Naver partners with car parts and software platform companies to develop in-vehicle infotainment system

SEOUL -- Naver joined hands with Continental Automotive Korea, the South Korean branch of German car parts maker Continental AG, and Drimaes, a connected car software platform company in South Korea, to develop a new in-vehicle infotainment system that will provide differentiated services such as making restaurant reservations and remote digital payments.

Infotainment systems are the heart of connected cars that provide various features such as navigation, self-diagnostics, entertainment and vehicle controls including air conditioning and heating.

Naver said in a statement on October 12 that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Continental Automotive Korea and Drimaes to develop a web browser-based in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) platform using Whale, a free-to-use web browser developed by the web service giant.

Normally, infotainment systems are operated on unique platforms created by their makers. Many of them can interlink with smartphones. Naver chose Whale because of its versatility. "A web platform is a general-purpose platform that can be created to provide services anywhere with a display and network connection," Whale head Kim Hyo was quoted as saying.

Naver said that the company will work on the web standardization of Whale while Continental Automotive Korea works on the development of hardware that will house the new IVI platform. Drimaes will develop a platform capable of providing different kinds of web services.