HARMAN Adds New Navigation Solution Featuring OTA Map Updates to its Premium Infotainment Offering

HARMAN, the premium global audio, visual, infotainment and enterprise automation group (NYSE:HAR), introduced today at CES 2015 the first connected navigation solution based on the Navigation Data Standard that incrementally updates map data in the field. This over-the-air (OTA) incremental update capability is the first in the industry that ensures map data is always up-to-date.

Incremental updates of map data for rich navigation systems are critical to keep vehicle infotainment systems current in the field. Due to the inherent complexity of the highly co-related & complex map data, current solutions are not able to offer this capability. HARMAN’s new OTA map update technology is the first high-end navigation solution on the market based on the Navigation Data Standard, or NDS. This end-to-end solution parses the map data to ensure that only the specific information needing updating is sent to the infotainment system, resulting in optimized data download requirements and faster updates. These updates take place in the background, imperceptible to the driver and without loss of infotainment system performance.

“The Internet of Cars requires an evolution from today’s connected experiences to intelligent services,” said Sachin Lawande, president, HARMAN Infotainment Division. “HARMAN continues to push the boundaries bringing infotainment innovations to market that improve driver safety, increase vehicle security and enable new connected experiences. We are enabling automakers to seize new opportunities to deliver enhanced driver usability and seamless experiences.”

Protecting System Integrity through Cyber Security

HARMAN’s premium embedded infotainment solution directly addresses industry car hacking and cyber-attack concerns for connected vehicles. HARMAN’s system supports a HTML5-based application environment with enhanced security delivered through hypervisor-based domain separation. Critical vehicle functions are protected from errant or malicious software for "automotive grade" robustness.

HARMAN’s hyper-visor technology solutions separate and isolate the different software domains within the infotainment system. This isolation adds another layer of security on top of the network-level security that is used in current connected devices. Virtualization ensures that any threat that has managed to pass through network security technology will still not be able to affect the critical vehicle functions that are running in a separate domain.

The HARMAN virtualization solution is custom-designed to work with the specific use cases of automotive infotainment systems. It offers the best combination of system performance while keeping critical functions and resources isolated within the system. Furthermore, HARMAN’s system architecture supports the latest car apps and platforms, such as Apple CarPlay and Google Android Auto, while protecting the integrity of the infotainment system against cyber security threats.

HARMAN at CES 2015

Visit the HARMAN showcase during CES 2015 for demonstrations of the company’s full portfolio of infotainment 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 2015:

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About HARMAN

HARMAN (www.harman.com) designs, manufactures and markets premier audio, visual, infotainment and enterprise automation solutions for the automotive, consumer and professional markets. With leading brands including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon®, Mark Levinson ® and Revel®, the Company is admired by audiophiles, musicians and the entertainment venues where they perform. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and infotainment systems. HARMAN has a workforce of approximately 16,600 people across the Americas, Europe, and Asia and reported sales of $5.6 billion for the 12 months ended September 30, 2014. The Company’s shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol NYSE:HAR.

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