August 19, 2008

Drivetones & Knight Rider

We may be seeing a whole new level of personalization coming to cars in the near future - Case in point: DriveTones and Mio Knight Rider.

According to an article in Business Week magazine this week, Shai Agassi's electric vehicle startup, Project Better Place, will start offering the equivalent of ringtones in cars.  The idea here is that electric cars are pretty silent and people  (such as pedestrians) would want the cars to make some noise.. .this noise would presumably be artificially created through the use of sounds that would emanate from the car as it drives along i.e. DriveTones.  Will we see hear Crazy Frog ringtones all over our roadways now?

If you want to hear the highly annoying Crazy Frog tone, check it out here:



And Mio is bringing out out a Personal Navigation Device with a Knight Rider theme. Here's a video review of this gadget:


mio knight rider gps from knight rider online on Vimeo.

August 05, 2008

Information changes driving behavior

As soon as real-time data and monitoring information is introduced in the car, people start changing their driving behavior, prior to driving and during a drive. Our driving behavior will change dramatically over the next decade and the change will be adopted by digital natives currently entering the driving-force, not us old-fogies. There are new technology and media startups pursuing a number of these application areas.

I, for one, have stopped thinking about pre-planning how to get somewhere - with my Dash GPS device, I just get in the car and go. I misplaced my Dash device last week and genuinely missed the ETA feature as well as had the angst of not knowing when I'd run into traffic jams and got delayed between meetings.

The Toyota Prius, in my opinion, is doing this with its game-like interface (see photo below, source: Gary Rhymes/Flickr). People play this game while driving, trying to optimize their mileage and keep the bars between certain levels. And efficient driving saves you money as well.

Toyota_interface

Communications/messaging is another one - people risk their lives to check email.

Blackberry_Auto_sm.standard

Real-time information has some funny though serious effects on drivers as well. Check out some of these headlines:

  • Bus driver says he was using GPS before crash - The Seattle Times
    • A charter-bus driver who crashed into a low pedestrian bridge in the Washington Park Arboretum on Wednesday, sending more than 20 members of the Garfield High School softball team to the hospital, said he was following a GPS system and did not see signs warning of the bridge's height, police said. ...Abegg said Adams was using his own GPS device, which gave him the option to select whether he was using a car, bus or motorcycle — he chose the bus selection. ...Abegg said the GPS system did not appear to factor in the height of bridges on the route.
  • Drivers on edge over cliff route - BBC News
    • Drivers following satellite navigation systems through a village called Crackpot have been directed along a track at the edge of a 100ft cliff. ... "...we get a lot of sales reps in posh cars coming and they get so cross."
  • Sat-nav dunks dozy drivers in deep water - Times Online
    • Julie Jackson, 45, of Carterton, Oxfordshire, and her mother, Delcie Fielder, 70, had to abandon their Rover 220 in mid-stream after “we heard this gurgling sound and water came right into the car, covering our feet”.
  • Driver Blames GPS For Driving On Railroad Tracks, Getting Hit By Train - New York Times
    • The 32-year-old man, a computer maven, ... according to Metro-North, he ended up making a right turn onto the railroad tracks and getting the undercarriage of his rented Ford Focus wedged between the rails. The man calmly hauled out his suitcase, called 911 and waited to wave the train to a stop. But the train couldn’t brake in time and ended up dragging the car for 100 feet until it burst into a fireball.

How do we put all these new information technologies to work in a way that is safe as well as entertaining?

August 03, 2008

Your car is getting connected

There's a growing buzz in the market around 'connected services' for use in the 'digital car' as we call it - the war for the digital car has begun.  With a growing set of options for sending data over the air to your car and for two-way connectivity, pretty soon, multiple devices in your car will get data-connected - examples include your radio, your in-dash navigation device, your GPS device, your car as a whole.  Get ready for a whole new generation of applications and services to come down these pipes into your car - at Venrock, we are looking opportunities to partner with entrepreneurs to leverage the car platform and build out these products.

High_hd_radio  Digitaler-Hoerfunk_RDS-Logo_01_b0665981ce Gprs_logo  Logo   Hsdpa_logo Wifi    Wimax-logo

But what are the options that you, as a consumer, have to get connectivity while in your car? Are there ISPs you can sign up for your car (just like you use Comcast High-Speed Internet or AT&T DSL services at home), do you have to buy specialized consumer electronics devices (each with their own wireless connectivity) or will your car come already connected? Well, it turns out that the market is in quite a bit of flux and you have many options to choose from:

