Delphi Automotive, Palm Start Auto Internet Venture:
10/11/00 1:18:00 PM
Source: Bloomberg News
URL: cnetinvestor.com
New York, Oct. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Delphi Automotive Systems Corp. and Palm Inc. said they invested in a new venture that plans to provide Internet service in autos by mid-2001, bringing together the largest makers of auto parts and electronic organizers.
Terms of the investments in San Jose-based MobileAria Inc. weren't disclosed. MobileAria, also backed by venture-capital company Mayfield Fund, plans to offer its service through a hands- free, voice-activated system that works with Delphi's Communiport device, Palm's namesake handheld computers, and mobile phones.
Car makers and parts makers are scrambling to provide Internet services to drivers to garner a steady stream of revenue and offset the cyclical nature of their sales, said analyst Jonathan Lawrence of Dain Rauscher Wessels.
MobileAria's service will focus first on letting users send and receive e-mail. Users also could eventually get news, weather, sports, traffic and other information, officials said. MobileAria hopes to appeal to the more than 9 million users of Palm's handheld devices, said co-founder Tom O'Gara, who is also vice chairman of corporate security company Kroll-O'Gara Co.
''As people move around from the office to the home and into the car, they want the ability to seamlessly integrate that information and have access to it,'' O'Gara said.
The move expands on Delphi and Palm's agreement in April to make Communiport, a dashboard hookup for Palm organizers that will let drivers use voice commands to call up calendars, phone lists and other information.
Officials declined to comment on how much users will pay for the MobileAria service, which they said will be available by June. They also declined comment on which telecommunications companies would provide the wireless network for the service.
MobileAria will face competition from rivals such as the world's largest software company, Microsoft Corp. Microsoft last month allied with No. 2 auto parts maker Robert Bosch GmbH, which markets products under the Blaupunkt brand, to develop systems for Internet access and navigation.
Microsoft plans to unveil details about updated software for autos on Sunday, spokeswoman Shari Gold said.
Car makers themselves are also working to develop devices which can access the Internet to retrieve data and information. General Motors Corp. expects its OnStar system to be installed in 1 million cars by year-end. Ford Motor Corp. said in July it is working with cell-phone technology company Qualcomm Inc. to provide Internet devices starting late next year.
Delphi provides the bulk of the equipment for the OnStar system and MobileAria could potentially compete with OnStar, Lawrence said.
''There could be cannibalization between the services and that could be detrimental to OnStar,'' he said.
Some analysts have also questioned the efficiency of voice recognition software, which does not always work properly in a noisy environment such as a moving car. O'Gara said MobileAria will use Delphi's ''optimized'' voice software.
The Palm-Delphi Communiport docking station is expected to begin selling in December. Communiport initially will work only with the Palm V organizer, though Delphi expects to introduce devices that will work with Palm's entire line of products, officials said.
Shares of Troy, Michigan-based Delphi rose 7/8 to 14 3/4. Palm, based in Santa Clara, California, rose 4 7/8 to 46 15/16.
Mayfield Fund is based in Menlo Park, California. |
