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���Our focus is to enhance the driving experience by minimizing the distractions caused by hand-held usage of smartphones while driving,��� Marchwicki said. ���We know consumers are using apps such as music and navigation while driving; therefore, by making AppLink available to developers, we can help ensure relevant apps can now be voice-controlled.��� But Thilo Koslowski, vice president and lead automotive analyst at Gartner Inc. (gartner.com), said he doesn���t necessarily expect many OEMs to follow Ford���s lead. Over time, he thinks more automakers will look to be less involved in micromanaging infotainment systems. Instead, they���ll be searching the most ���exible hardware available and let outside players largely color it with technology. ���What we���re seeing the vehicle itself is becoming more of a consumer electronics product than it ever has in the past,��� he said. ���What you will see going forward is that infotainment systems will be decoupled from the other systems in the vehicle. That will allow the auto industry to get away from these vicious [design] cycles.��� In the meantime, it���s very much a ���Wild West��� scene, with small players and major telecoms vying for the OEMs��� attention, he said. And some of the losers might be traditional Tier 1 suppliers. ��� QNX Software Systems tricked out this Bentley Continental GT convertible for the Consumer Electronics Show. ���It means they have to change their business model; they have to be much more nimble,��� he said. A similar scenario is playing out in the safety systems realm. TRW (trw.com) estimates that electronics are nearing 50% of a vehicle���s cost, double from a decade ago. That cost has been pushed along, not just by our insatiable data needs, but by various government regulations to increase safety. TRW sees three trends, including the mainstreaming of crash avoidance, more afordable radar and camera systems, and a push for open architecture systems as the key drivers of electronics growth. Peter Lake, executive vice presidentsales & business development for TRW, notes the World Health Organization and the European Commission have set ambitious targets to drastically reduce the global number of road fatalities by 2020. To meet them, TRW plans to start production of its Safety Domain electronic control unit later this year with a yet-to-be-named major European vehicle manufacturer. The device was created to integrate multiple functions��� eliminating the need for multiple other controllers���under an open platform, known as the AUTOSAR (AUTomotive Open System ARchitecture) architecture. Among the systems orchestrated inside the controller are chassis, suspension and driver assistance control functions. The ECU has the processing capacity and ���exibility to include software from vehicle manufacturers and third party suppliers. In short, the systems can speak with one another, but without ���uency in one another���s software language. ���Without knowing the code, we can integrate the software in an ���open architecture��� system housed within the controller,��� said Hans-Gerd Krekels, engineering director, global integrated electronics. ���These are in high demand as vehicle manufacturers are increasingly writing their own software and asking suppliers to manage the integration ��� not just for active safety systems, but also for airbags, steering and braking. This has grown enormously and we expect to see exponential growth in this area.��� 29