  • Regular voice calls – Let’s not forget this option.  Some applications companies such as 1-800-Free-411, TellMe, Vlingo, DialDirections and Voice On the Go are asking users to just call a phone number from their mobile phone to access various types of data services such as yellow pages, navigation, email, movie listing, podcasts etc.  Of course, in this case, you are leveraging a regular cell network. You can use a Bluetooth headset/earbud to dial/access these services now pretty easily.  The cost is what you pay for a normal phone call.  Be ready to start hearing ads during these calls.        
  • Mobile browsers/applications – Of course you can use your mobile phone in your car to access data services such as Google Maps Mobile, Yahoo! Go etc.  While almost everybody I know (including myself) does this, I find this to be an increasingly dangerous option – not only are our lives at risk when we’re doing this while driving but it is, in many countries and US states, against the law.  The cost is what you pay for regular wireless data access.  
  • Mobile phone as modem - This is possible with some wireless data plans over some mobile phones. As a single-device solution focused on laptops, this solution is limited and somewhat technical. I haven't managed to figure out how this works for my laptop.
  • PC cards for broadband access – This is also a good single-device solution focused on laptops.  Most mobile operators such as Verizon (USA ), Airtel (India) and Orange (UK) provide this service.         

  • Pirated WiFi access – With the proliferation of WiFi coverage, there seems to be a pretty widespread coverage of open WiFi connectivity points in most major cities – if all you are looking for is to connect while stationary, then this may be a great way to go. Companies such as Jiwire  have mapped out the WiFi network across the US and elsewhere.        
  • WiFi routers - Autonet Mobile seems to be the only vendor in this market - Autonet turns a car into a Wifi hotspot using a a Wifi router for the car that connects over 3G and 2.5G networks.  The company has recently signed a deal with Chrysler where, according to Fortune magazine, Chrysler will offer the device for $450 and monthly service of $29 per month.  That's still more expensive than DSL or cable model connectivity at home but may be interesting for business travelers or families who want the kids to be connected to their friends/social networks/games while traveling.  Plus, this will allow you to connect your iPod Touch or iPhone over WiFi while driving - this may get interesting once Apple releases a navigation application or Telenav or Networks in Motion or the like do the same for the iPhone.

Behind the curtains, there are a number of wireless connectivity vendors in the market that are selling to consumer electronics device makers and automobile manufacturers/OEMs. As a consumer, you can’t buy these connectivity services directly. But the vendors providing you with devices (such as Mio, Dash, Magellan, Hughes Telematics, Samsung, Pioneer) and automobiles are bringing these connected devices to your neighborhood dealership or consumer electronics store.

  • High-speed wireless data networks - Companies such as Jasper, Kore and Aeris are in this market. They provide network connectivity over GPRS, CDMA 1x-RTT and EV-DO.  Customers of these service providers include consumer electronics vendors such as Dash Navigation and Navman/Magellan and telematics service providers such as Hughes Telematics and ATX.  Device makers typically have a monthly data limit per activated device and pay a monthly fee for this service.  In some sense, these companies are data MVNOs, leveraging networks provided by Sprint, Verizon, AT&T etc.  Some mobile operators such as T-mobile are rumored to be getting into this game directly.
  • Data over voice – Vendors such as Airbiquity are in this market. Airbiquity uses the voice channel of any cell network to transmit data. Airbiquity lists OnStar, BMW, Ford and others as its customers.
  • WiMax – Vendors such as Sprint and Clearwire have announced their intentions to offer a US-wide WiMax network.

There are also solutions in the market for broadcast data connectivity.  These typically leverage the radio or TV broadcast networks and only enable data to be sent one-way from the service provider to the client device.

  • Radio Data System (RDS) – This is a broadcast network provided by the likes of ClearChannel, Westwood One,  MSN Direct to send data on over FM radio networks. Most radios today are RDS-enabled- you know you have this if you can get song titles showing up on your radio.  The upside is that this is a ubiquitous network pretty much available wherever radio is accessible.  The downside is the slow data rate and broadcast-only mode. 
  • Data over satellite radio – XM and Sirius are providing broadcast data capabilities – XM’s NavTraffic and NavWeather are examples of this.   Like RDS, this is a broadcast-only offering.

July 05, 2008

Digital screens for menus at restaurants

Nice display at Kanaloa Seafood Market in Napa. The display changes every few seconds. I can't remember seeing a digital menu display anywhere else.

(posted from my Treo)Digital screens for menus at restaurants

May 20, 2008

Intersection of green and geocar

On my way to Telematics Detroit today, I drove in a San Francisco Greencab. This cab company has been around for a year and have 4-5 Prius cabs running. They are attracting a more loyal, younger clientelle- the driver told me that many of their clients already have a Prius and expressly ask for Greencabs. Greencab is already more carbon efficient than other gas-guzzling cab companies but is also looking into buying carbon credits in order to become carbon neutral- when I asked the driver whether the company had done the math on buying carbon credits relative to the company's cash flow, he said it wasn't that bad.

