Aupeo To Launch Personal Radio By AUPEO!®

LAS VEGAS, Jan. 5, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Aupeo GmbH (Aupeo), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Panasonic Corporation and operated under Panasonic Automotive Systems Company of America, will launch a revolutionary new connected audio platform for the automotive industry. Called Personal Radio by AUPEO!®, the platform seamlessly integrates all connected audio content in a more intuitive, higher quality and safer way than has been previously possible.

Personal Radio by AUPEO! – a 2015 CES Innovation Awards Honoree in the In-Vehicle Accessories/Control/Navigation product category – is an innovative leap in technology, moving the current version of AUPEO!® from a music service to a complete content delivery platform.

"The vehicle remains the number one listening location for most consumers," said David Taylor, Chief Technology Officer and Managing Director of Aupeo. "Personal Radio by AUPEO! keeps drivers personally entertained and informed without having to take their hands off the steering wheel."

"Since the invention of AM, radio has been a story of continuous innovation," continued Taylor. "AM enabled global communication, FM provided a local flavor, satellite radio brought larger content variety and internet streaming services added personalization. As the content menu gets more complicated, the experience that's been missing is a way for consumers - through one platform - to easily assemble a single individualized feed that lets them discover the greatest variety of content that is most relevant to them right now. That's what Personal Radio by AUPEO! has accomplished."

With Personal Radio by AUPEO!, consumers can hear local and global news, sports, traffic and weather with their favorite music in their own personal, vehicle-friendly, intuitive radio station.

The Personal Radio by AUPEO! platform includes technology that learns user preferences and recommends content from across all sources to deliver audio streams that are truly unique and more personal to the listener that has been previously possible. Lead content partners include CBS Radio News, TheBlaze Radio Networks, AccuWeather and GEO Traffic, and new partners such as American Public Media (APM) are being continuously added.

"The industry has been trying to force fit apps designed for smart phones into vehicles," added Taylor. "This new platform lets car makers create more integrated use cases and advanced user experiences designed specifically for the automotive environment. The platform enables:

• The ability for OEMs to create their own user interface design for all connected audio content to meet their brand needs and best practices
• Automotive quality of service including connectivity robustness and quick startup
• Global service in more than 60 countries from a single integration
• Customized CRM options for OEMs to individually connect with their drivers

The AUPEO! service is currently available on more than five million vehicles globally, covering 20 brands including Ford, VW, Mercedes, Audi, BMW & Toyota and upcoming launches with new partners including Jaguar and Land Rover. With the launch of Personal Radio by AUPEO! on January 5, 2015 many of these vehicles can easily upgrade to the new platform. Vehicle owners that do this will discover new features that include:

• Mixed stations that combine music and talk content in a single feed
• On-demand and personalized news, weather, traffic and sports
• Advanced bandwidth optimization that allows the user to mix their own music into stations to reduce data plan costs

For cars that use video projection technologies, the platform scales to provide drivers with an easier and more intuitive user interface that has been certified by automakers as meeting the driver distractions standards of the Car Connectivity Consortium.

Over the coming months, Aupeo will continue to focus on enhancing the Personal Radio by AUPEO! platform to further offer the automotive industry with a more integrated and high quality experience for streaming content while providing ever more valuable features that predict the needs of drivers.

"We have seen how important the ease-of-use, quality of service and design of an infotainment system is to a vehicle brand's identity," said Holger Weiss, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Aupeo GmbH. "By creating this exclusive level of integration and service, Personal Radio by AUPEO! elevates the customer experience by making it easier, faster and more intuitive. It is truly the next chapter in the revolution of connected infotainment."

About Aupeo, GmbH and the AUPEO! Service

Based in Berlin, Aupeo provides consumers and businesses with platforms and personalized content delivery on connected devices. Serving customers in the automotive industry, Aupeo focuses on delivering a quality connected audio experience in the car. AUPEO! was founded in 2008 and the AUPEO! service launched in November the same year. Panasonic Corporation of North America acquired the company in 2013. The company is an integrated partner to Panasonic Automotive Systems Company of America, a Division of Panasonic Corporation of North America, and is a leader in automotive infotainment systems.

About Panasonic Corporation of North America

Newark, New Jersey-based Panasonic Corporation of North America, the principal North American subsidiary of Panasonic Corporation, which is based in Osaka, Japan, is one of the world's leading developers and producers of innovative digital and other electronic products for consumer, business and industrial use. Based in Peachtree City, Georgia, and with Detroit-area operations located in Farmington Hills, Mich., Panasonic Automotive Systems Company of America is a division company of Panasonic Corporation of North America with operational responsibility for Aupeo, GmbH. Panasonic Automotive Systems Company of America also acts as the North American operating company of Panasonic's Automotive Systems Company of Japan, which coordinates global automotive industry systems and components operations. For more information on Panasonic Automotive, please visit: http://us.panasonic.com/automotive.

SOURCE Panasonic

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