AllChinaTech News
On Friday, Baidu Telematics General Manager Gu Weihao attended the Global Smart Cars Summit at GMIC Beijing 2016 and outlined the company’s smart car ecosystem, which consists of three major sections: smart connection, smart maps, and smart services.
“Baidu Map enjoys a market share of 70% in China,” said Gu. “And with a large user base and our technology, we aim to build upon our smart-car strategy.”
Smart connection is made up of three features: CarLife, MyCar, and CoDriver. CarLife is an app that allows map navigation and music streaming to be enjoyed in cars using smartphones. MyCar is used when the network of connected cars has been established. It allows people to check and control their cars from a distance and know where their cars are by checking Baidu Maps on their smartphones.
CoDriver allows people to communicate with their cars via voice recognition technology. “Whether you’re turning a knob, pushing a button, or touching the screen, when you’re driving, this can be inconvenient and distracting,” said Gu. A demonstration of how CoDriver works will be available at CES in Shanghai this May.
Smart maps consists of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) and high-definition maps (HD maps). While the former identifies objects and obstacles, the latter is used for automatic driving. “At present, the map precision generally falls between 10 and 15 meters, but HD map can push it to one to 10 centimeters and make the map even more precise,” said Gu. A 3D map is also underway.
Smart services can be used to help original equipment manufacturers (OEM) sell products and improve services, as they can record connected cars’ driving history, track driving routes in real time, and understand drivers by analyzing how their cars are used.
Baidu announced on Friday that it has made RMB 15.82 billion (USD 2.44 billion) in Q1 2016 with a net profit of RMB 1.99 billion. Its RMB 16 billion GMV represents a YoY growth of 268%.
AllChinaTech has a media partnership with GMIC. AllChinaTech is a startup media platform dedicated to providing timely news and analysis on the Chinese tech industry in English.
(Top photo by Ke Jin)