03/04/2010 A leader in the development of innovative infotainment and telematics systems, Continental sees itself ideally placed to put lifesaving eCall technology in all vehicle classes in the upcoming years.

Hanover/Germany. At CeBIT 2010, eCall – in-vehicle automatic emergency alert systems – will again be a key topic in the telematics hall. Continental, the international automotive supplier, will be presenting its new Google Android-based AutoLinQ infotainment system at the Deutsche Telekom booth. Applications developed for the Android platform have met with considerable success and Continental and Telekom are now paving the way for their use in future vehicles. By equipping cars with a permanent mobile radio connection, automakers are, at the same time, giving themselves the option of adding a number of new features to the infotainment system, including an automatically triggered SOS function. The automatic eCall emergency vehicle alert system could thus quickly find its way into all vehicle classes.

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In this product combination, the multimedia system is upgraded to encompass a manual emergency call function and linked to the in-car safety system to automatically trigger an emergency alert. Upon deployment of a vehicle’s airbags in the event of a serious accident, the closest appropriately equipped public-safety answering point (PSAP) would automatically be alerted and informed of the vehicle’s exact location. Seconds and minutes that might prove invaluable in rescuing injured passengers would thus be electronically gained.

Cars would be delivered to customers with factory-installed eCall systems, ensuring that the emergency alert system will actually function as intended in the event of a serious accident. The new technology will be ready for volume production by 2012, provided carmakers are interested.