HARMAN Introduces HARMAN Ignite, the First Fully-Integrated, Cloud-Based Platform for Developing, Managing and Operating In-Vehicle Applications

LAS VEGAS, Jan. 5, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- HARMAN (NYSE: HAR), the premier connected technologies company for the automotive, consumer and enterprise markets, today launched the HARMAN Ignite Platform, delivering its customers seamless management of connectivity, analytics, applications and devices in one place. The new solution largely applies to connected services in the automotive industry, but also extends to the realm of IoT, including Smart Cities and Connected Enterprises.

"The HARMAN Ignite platform is a perfect match for Subaru because it allows us to streamline our process for device management," said Anthony Landamia, infotainment product manager, Subaru of America. "We are able to introduce and easily deploy new cloud applications and services to our customers. Given HARMAN's history in on-vehicle and cloud technologies, we're excited to leverage this platform's capabilities."

The HARMAN Ignite Platform is an end-to-end platform that enables connectivity, device management, application enablement, analytics and managed services capabilities. It allows automakers, dealers and service providers to introduce and easily deploy new cloud applications and services. It is both scalable and modular enabling OEMs to initially purchase a base set of functionality -- and through their partnership with HARMAN -- build on that core base with additional services and capacity as needed. This new platform targets the existing and future demands for scalability, security and flexibility in the provisioning of connected car and IoT services and applications.

Examples of automotive use cases that leverage the HARMAN Ignite Platform are highlighted below and demonstrated at the CES:

• Vehicle Connect: Allows a vehicle to communicate through the cloud to other platforms such as smart homes, smart infrastructures, and vehicle-to-vehicle - which helps simplify, streamline and enhance user experiences.
• Cloud-Based Driver Profiles: Leverages the cloud to set preferences for content in any vehicle the consumer accesses. This solution leverages predictive learning in the vehicle to adjust preferences, provides access to third party services regardless of vehicle and accommodates cloud portability of preferences and identity.
• Car-as-a-Service: Delivers a cloud service enabling Car Sharing, Ride Sharing and Fleet Management models.
• Vehicle Health and Diagnostics: Offers insights into vehicle health to help build relationships with car owners and improves car performance while increasing dealer service revenue.
• Content Personalization: Delivers personal content intelligently for a driver's commute.
• Vehicle Analytics: Provides insight into vehicle usage/quality issues for an individual or group of users.

Specific capabilities of the new platform include:

• Connectivity: Facilitating the delivery of data communication services on mobile and other communications networks
• Analytics: Pre-built analytics models covering common industry-wide scenarios such as warranty analytics and fault detection leveraging real-time machine data
• Device Management: Enabling remote management and over-the-air updating of devices
• Application Management: Accelerating and simplifying the development of solutions, providing common horizontal solution components, prebuilt accelerators and scenarios to be re-used across industries & segments
• Overall Managed Services: Providing services like delivery, analytics, over-the-air updates, device management and other professional services

"We're thrilled to introduce the HARMAN Ignite platform, as it underscores our strength as a turnkey provider of comprehensive, integrated services for the automotive industry and across all IoT vertical markets," said Sanjay Dhawan, president of HARMAN Connected Services. "With the HARMAN Ignite Platform, our current and prospective customers and partners can maximize efficiencies and minimize internal costs in their goal to fully offer the connected lifestyle experience. We're offering a whole new level of customized and personalized services benefiting OEMs, consumers and enterprises in the growing car share industry in an unprecedented way."

Ignite is available in the U.S. market with plans to extend to other geographic markets such as Europe and Asia Pacific in 2017.