GROM Audio Hosts Successful Silicon Valley Automotive Open Source Meet Up

Last week GROM Audio hosted the Silicon Valley Automotive Open Source Meet Up event with special guest speaker, QNX Senior Automotive Product Manager, Kerry Johnson. As first time hosts of the event, the GROM Audio corporate office was a full house of Meet Up group members dedicated to learning the latest about in-vehicle infotainment (IVI). Serving as a network to connect a variety backgrounds ranging from engineers to entrepreneurs, the over 65 attendees met to listen to Johnson speak about Qt, the latest cross-platform application framework for desktop, embedded and mobile i.e. even infotainment.

Event host, ICS Liaison, Peter Mui opened the event with a few words just after 7:15, before GROM founder Dmitry Borisov stepped in to thank guests for coming, while also introducing many attendees of GROM's aftermarket infotainment solutions.

GROM Audio Founder, Dimtry Borisov introduces guest speaker. 

Starting the discussion with a background of QNX software, Kerry Johnson discussed the importance of open source and sharing knowledge to help better technology.
"These Meet Ups help us come together and move forward,"Johnson said.

Qt, which was developed as an open source project, follows this idea, according to Johnson, who discussed that the framework can integrate with a wide variety of platforms including the most popular iOS, Android, OS X and Windows. Working well with other languages, widgets and interfaces, Qt integrates to create faster transitions, better 2D & 3D graphics and quick speech references.

"An infotainment system is the integration of a lot of things, there are all kinds of things that need to be brought together," Johnson continued.

Guest speaker, QNX Senior Automotive Product Manager, Kerry Johnson

According to the 25-year industry veteran, Qt can better in-car infotainment integration, but safety will be biggest challenge for car manufacturers to overcome. Safety certification is crucial in moving forward with connected cars and according to Johnson OEMs are creating the hold, while they wait for Google and Apple. But with Qt integration automakers do not have to lock into a specific OS like Android or iOS, although it is unclear if Apple's CarPlay will support Qt.

Although the feature of connected cars is still very vague, it is clear that consumer electronics will continue to blend with the auto industry, creating smarter cars, smarter drivers and one day driverless vehicles.

"I love to see things change, but the reality is it will take a while," Johnson said.

GROM Audio integrates Android with GROM-USB2P

As Google's Android operating system continues to increase in popularity, GROM Audio continues  to bring customers the best quality adapters to fit their needs. Known as the first car audio company to deliver direct connection of Android smartphones or tablets to factory car stereos, GROM Audio strives to give drivers the ability to use their mobile devices on-the-go.

The GROM-USB2P car kit gives drivers the ability to not only listen to their own music library straight from their smartphone or tablet, but it also gives users the best sound quality through direct digital connection. This direct digital connection creates high-quality sound by keeping the digital signal intact until it is converted to an analog signal. This means no unnecessary manipulations are made to the music signals, creating little to no interference.

This GROM Audio interface integrates Bluetooth technology as well (via the Bluetooth Dongle, GROM-BTD) giving drivers the ability to talk on the phone hands-free while driving. Because safety on the road is the most important factor of driving, this feature allows users keep their hands on the wheel and eyes on the road at all times.

It is GROM Audio's goal to continue to bring Android users more car audio integration options and the GROM-USB2P is only the beginning of its Google compatible multimedia systems. Please check the GROM Audio website for compatible Android devices and stay tuned for more GROM products suited for the Android operating system.