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HARMAN Showcases Unprecedented UX Solutions, In-Car Comfort and Entertainment Experiences at Geneva

Configurable Entertainment and SUMMIT technologies designed for personalized connectivity in vehicles today and for mobility models of the future

GIMS 2018 — GENEVA—March 6, 2018 – HARMAN International, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. focused on connected technologies for automotive, consumer and enterprise markets, is demonstrating Configurable Entertainment and SUMMIT, two experience-centric lifestyle automotive solutions offering personalized audio and entertainment for passengers. Developed on the company’s new HARMAN AudioworX software platform, these solutions deliver intelligently tailored experiences, ushering in a new era of personalization and cloud-connected preference setting that can follow a user to any vehicle.

“HARMAN Lifestyle Automotive is the recognized leader in Car Audio, with the best sounding in-car systems in the world. More OEMs and consumers choose HARMAN than any other branded audio option on the market. Building on this, we are driving innovation in UX through fully personalized audio and entertainment experiences, for today and for the autonomous and shared mobility vehicles of the future,”said Michael Mauser, President, Lifestyle Audio for HARMAN.

Configurable Entertainment: A Personalized Experience for Every Passenger, Every Ride, Every Day

The sharing economy shows no sign of slowing down, and car ownership trends will continue to shift from owned, one-size-fits all vehicles to sharing models, selecting the best vehicle solution for a specific need -- on demand. While choosing shared mobility means that the car you are in is no longer yours, consumers continue to demand a seamless, personalized driving experience.

Powered by AudioworX and the award-winning HARMAN Ignite cloud connectivity platform, HARMAN’s Configurable Entertainment solves for this by offering consumers complete, seamless personalization of multiple in-car brand and entertainment experiences. Targeted to shared fleet organizations like Uber and Lyft, Configurable Entertainment allows shared mobility providers to offer multiple in-car brand and entertainment experiences through adaptive software and a single set of in-vehicle hardware. This puts the power of personalization back into the hands of ride-share passengers, making every ride an extension of their lifestyle.

For example, one user can select in-vehicle gaming or a heart-pounding concert experience through JBL audio for their ride; while the next passenger -- in the same vehicle -- can choose a completely different experience, such as watching a movie or enjoying a more intimate music performance with the refined sound of Harman Kardon to enhance their trip. 

HARMAN Ignite is the first fully integrated, cloud-based end-to-end platform for managing and securing in-vehicle applications and services. User preferences are stored in the Ignite cloud platform and can be set and managed seamlessly. Leveraging Ignite’s “Driver Profile Service” users can take their Configurable Entertainment personal settings and preferences automatically with them from car to car– across different car sharing service providers and across different car brands or platforms without annoying repetitive setting procedures. This is an industry first offered only by HARMAN.

Key Features for Configurable Entertainment include:

·       Proprietary Shape-shifting Speakers: In-vehicle speakers transform in real-time to provide different experiences in line with user preferences. For example, a unique sound bar or tweeter can dynamically morph from one audio brand experience to another, both sonically and visually.

·       Unique Industrial Design: Brand-specific visual elements such as logos and speaker grilles can change in real-time to match user preferences.

·       Adaptive Audio EQ’s: Sound tuning will adjust on-demand to deliver the iconic listening experience associated with the user’s preferred audio brand.

Configurable Entertainment leverages HARMAN's award-winning automotive cloud platform, Ignite, for seamless connectivity and device management, allowing passengers to personalize in-vehicle entertainment experiences in real-time – a first for the industry. Preferred personal settings can be catalogued and saved and seamlessly deployed for any ride. For automakers, it is an example of how HARMAN provides a complete, end-to-end solution for implementing advanced connected in-vehicle applications and features.

SUMMIT: Personalized, smart audio experiences designed for the new generation of luxury vehicle buyers.

Automakers are recognizing the growing importance of audio and sound management solutions as a critical part of the in-car experience in today’s vehicles and in vehicles of the future. HARMAN’s System-on-Chip (SOC) SUMMIT hardware platform leverages technologies from across all its divisions, enabling an exciting new portfolio of acoustically driven experiences from its  processing power that is 10x greater than traditional solutions.

As a fully connected solution, SUMMIT gives automakers the ability to future-proof their vehicles for simpler management and maintenance, allowing for easy upgrades throughout the vehicle lifecycle while also opening up new revenue streams through Over-the-Air (OTA) updates via OEM app stores. Like all of HARMAN’s smart audio solutions, SUMMIT features are connected, personalized and adaptive.

Among SUMMIT’s broad range of features highlighted for the Geneva Motor Show are:

·       NEW: ICC (In Car Communication) employs acoustics to create an ideal environment for conversation within the car cabin, enhancing the sounds you want to hear, and reducing those that you don’t. An ‘always on’ adaptive feature, ICC automatically and seamlessly level-sets according to music volume or road noise for clear, 2-way conversation between passengers on any drive.

·       Virtual Venues transforms the vehicle cabin into an acoustic match of your choice of specific, real-life concert halls – letting you experience your favorite music and performers just as you would in an intimate club, the world’s most iconic theatres, or in massive stadium settings.

·       Personal Bass Impact gives each vehicle occupant individual control of the bass levels in their specific seating location.

·       Quantum Logic Immersion delivers the widest range and highest quality of sound on the market, utilizing HARMAN’s proprietary digital signal processing algorithms and the processing power of SUMMIT to provide an expansive yet natural 3D surround sound experience for all occupants. Immersion control makes it possible for each occupant to personalize the level of surround experience in their particular seat.

SUMMIT solutions are currently in development with several leading automakers, with the first SUMMIT-powered systems expected to be in-market within two model years.

Both Configurable Entertainment and SUMMIT will be demonstrated at the HARMAN showcase at the Rinspeed Booth in hall 6, booth 6240.

HARMAN at Geneva Motor Show

Visit HARMAN at the Rinspeed Booth (hall 6, booth 6240) during the Geneva International Motor Show for demonstrations of the company’s full portfolio of automotive solutions that enable the connected life. Follow HARMAN online during the Geneva Motor Show:

About HARMAN

HARMAN (harman.com) designs and engineers connected products and solutions for automakers, consumers, and enterprises worldwide, including connected car systems, audio and visual products, enterprise automation solutions; and services supporting the Internet of Things.  With leading brands including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon®, Mark Levinson® and Revel®, HARMAN is admired by audiophiles, musicians and the entertainment venues where they perform around the world. More than 50 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and connected car systems. Our software services power billions of mobile devices and systems that are connected, integrated and secure across all platforms, from work and home to car and mobile. HARMAN has a workforce of approximately 30,000 people across the Americas, Europe, and Asia. In March 2017, HARMAN became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.

 

© 2018 HARMAN International Industries, Incorporated. All rights reserved. Harman Kardon, Infinity, JBL, Lexicon and Mark Levinson are trademarks of HARMAN International Industries, Incorporated, registered in the United States and/or other countries. AKG is a trademark of AKG Acoustics GmbH, registered in the United States and/or other countries. Features, specifications and appearance are subject to change without notice.


Carole Campbell
Director, Lifestyle Communications
HARMAN
lifestyle.communications@harman.com

Ivo Poguntke
Lifestyle Audio and Corporate Communications Europe
HARMAN
ivo.poguntke@harman.com