volvo models by adding Google Local Search, a location-based service application. This will be released through an update to customers with Sensus Navigation.
Volvo cars are available at the Motorcity showroom in Sitra. Call 17736104 or visit www.motorcity.com.bh for more details.
