Volvo Cars’ cloud solution offers total connectivity and added functionality
Volvo Cars’ cloud solution offers total connectivity and added functionality
With the launch of Sensus Connect, Volvo Car Group (Volvo Cars) reveals an updated on-board infotainment and navigation solutions. Now, Volvo Cars truly offers customers a fully connected experience. The cloud-based services allow drivers to find and pay for parking from their car, discover new restaurants at their destination, stream their favourite music seamlessly and much more.
“Technology should make your life easier. That’s why we listened carefully to our customers when creating Sensus Connect. It’s not about offering a thousand apps; it’s about giving you precisely what you need, before you even knew you needed it,” says David Holecek, Connectivity Brand Manager at Volvo Cars.
The brand new in-car experience includes a novel take on all aspects of travelling. Tens of thousands of radio stations can now be enjoyed in a car that is pre-heated or pre-cooled every time the customer wants to go for a drive, made possible by the remote start function on their mobile phone.
A navigation system where the driver can not only set destinations through their mobile device and get exciting information about their surroundings through Wikipedia, but which also lets them find and pay for parking at their destination.
Park&Pay is the world-first integrated solution for finding and paying for parking from within your car. The application is based on car2infrastructure communication and points the way of new possibilities when the car starts to “communicate” with its surroundings.
Improved Premium Sound system
Our Sensus family also includes an improved top-of-the-line Premium Sound system with a 5x130W amplifier with the next generation sound enhancement software Dirac Live and up to 12 loudspeakers from Harman Kardon, including a new long-throw woofer for enhanced bass, new soft dome tweeters for soft highs and new, larger mid-range centre and door speakers.
“We strongly believe that a great music experience is a combination of a fantastic sound system, a wide array of music sources, topped off with an easy-to-use user interface. With our new Premium Sound system, you can enjoy an immersive soundstage with improved bass performance, while being able to turn up the volume with full audio clarity,” says David Holecek.
Investing in cloud-based solutions
Volvo Cars is one of few car manufacturers that strategically invests and partners in cloud-based solutions. The Volvo solution offers a branded look and feel and the possibility to remotely update content over air and time.
“It’s all about giving everyone an enjoyable, easy to use and intuitive experience. There is no point in filling a car with technology if it comes off as overwhelming, so our main focus is always to give our customers the best experience available and make it easy to digest. Our cloud-based apps update seamlessly. Sensus offers the optimal combination of input/output methods and allows the driver to turn the entire car into a Wi-Fi hotspot for all of their connected devices,” David Holecek says.
By choosing partners who are the very best in their individual fields such as Ericsson, HERE, Yelp, Storytel, Glympse and parking service providers, Volvo were able to focus on what they do best, providing a safe, comfortable and highly enjoyable ride.
“The driver can now seamlessly switch between their favourite music on high-end speakers and having their text messages read out loud without taking their hands off the wheel. And as from now, your car will not only tell you when it’s time to visit the garage but also will suggest an appointment for you at your Volvo dealership. Our brand new app Connected Service Booking is only the first step in making the dealer workshop fully integrated into the digital eco-system, enabling even more services in the future. Say goodbye to expensive or outdated maps, our Sensus Navigation includes lifetime map upgrades. There’s really no reason it should be more difficult than that,” David Holecek adds.
Sensus Connect uses the HERE Location Platform to provide connected navigation with 3D maps. HERE’s Automotive Cloud services also enables Volvo’s Internet Map application providing an entry level routing solution featuring Map Display, Local Search and Traffic information.
The updated Sensus Connect includes a great selection of cloud-based applications designed to simplify the entire car experience.
“Two of my favorite parts of the new Sensus Connect are Glympse, an app where you can share your position with others to see on their phones, perfect when carpooling or visiting a friend’s house for the first time and the fact that the entire car works as a Wi-Fi hotspot for all your connected devices, using an integrated roof-top antenna to ensure the best possible signal reception,” David Holecek concludes.
All in all, Sensus Connect is there to deliver what the driver needs, when they need it – to make Volvo Cars customers’ lives easier and more enjoyable without compromising safety or comfort.
Notes to the Editor:
The updated Sensus Connect will be available in all new Volvo models starting in May 2014. Drivers who already have Sensus Connect in their cars today will be offered an update for their system.
The 2014 Volvo Sensus solutions will include the following features among others:
ENTERTAINMENT
- Pandora – internet radio (US/Canade/Autralia/New Zealand only)
- 100 000 global radio stations through TuneIn
- Rdio – streaming music service
- Stitcher – on-demand radio shows and podcasts
- Regional audiobook solutions
NAVIGATION
- Upgraded navigation system with 3D graphics and lifetime map upgrades
- Park&Pay by Parkopedia – find available parking and pay for it from your car
- Yelp – find local services, e.g. restaurants, with reviews
- Glympse – dynamic, temporary location sharing
- HERE by Nokia - cloud connected services to provide seamless and connected navigation to drivers
- Send to Car – find your destination on your phone and send it to your car’s navigation system
- Wikipedia – enriched local points-of-interest information
- Baidu – local search for the Chinese market
- Find Gas
- Internet Maps
- Weather App
INTERFACE
- Refreshed HMI with graphically themed centre and driver displays
- Voice control and text-to-speech
CONNECTIVITY
- Integrated roof-top antenna and embedded 3G modem
- WiFi hotspot in the car
- Smartphone tethering (WiFi and Bluetooth)
- Bluetooth audio streaming and hands-free calling
SERVICES
- Smartphone app – connecting your phone to your car
- Engine remote start – app-controlled heating and cooling of the car
- Connected service booking - car knows when service is due and will pre-book itself for a convenient service appointment at Volvo dealership