Volvo, Ericsson cloud solution offer total connectivity

MANILA, Philippines - Leveraging extensive consumer research and industry-leading innovation, an all-Swedish partnership has focused on developing a solution that supports current and future connected car needs by combining Volvo’s driver behavior expertise and Ericsson’s consulting and systems integration know-how.

“This partnership is another proof that Volvo is in the vanguard of innovation with a clear understanding of the importance of the car in an increasingly connected society,” said Lex Kerssemakers, SVP-Product Strategy and Vehicle Line Management, Volvo Cars.

The Connected Vehicle Cloud is just the first step on a journey towards fully connected and integrated car and infrastructure services, and positions Volvo as a major player in the connected car arena.

With the launch of Sensus Connect, Volvo reveals an updated on-board infotainment and navigation solutions. The cloud-based services allow drivers to find and pay for parking from their car, discover new restaurants at their destination, stream their favorite music seamlessly and much more. Sensus Connect also offers the first ever solution utilizing built-in connectivity supported by Pandora Internet Radio, which has more than 76 million active monthly listeners.

“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.

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 points the way of new possibilities when the car starts to “communicate” with its surroundings.

Volvo 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,” Holecek says.

By choosing partners who are the very best in their individual fields such as Ericsson, Pandora, HERE, Yelp, 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 favorite music on high-end speakers and having their text messages read out loud without taking their hands off the wheel. And 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,” Holecek adds.