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BARCELONA, Spain — AT&T’s crew for its Drive Studio connected car facility is getting a little bigger.
The telecom company said Monday that it had signed up three new partners to help automakers ease their way into the world of wireless services.
First up is Qualcomm, which will debut its recently unveiled Snapdragon Automotive Solutions, which powers infotainment and telematics found at the Drive Studio. Qualcomm is making a big push into cars itself, following in the footsteps of Nvidia, which has long provided its Tegra processors to the automotive industry.
AT&T will also work with automotive software management provider Red Bend Software. The company will use AT&T’s cloud service to help manage in-vehicle software and applications through over-the-air downloads. AT&T boasts that Red Bend’s software reduces the time and cost to manage software updates in the vehicle as a result of the wireless delivery method.
Lastly, QuickPlay Media will help automakers develop in-vehicle video service using its own OpenVideo platform. The programing in includes “Live Linear TV” and streaming video on demand services.
Drive Studio is a 5,000-square-foot facility in Atlanta, and is the focal point of the company’s initiative to connect cars with its cellular service. AT&T spilled the details on the studio at the Consumer Electronics Show, which had more than its fair share of automotive tech news.
With the core smartphone business seeing slowing growth, AT&T is increasingly looking to different areas for new opportunities, with connected cars being a major priority. The company already has partners such as General Motors eager to line up to use the facility.