With a growing class of eco-conscious consumers, there are going to be a slew of features and products released in the digital car market that appeal to this consumer base. Some features would be green routing, integration with OBD2 interfaces for better carbon emission monitoring, integration with community etc. Can there be a breakout new startup in this area?Intersection of green and geocar

May 13, 2008

Speaking at Where 2.0 - "What's Hot and What's Not on the Geoweb"

I'll be at Where 2.0 this week, speaking at 1:45pm on Wednesday about "What's Hot and What's Not on the Geoweb" from a VC perspective - I will also cover GeoCar, GeoVoice and GeoMobile. 

As an investor, I think Where 2.0 has emerged as an interesting forum because it brings together talented geoweb developers and mind bending enabling technology companies.  What attracts me to the Geoweb is not only the huge momentum toward geo-enabling almost every web service but also the potential disruption that this could cause to a number of existing industries, such as telecom (directory assistance), publishing (local guides, maps, etc.), radio (advertising, content), travel, retail, automotive etc in the US and other geographies.

We are investors in two companies in this space Inrix and Where.com. as well as a number of other companies in the mobile and media spaces that could be of great value to developers for distribution, content and enabling technology. 

Join me for my talk and let me know what you think.

Update: I'm adding here the slides from my presentation today.  I will give more detailed voiceover during my talk.

Venrock reception at Where 2.0 - thank you all!

Thanks to all of you who came to our Venrock Geoweb / Digital Car reception last evening. It was great to see so many people from the eco-system represented. We had folks from established companies such as GM, Daimler, Honda, BMW,  Nokia, Navteq, TeleAtlas, AND, Nuance, Microsoft/TellMe, Trimble, Navigon, Sprint etc. as well as private companies such as Placecast, Admob, CloudMade, Zvents, Dash, Autonet etc.  Special thanks to our portfolio companies Inrix, uLocate / Where.com and Intercasting as well as all my colleagues from Venrock for coming to the event!

The nicest thing to see was that the leading companies in this space (auto OEMs, mobile device OEMs, map vendors, PND vendors etc.) are all open to partnering with developers and startups for distribution as well as licensing of services, content and enabling technologies.


April 25, 2008

Digital Taxi

It is amazing to see how not just taxi fleets but also trucking fleets are adopting location-based services and communications technologies at a rapid pace. The magic is in how these disparate products interact with each other within the vehicle as well as connect to the cloud.

Case in point: I was taking a taxi in Portland a few weeks back and saw that the taxi had a number of electronic communications devices:

Taxicammiv_smallTaxi Cam - this records still images that can be accessed by Portland police in case of problems (such as: running off without paying the cab fare or punching the driver for not driving faster!).  The taxi cam product is built by VerifEye Technologies.  Gordon Davis blogged on Portland taxi cams at Taxi Cameras, Do the Math, apparently these cameras cost $1500 a piece.

Dispatch Computer - this enables the driver and the dispatcher to communicate to help the driver figure out where to pick up the next passenger. The GPS coordinates of the device are uploaded to the dispatching system.  This system was built by Digital Dispatch Services/ DDS.  An ancillary business here is that all the GPS probe data gathered by these taxi fleets can be aggregated to provide traffic reports.

Two-way taxi radio - built by Motorola - enables voice communications with the dispatcher and other taxis in the fleet.  Motorola's taxi radio products are listed here.

Cab meter - standard

Intaxi .

March 30, 2008

Chrysler Plans In-Car Web Access This Year

The Washington Post reports that Chrysler will be the first company to provide in-car Internet access toward the end of 2008. 

Interesting comment from menno at The Truth About Cars:

"Great, now we will have drivers (and I used the term in the loosest possible way)

-drinking coffee (starbucks or mcdonalds, makes no difference)
-texting
-talking on their cell phones
-eating
-yelling at the kids in the back seat
-and now on the frickin’ web."

With BMW (ConnectedDrive) as well as various Personal Navigation Device (PND) vendors (such as Dash Navigation) coming out with web-connected services, this trend is unstoppable. It is now in the hands of drivers as well as vendors of these devices/services to use/provide these services in a safe manner.  Is audio the only way to be completely safe and can a display-based system ever be fully safe?  Ford's Sync product has taken an audio-centric approach (http://www.syncmyride.com/).

March 23, 2008

Traffic jams recreated

Interesting experiment to recreate traffic jams.  Seems like the human factor can never be taken out of this problem!   Now we know why these random traffic jams happen.  Turns out these human behavioral elements can be normalized out of most traffic information services.

Some quotes from the New Scientist article:

"They asked drivers to cruise steadily at 30 kilometres per hour, and at first the traffic moved freely. But small fluctuations soon appeared in distances between cars, breaking down the free flow, until finally a cluster of several vehicles was forced to stop completely for a moment."

"The shockwave jam travelled backwards through the ring of vehicles at roughly 20 km/h, which is the same as the speed of the shockwave jams observed on roads in real life, says lead researcher Yuki Sugiyama, a physicist in the department of complex systems at Nagoya University."

Thanks to Jonathon Ramsey at Autoblog for finding this.