Telematics service provider ATX Group and the Connected Vehicle Trade Association plan to convene an international work group to address Internet connectivity through embedded and nomadic devices in vehicles.
ATX and the CVTA will invite automakers and interested parties to participate in an open discussion and process for setting requirements for in-vehicle Web browsing. An industry forum on the proposal will follow when the industry meets in Detroit for Convergence (Oct. 20-22).
ATX is proposing to establish .car (dot.car) as a generic top-level domain that would enable web sites specifically designed to meet the safety and consumer requirements for delivering web content to vehicles. Those sites could also make use of vehicle performance and maintenance diagnostics data, as well as vehicle location data. Also proposed is a telematics firewall process designed to ensure protection of the vehicle from content delivered over the air to the in-vehicle browser.
Pervasive use of the Internet in vehicles is inevitable, according to ATX president and CEO Steve Millstein. “(It) demands that the industry agree on specific formats that will adapt the traditional web-browsing experience to the driving experience," he said. "This proposal is similar to the adaptation that was required to develop and interface between the smart phone and the web. Browsing the Internet in the vehicle is a unique environment with unique characteristics."
"Internet content is beginning to enter the vehicle environment, and we need to bring together all the stakeholders addressing safe means of obtaining, viewing and interacting with this content,” added CVTA president Scott McCormick.