Parrot Teams Up With Volvo Cars In Delivering ‘Sensus Connected Touch’

5th March 2013 Adam Rayner

Parrot Teams Up With Volvo Cars In Delivering ‘Sensus Connected Touch’, A Connected Infotainment Open-Platform Based On Android
Paris, February 25th 2013 – Parrot, a leader in automotive connectivity and infotainment solutions, announced that it is supplying Volvo Cars with a connected Infotainment open platform based on Android: the ‘Sensus Connected Touch’.
The ‘Sensus Connected Touch’ is an automotive electronic unit designed by Parrot and it connects to the vehicle’s LIN bus (Local Interconnect Network). It allows command & control using the steering wheel buttons and the touch interface. The ‘Sensus Connected Touch’ accesses the Internet by Wi-Fi tethering to the customer’s smartphone or a 3G/LTE USB dongle.
Groundbreaking implementation of Parrot’s ASTEROID Infotainment platform, the ‘Sensus Connected Touch’ enables Volvo customers to access numerous connected applications and services such as:
– Music on-demand services, with Spotify and Deezer
– Internet radios TuneIn and Liveradio.
– Navigation with iGO Primo software from NNG, including 5-years of live online traffic information
– Online mapping and search for Points Of Interests
– Warning of dangerous zones, with Coyote Series and Wikango HD.
– Multimedia playback of music, photos and videos from local sources (iPod, USB, SD etc.)
– Internet browsing (not available when driving). The browser allows Java animations and films.
– Mirroring of the applications on the driver’s mobile phone in the car’s display when using the Parrot SmartLink App
– A Volvo service locator presenting a list of nearby Volvo dealerships and helping the driver contact the chosen one.
– An itinerary service, named Roadtrip, to touristic points of interest which vocally provides historical information linked to the selected venue and shows pictures of it on the vehicle’s display.
– Email and Calendar data from an Exchange or webmail account.

Updates for the above applications, as well as the downloading of new Apps and services, will be made available both from the in-vehicle system and from a home computer by connecting to the Parrot ASTEROID Market, the first Apps download platform dedicated to the automotive world.
Thanks to Voice Recognition and Text-to-Speech technologies, drivers can choose an artist or an album by voice on all available media including local sources on the USB ports, Internet radio and music-on-demand services.
Also, ‘Sensus Connected Touch’ lets certain Apps interact with one another for enhanced usage: search for a point of interest on the mapping App and get directed to it by iGO Primo.
It goes on sale in May 2013 and can be fitted in new Volvos (V40, S60, V60, XC60, V70, XC70 and S80). The ‘Sensus Connected Touch’ can also be retrofitted in used car models from 2011 and onwards that have the Sensus system with a 7-inch display. It will be available for installation in North and Latin America, Europe, China, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. The availability of the Apps will vary depending on the country.
‘Parrot is proud to team up with Volvo Cars in bringing the best in connected automotive infotainment to Volvo drivers worldwide. In this project, Parrot is using the Android framework for popular Apps and enhancing it by integrating Parrot software libraries such as voice recognition, media playing, telephony and acoustics meeting automotive quality standards for reliability, compatibility and security.’ said Eric Riyahi, Executive Vice-President at Parrot.