- ViacomCBS and Byton partner on in-car entertainment
- ViacomCBS to provide access to its services for electric vehicle’s 38-inch screen
- Service will run through Access Twin in-car theatre system
ViacomCBS has partnered with electric vehicle startup Byton to bring content to its new range of M—Byte electric crossover cars which are due to launch later this year.
The M—Byte series will launch with an ultrawide 48-inch display stretching pillar-to-pillar across the dashboard of the vehicle, with Byton revealing it has signed up seven initial content partners to fill the screen.
Byton also unveiled a partnership with German firm Access to use its Access Twine in-car theatre experience system. Access provides software solutions for connected TVs, set-top boxes in the connected home, connected car, cloud solutions, smartphones, tablets, digital publishing and networking markets.
Last year, Access announced a partnership with ViacomCBS which aims to make the global media and entertainment company’s TV brands accessible to vehicle passengers via the Twin for Car system, paving the way for its agreement with Byton.
“The future of in-vehicle infotainment is an exciting opportunity to strengthen and extend our connection to our audiences within today’s fragmented media environment,” said Ray Hopkins, president, US Networks Distribution, ViacomCBS.
“We look forward to building upon our relationship with Access and Byton to reimagine the entertainment experience for a new and captive generation of drivers and passengers.”
The announcement came during Byton’s pre-CES press conference, in which it also unveiled partnerships with hyper local forecasting technology firm AccuWeather and digital audio broadcasting company Xperi, which will provide its HD Radio and DTS Connected Radio platforms for the M-Byte vehicle.
The Xperi system will mean M-Byte drivers can switch from a radio stations terrestrial broadcast to an IP audio stream when it is out of range.
Other partnerships unveiled at the press conference, which was held in Las Vegas, include Aiqudo for voice control of apps; CloudCar, providing a cloud-based infrastructure; and Road.Travel for online trip booking
“Like any great smart device, it is not just what it can do but what you do with it,” noted Dr. Andreas Schaaf, Byton chief customer officer (CCO).
“With the new partnerships announced and the limitless potential offered by the Byton Developer Program, we envision a revolutionary interaction that will be a gamechanger for the Byton M-Byte and its users.”
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