HARMAN International, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., focused on connected technologies for automotive, consumer and enterprise markets, today announced the launch of the next generation of HARMAN Ignite, the first fully integrated, cloud-based platform for developing, managing, securing, operating and monetizing in-vehicle applications and services.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180108005809/en/

(Graphic: Business Wire)

(Graphic: Business Wire)

The HARMAN Ignite cloud platform, being used by 29 global OEMs, delivers HARMAN’s Remote Vehicle Updating over-the-air (OTA) solution, being used by more than 18 global automotive OEMs, to keep the software and firmware in more than 30 million vehicles updated and relevant with new features and functions. The new updates to the HARMAN Ignite solution will support several new cloud offerings as well as the integration with the HARMAN SHIELD Automotive Cyber Security Platform, providing OEMs with a robust suite of solutions to protect vehicles from cyber-attacks.

HARMAN Ignite creates partnership opportunities in the automotive ecosystem that unlock limitless types of in-vehicle services and experiences. HARMAN’s solution is well positioned to remain the automotive cloud platform of choice for OEMs in a market that is expected to grow to $33 billion by 2025, according to an October 2017 Frost & Sullivan Report titled The Automotive Data Monetization Market.

According to Roger Lanctot, director of automotive connected mobility at Strategy Analytics, “This next generation of HARMAN Ignite, with a greater depth of cloud solution integrations, is a platform enabling OEMs to differentiate themselves with new services, create new revenue models and enhance their brands by bringing customized and personalized services to drivers and passengers. HARMAN Ignite offers opportunities for a greater number of third-party application companies to partner with OEMs to get a piece of the connected car and autonomous car market with in-vehicle services.”

At CES 2018, HARMAN, for the first time, will demonstrate the next version of its Ignite platform as well as the following new cloud solution integrations:

Parental Controls Solution

The parental controls solution is a pre-packaged SaaS offering for OEMs to quickly deploy a parental control service. This includes a mobile application for car owners to remotely monitor a vehicle’s location and status, including:

  • Tracking vehicle speed as well as hard acceleration and braking events
  • Establishing and monitoring geo-fences
  • Defining and monitoring curfews
  • Monitoring performance against speed limit

Voice Artificial Intelligence (AI) Agents

HARMAN Ignite provides cloud orchestration and supplemental skills for OEMs to deploy multiple voice AI agents, including Samsung Bixby, IBM Watson and Amazon Alexa. This solution enhances the traditional on-board voice recognition and natural language processing functions with cloud-based assistance for completing basic requests using real-time data, for example, accessing sports scores and calendar appointments. By enabling the availability of multiple voice AI agents in a single vehicle, family members who share a vehicle each have access to their own AI agent of choice. This solution also enables car-sharing programs to offer customers access to various AI agents based on preference.

HARMAN Intelligent Platform

HARMAN Ignite now offers an intelligent platform, including machine learning algorithms that OEMs can integrate into a wide array of new applications and services, ranging from enhancing driver and passenger personalization, driver monitoring and vehicle health. Deploying pre-built algorithms requires significantly less effort and results in faster deployment times and lower cost. HARMAN Ignite’s over-the-air updating capabilities enable OEMs to continue to update and refine the algorithms once installed in the vehicles.

HARMAN Cyber Security Analysis Center

The new HARMAN SHIELD Cyber Security Analysis Center offers OEMs and fleet managers with unparalleled access to all security events within the connected cars on their network. Part of the HARMAN SHIELD Platform is driven by its suite of in-vehicle agents, including ECUSHIELD and TCUSHIELD. The Cyber Security Analysis Center can be integrated into existing SOC/SIEM solutions, allowing for a true cybersecurity solution to protect connected and autonomous cars against cyber-attacks.

Nexshop Automotive Retail Suite

The Nexshop Automotive Retail Suite is an analytics solution for automotive dealers that raise the customer experience by streamlining the vehicle purchasing decision starting with an online search, through the dealership and to final sale. The solution provides active interaction and personalization based on consumer, product and promotional data from various sources that it aggregates, analyzes and delivers back to dealers and consumers with meaningful actions.

SmartAuto

An OBD-II dongle device integrated with Ignite brings connectivity to vehicles currently without access to the cloud– instantly enabling media delivery, vehicle tracking, vehicle diagnostics and real-time enterprise analytics.

“With the next generation of HARMAN Ignite, we put an emphasis on redefining and disrupting the current cloud ecosystem,” said Sanjay Dhawan, executive vice president and president of the Connected Services Division and HARMAN CTO. “We are excited to see this platform evolve and maintain its position as a market leading solution with each generation. The HARMAN Ignite platform brings a piece of the connected car market to all types of companies looking to deliver in-vehicle services and applications.”

HARMAN at CES 2018

Visit the HARMAN showcase during CES 2018 for demonstrations of the company’s full portfolio of connected car and lifestyle audio systems that enable the connected life. The HARMAN experience showcase is located at the Hard Rock Hotel. Follow HARMAN online during CES 2018:

  • Find more news at the HARMAN Newsroom
  • Learn more aboutHARMAN Connected Services
  • Like HARMAN Connected Services on Facebook
  • Connect with HARMAN Connected Services onLinkedIn
  • Check out our YouTube Channel
  • Follow HARMAN Connected Services on Twitter @HARMANservices
  • Join the conversation using #HarmanCES

ABOUT HARMAN

HARMAN (harman.com) designs and engineers connected products and solutions for automakers, consumers, and enterprises worldwide, including connected car systems, audio and visual products, enterprise automation solutions; and services supporting the Internet of Things. With leading brands including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon®, Mark Levinson® and Revel®, HARMAN is admired by audiophiles, musicians and the entertainment venues where they perform around the world. More than 50 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and connected car systems. Our software services power billions of mobile devices and systems that are connected, integrated and secure across all platforms, from work and home to car and mobile. HARMAN has a workforce of approximately 30,000 people across the Americas, Europe, and Asia. In March 2017, HARMAN became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.

© 2018 HARMAN International Industries, Incorporated. All rights reserved. Harman Kardon, Infinity, JBL, Lexicon and Mark Levinson are trademarks of HARMAN International Industries, Incorporated, registered in the United States and/or other countries. AKG is a trademark of AKG Acoustics GmbH, registered in the United States and/or other countries. Features, specifications and appearance are subject to change without notice.