Smartphone Integration in the Car. Cooperation between PLDS and Funkwerk Dabendorf

Philips & Lite-On Digital Solutions“(PLDS), globally well-known in the automotive infotainment industry, and Funkwerk Dabendorf, renowned producer of mobile communication solutions in the automotive industry, announce their cooperation in the area of smartphone integration in the vehicle.

The tremendous growth of the smartphone market as well as the need for the use of smartphone features in the vehicle open up new horizons in the automotive infotainment industry. The implementation of a smartphone can be realized either by connecting it to existing infotainment systems or by using the mobile device itself as infotainment base.

In the past, many of us may have tried in vain to use their smartphones as navigation systems in the car, due to a weak GPS signal or insufficient internet connection inside of the vehicle. Therefore, PLDS and Funkwerk have developed a solution to ensure easy, intuitive application: Just place your smartphone in a dedicated area, such as a phonebox in the car and have it charged and at the same time connected to the outside antenna of the vehicle. This enables best data transfer rates and optimal GPS signal to the phone. Due to the substantially increased received power the user experiences an enhanced sound quality and fewer connection losses. Thus, the highly improved GPS signal finally allows the use of smartphone navigation in the car. Near Field Communication (NFC) has also been integrated to the system in order to achieve the overall goal: The development of a system that covers all functional aspects of the smartphone integration into the car. Such a fully functional and already available solution was presented to members of the CE4A just recently.

Today, numerous smartphones are already equipped with the receiver part for the wireless charging technology, either integrated or with aftermarket products such as backcovers. The extensive distribution of wireless charging pads and phones in the North American market as well as in the Asian, especially the Japanese, markets has been led by the qi standard of the Wireless Power Consortium (WPC). This standard was built into the current solution where the close but still flexible positions of charging electronics and receiver are ensuring a high level of efficiency of the charging, thus significantly reducing the energy consumption.

„Our cooperation makes us ideal partners since we are now able to combine the wireless charging in vehicles with the Compenser® technology and antenna coupling to build a universal product for all smartphones.“ says Stefan Graf, Director Marketing & New Technology at PLDS Germany GmbH. “The cooperation between our companies realizes the idea of a complete integration of the smartphone world into the automotive world” says Nico Borm, VP Sales & Marketing at Funkwerk Dabendorf GmbH. PLDS as well as Funkwerk have been successfully active in the automotive industry for many years and have got deep insights into the technical and customer specific requirements regarding the integration of devices into vehicles.

The companies:
Philips & Lite-On Digital Solutions (PLDS) is one of the world’s leading companies for automotive infotainment, supplying CD and DVD drives for car radios, navigation systems and multimedia units. The company was founded in 2007 by Joint Venture of Dutch Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. and Taiwanese Lite-On IT Corp. Formerly known as Philips APM (Automotive Playback Modules) PLDS can look back on more than five decades of experience in the automotive infotainment industry. Along with traditional CD and DVD drives the company has developed and produced so-called virtual CD changers for the automotive industry. PLDS products can be found in car radios and navigation systems as well as in rear seat entertainment systems and multimedia units in the vehicle. Today, Business Unit Automotive of the joint venture Philips & Lite-On Digital Solutions has more than 800 employees worldwide and supports customers at several subsidiaries throughout the globe, with a powerful Research & Development Center in Germany. Following the success of optical disc drive production PLDS has been developing and manufacturing new products in the areas of automotive wireless charging, car-connectivity, and in other infotainment areas.

Funkwerk Dabendorf GmbH, located at Dabendorf, just South of Berlin, is a subsidiary of the listed Funkwerk AG. Funkwerk Dabendorf has been developing and manufacturing solutions for mobile communication, telematics, multimedia and infotainment in the vehicle. Their customer base contains well-known car manufacturers such as Audi, BMW and Daimler as well as commercial vehicle manufacturers such as DAF, Daimler Trucks and MAN. Funkwerk Dabendorf is the globally leading company for the Compenser® technology, an amplifier technology that is specifically tailored for a reliable mobile network connection in vehicles.

PLDS Germany GmbH
Schanzenfeldstr. 2
35578 Wetzlar
Germany
Stefan Graf
Director Marketing & New Technology
stefan.graf@pldsnet.com

Funkwerk Dabendorf GmbH
Märkische Straße
15806 Dabendorf
Germany
Nico Borm
VP Sales & Marketing
nico.borm@funkwerk-automotive.de

This release was published on openPR.