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It seems like every few months there is a new phone that is better, more efficient and festooned with extra gadgetry, and according to TechInsights, that is the kind of heyday that automobile aficionados will enjoy shortly.
The "global leader in intellectual property consulting, patent brokerage and reverse engineering" posted a press release on a variety of issues hitting the tech market in 2016, including the patent industry.
One intriguing aspect of the report, however, is the evolving landscape that is the inside of your automobile.
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As the release ponders, "Are the smartphone wars coming to automotive?" If so, we might expect a boon of devices that will make driving a lot more fun and immersive.
Via the release: "The technology convergence that we saw with the smartphone is happening in automotive, with consequences ecosystem-wide. The connected car, a stepping stone towards autonomous vehicles, has the potential to replicate the IP and market disruption we last saw in a significant way with the smartphone wars."
This isn't something that we might enjoy in a decade or so, because TechInsights is highlighting trends for the current year.
As WTOP and Engadget found, the recent CES 2016 saw a surge in car technology. Engadget actually echoes TechInsights' sentiments about car technology resembling something quite familiar.
Via its report on CES 2016: "It's not the show where you'll see a new Toyota Camry introduced. The traditional events in Detroit, Tokyo and Los Angeles (but mostly Detroit) will still handle those. Instead CES attendees will line up to see a car that's making news not because of its zero-to-60 time or horsepower, but because it integrates itself into our lives in a way we haven't seen since the smartphone revolution."
As stated, the explosion of interest has a lot to do with all the gadgets that may just make our lives in the car a bit easier, or at the very least more interesting.
READ MORE: 10 of the Best Travel Gadgets at CES 2016
And it's not just apps and super cool dashboards of lights and buttons, carmakers are inching towards autonomous automobiles and cars that are far greener than they were previously.
For those of you who live and vacation out of your car, this is a big deal.
TechInsights continues with where things are headed (self-driving cars) and how much is to be made by various innovations (a lot): "Non-traditional automotive suppliers are rushing to secure a piece of a connected car ecosystem forecast to exceed $40Bn by 2020 whilst firms already well established in parts of the automotive value chain are branching out into less traditional areas. Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) are a key area of collaboration and innovation. Expect the patent activity in this space to heat up."
Soon you will have the ability to utter texts to loved ones as you speed down the highway for that meeting or reservation, which will soon turn into the moment when you can actually text that missive because the car you are in has everything well in control.
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