Wind River intros software for rapid development of Android in-vehicle infotainment systems

ALAMEDA, USA: Wind River has expanded its portfolio of Android offerings with the introduction of automotive-market specific software. Wind River Solution Accelerator for Android, Automotive helps in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) device manufacturers shorten the development time of high-quality Android-based IVI systems. As the latest addition to the Wind River Solution Accelerator for Android series, the new automotive software adds to the existing medical, connectivity and user experience software collection.

As consumer electronics and automotive worlds continue to blend, the role of software is becoming increasingly more important. The auto industry is racing to offer sophisticated IVI features but often don’t possess the embedded device software expertise and need additional assistance from domain experts, as in the case of Android. Also, properly integrating cutting edge software in advanced IVI systems with the complex automotive environment presents additional challenges.

“Android’s capability for rapid innovation has made it a popular platform option for many industries such as automotive. Consumers increasingly expect connectivity and rich user experiences regardless of where they are, including in the car,” said Chris Buerger, senior director of product management at Wind River. “Wind River helps customers overcome the complexities of bringing Android into an automotive environment and rapidly develop devices that deliver a rich, connected experience. Wind River has the ideal mix of decades of embedded device experience, successful Android technologies and deep vertical industry knowledge and relationships.”

Key features of Wind River Solution Accelerator for Android, Automotive include enablement of iPod/iPhone/iPad docking for rich multimedia capabilities, a customizable user interface that can be modified by the consumer, and FM radio capabilities.

Wind River also delivers expert software and systems integration services to support customers in their various programs. Wind River’s professional services provide a vast array of additional automotive capabilities and technologies such as hyperboot to reduce boot time of an IVI system, firmware management delivering updates to Android devices supporting both online and offline update methods and Bluetooth IVI extensions to control personal phones via the in-vehicle center console.

The Wind River Solution Accelerator for Android portfolio of software offers developers a catalog of validated applications and middleware components from which they can pick and choose software elements to fill gaps in expertise and immediately integrate complex, differentiating features.

By combining Wind River Solution Accelerators for Android with Wind River support and expert custom engineering services, customers can equip themselves with a high level of flexibility, choice and commercial Android expertise as they create Android-based products optimized for their market specific needs. The addition of the automotive software builds on Wind River’s efforts to develop Android components to serve specialized technology and vertical market needs.