3SS and P3 forge partnership for in-car entertainment

Acknowledged in their respective fields, the partners are co-developing a game-changing in-car infotainment system that includes an on-the-go video entertainment UX (user experience) powering all in-car displays built on Google’s Android Automotive OS (Operating System).

With 26 years’ experience in automotive industry consulting and software development, P3 creates customised in-vehicle Infotainment (IVI) systems. P3 helps car manufacturers to differentiate by delivering advanced top-bottom custom Human-Machine Interface (HMI), service layer and Vehicle Hardware Abstraction Layer (VHAL) integration.

The company has worked with several car and truck makers to architect and implement Android Automotive OS based infotainment systems, including its Sparq platform.

An Android Automotive OS partner, P3 helps car manufacturers benefit from the evolving Android Automotive ecosystem.

3SS adds extra value to the solution by integrating its 3Ready Product Platform, a powerful entertainment ecosystem, to bring customised, leading edge video entertainment services into vehicles. Today 3Ready enables advanced TV experiences for major service providers around the world with a combined reach of over 35 million homes.

3Ready provides UX flexibility and management capability that helps carmakers to differentiate from their competitors with a next-level entertainment service. Uniqueness relies on 3Ready Control Center, a key pillar of 3SS’ 3Ready Product Platform, that enables the UX to be managed and targeted dynamically, all from a single unified system, in real-time.

UI/UX can be flexibly configured by the automotive OEM, and ever-evolving 3Ready provides a roadmap of innovations from which customers benefit over the long term.

“Consumers have more free time in the car today; being on the road is no longer a barrier to doing something productive or fun,” explains Adnan Ertural, 3SS Head of Automotive. “They have the option of checking out the latest news headlines, they might watch a movie, make video phone calls, play games, or catch up on work.

“They expect unhindered choice, whatever what they choose to do with their time in the car”.

Differentiation for automakers via in-car entertainment

Car manufacturers have the opportunity to benefit from the 3SS+P3 partnership. Being able to enjoy a rich array of aggregated content that seamlessly translates from the devices used at home to viewing on the go is something that consumers demand. Car manufacturers which can extend the harmonious at-home entertainment UX to their vehicles can realise a major new differentiator, namely an advanced entertainment experience that makes being on the road more enjoyable than ever before, for all the car’s occupants.

The partnership is extending super-aggregation to the in-vehicle space. 3Ready enables super-curation of content and promotions from all sources. Visual curation embraces all content, apps and games and presents the array of choices in a user-friendly and accessible way. The platform is in line with the industry’s functional safety requirements.

3Ready delivers a flexible and fully customisable UI/UX that empowers automakers/OEMs to differentiate while retaining control over the customer experience. The need for personalised and ever-changing content is business-essential in today’s highly developed entertainment market. With over 13 years of TV industry expertise and over 300 delivered entertainment projects, 3SS brings the knowledge, and technical capabilities made possible by 3Ready, into vehicles.

Furthermore, carmakers stay in control over feature roadmap and monetisation opportunities which can create additional targetable real estate and therefore generate revenue streams. The 3Ready Product Platform allows various add-on features, functions and service characteristics that can be configured to meet operational and commercial requirements. The entire in-car entertainment experience can be controlled in real-time without software updates.

The benefits of the 3SS+P3 solution are myriad: It brings the much-loved content super-aggregation experience to the car using Android Automotive OS, with passengers able to access a rich variety of pre-integrated third-party content and apps. Enhanced content discovery and aggregation mean that everyone in the vehicle gets personalised entertainment, from video streaming to music. Furthermore, this diverse content offering can be efficiently enhanced and adapted in real-time via a remote management platform.

Android automotive on the rise

Consumers expect the intuitive, engaging and app-rich experiences of their smartphones to integrate seamlessly with their cars’ infotainment system. As they enter their vehicle, they want to continue using their personal application ecosystem effortlessly. Achieving this has become possible thanks to Google’s Android Automotive OS.

Android Automotive is on the road to becoming the dominant OS (Operating System) in the automotive space. Analyst group S&P / IHS Markit, in its AutoTech Insight by S&P Global Mobility report, predicts that Android Automotive will make the sharpest rise in the infotainment system space in the next five years, capturing around 18% market share by 2027.

“With its established global track record in delivering world-class video experiences, 3SS is the ideal entertainment partner for our Android Automotive OS platform Sparq,” commented Marius Mailat, P3 Digital Services Managing Director and CTO.

“Bringing together our respective and complementary technological know-how and industry experience, and our shared vision, P3 and 3SS have embarked on a journey whose destination is transformational In-Vehicle Infotainment powered by Android,” he added.

3SS views automotive as a natural expansion of its abiding commitment to deliver superior and seamless entertainment experiences across all digital devices. “Screens in cars are the newest part of the long-established multiscreen TV Everywhere concept,” 3SS’ Ertural commented. “Autonomous driving and the rapid growth of in-vehicle connectivity are evolving the car into a temporary living space or office, with more freedom for both driver and passengers.”

Telcos and video service providers set to benefit

This technology collaboration will benefit telcos and other service providers as well as their customers. One of the biggest challenges and major showstopper for in-car entertainment was the lack of standardisation, and broad fragmentation among carmakers’ operating systems. It’s not only an issue for carmakers, but for video service providers too, and many have embraced Android OS for TV. Implementation of Android Automotive OS, which is growing in popularity – now available on Polestar, Volvo, Ford and soon on Renault, Nissan and more – makes it simpler to build and integrate apps/services in the specific automotive ecosystem.

Telcos and video service providers increasingly recognise the business potential of extending the advanced in-home TV UX into vehicles. Operators are key to providing these seamless experiences everywhere, as well as the connectivity that enables them. Furthermore, increasing the duration of time spent interacting with an operator’s service in this way builds stronger customer relationships and affords new revenue opportunities.

3Ready, with its vast number of supported multiscreen devices (custom streaming devices, smart TV, game consoles, web browser, smartphones and tablets) makes it simple to extend the offering to vehicle screens, and accelerates time-to-market, thus reducing development efforts and cost.

Super-aggregated TV services and innovations enabled by 3SS, powered by trusted 3Ready User Experience, have won over 20 industry awards. These accolades span Connected TV Awards, CSI Awards, VideoTech Innovation Awards, and Red Dot Design Innovation Awards, among others, the most recent being Streaming Media Innovation Award 2022, NAB 2022 Best in Market Award.

Google, Google Play and Android TV are trademarks of Google LLC.