In connected car news are FTC, Uber, GM, Apple, Panasonic Automotive, Mobitera, Mitsubishi Electric, Drako Tech, Diodes, Eagle Electronics, Seeing Machines, CoLab, NVIDIA and FPT.
In this Article
FTC Lawsuit Against Uber
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission, joined by 21 states and the District of Columbia, has filed an amended lawsuit against Uber alleging widespread deceptive billing and cancellation practices tied to its Uber One subscription service. The complaint claims Uber enrolled customers into the paid membership without clear consent, failed to deliver on promised benefits such as fee-free deliveries and savings, and made it unduly difficult to cancel—requiring users to navigate through numerous screens and steps to end the subscription.
The lawsuit asserts that Uber’s practices violated federal consumer protection laws and similar state statutes, with plaintiffs seeking civil penalties, restitution for affected consumers, and injunctions to stop the alleged misconduct. Uber has denied the allegations, stating its subscription processes are lawful and transparent, and warned that the case could affect standard subscription business practices broadly. A trial is scheduled for early 2027.
Additional state attorneys general have joined the action, emphasizing claims that customers were charged prematurely—even before free trials ended—and were misled about potential savings.
GM Adds Native Apple Music Support
General Motors is rolling out native Apple Music integration in select 2025 and newer Cadillac and Chevrolet vehicles, allowing drivers to stream Apple Music directly through the built‑in infotainment system without relying on Apple CarPlay or an iPhone connection. The feature will be included in GM’s OnStar Basics package at no extra cost for eligible models and supports hands‑free use and advanced audio experiences like Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos in some vehicles. This move is part of GM’s broader effort to shift toward a proprietary infotainment ecosystem while still meeting consumer demand for popular streaming services.
Panasonic Automotive Rebrands Mobitera in 2027
Panasonic Automotive Systems Co., Ltd. announced it will change its company name and brand to Mobitera, effective April 1, 2027, to better reflect its focus on delivering safe, comfortable, and sustainable mobility experiences. The new name represents the company’s vision to power the future of mobility through high-quality technologies that enhance the human experience, while remaining grounded in its longstanding core values.
The rebranding follows a strategic partnership formed in December 2024 with the Apollo Group, aimed at accelerating growth by strengthening software development capabilities, particularly in the in-vehicle cockpit space, and optimizing the company’s overall business portfolio. The transition to Mobitera is positioned as a key step in adapting to a rapidly evolving automotive and mobility market.
Mitsubishi Electric Detects Driver Intoxication
Mitsubishi Electric has developed an advanced in-vehicle technology designed to detect driver intoxication and help prevent alcohol-related traffic accidents. Using a combination of non-contact pulse-rate measurements from driver monitoring system (DMS) images and vehicle control data—such as steering and acceleration inputs—the system evaluates signs of distraction and drowsiness to determine intoxication levels.
Powered by Mitsubishi’s proprietary Maisart® AI technology, the system analyzes subtle changes in pulse rate and eye movement, even when alcohol-induced facial cues are minimal, and provides driver alerts or vehicle-control interventions as needed. Verified for compliance with European and U.S. regulatory frameworks, the technology aims to enhance road safety and could be deployed as early as next year to reduce traffic accidents and fatalities caused by drunk driving.
Drako Tech Unveils DriveOS with HyperSafety
Drako Tech has launched DriveOS with HyperSafety™, the first single-ECU hard real-time automotive operating system, consolidating all vehicle subsystems—including control systems, ADAS, and digital cockpit—onto a single standard PC. Designed for ICE, EV, and hybrid vehicles, DriveOS reduces hardware costs, simplifies integration, and enables cyber-secure over-the-air updates, while maintaining ultra-low latency and high safety standards.
The HyperSafety™ architecture delivers nanosecond-level responsiveness, strict hardware isolation, redundancy, AI-driven guardrails, and secure cloud connectivity. DriveOS supports mixed-criticality workloads, enabling safety-critical and non-critical systems to coexist without interference, while providing real-time networking, device control, and power delivery across all vehicle domains.
Drako Tech also offers a complete ecosystem for OEMs, including development environments for control systems, ADAS, and digital cockpits, reference designs, and integration tools that leverage the Linux ecosystem without kernel modifications. With DriveOS, Drako aims to dramatically cut integration complexity, reduce time-to-market, and provide OEMs a scalable, cyber-secure platform for next-generation AI-enhanced, software-defined vehicles.
Diodes Expands Automotive Bipolar Transistors
Diodes Incorporated has expanded its automotive-compliant bipolar transistor portfolio with the introduction of the DXTN/P 78Q and 80Q series, delivering ultra-low VCE(sat), high conduction efficiency, and strong thermal performance for demanding automotive power switching and control applications. The new NPN and PNP devices support 12 V, 24 V, and 48 V systems and are designed for uses such as MOSFET and IGBT gate driving, DC-DC conversion, LDO regulation, and driving motors, solenoids, relays, and actuators.
Packaged in the compact PowerDI®3333-8 format, the transistors reduce PCB footprint by up to 75% compared with SOT223 while providing low thermal resistance and improved manufacturability through enhanced inspection and solder-joint reliability. Rated for operation up to +175°C with high ESD robustness, the devices are built for harsh automotive environments. The DXTN/P 80Q series offers higher current capability for demanding designs, while both series reduce conduction losses by up to 50% versus previous generations, supporting cooler, more efficient automotive electronics.
Eagle Electronics Acquires Wireless Mobility
Eagle Electronics has acquired Wireless Mobility and rebranded as Eagle Wireless, forming a Western-owned connectivity module company designed to serve both automotive and IoT markets at global scale. The move responds to tightening U.S. regulations, including the Connected Vehicles Rule, and rising demand for cyber-secure, resilient, and trusted supply chains. With domestic manufacturing in Solon, Ohio, and R&D teams across North America, Europe, and APAC, Eagle Wireless plans to more than double its workforce within a year to meet growing OEM, Tier 1, and IoT customer demand.
Led by newly appointed CEO Norbert Muhrer, alongside Co-Founder and President TJ Dembinski and Executive Chairman Mark Kvamme, the company brings deep experience in scaling global module businesses. The board is further strengthened by leaders in national security, software security, and IoT, reinforcing Eagle Wireless’ focus on compliance, security, and long-life product support. Eagle Wireless positions itself as the only Western module vendor purpose-built to serve both automotive and IoT customers under evolving regulatory and cybersecurity standards.
The acquisition expands Eagle Wireless’ portfolio across 4G, 5G, LPWA, and future technologies, enabling customers to standardize on a single Western partner for global deployments. Industry and government leaders highlight the company’s role in advancing U.S.-based manufacturing with global reach, while partners such as AT&T and Geotab cite improved security, reliability, and regulatory alignment as key benefits for connected vehicle and IoT solutions.
Seeing Machines: Real-Time Detection of Alcohol Impairment
Seeing Machines Limited has published Part One of its Technical Paper series on non-fatigue driver impairment, beginning with alcohol intoxication, to advance understanding and detection using in-vehicle Driver Monitoring System (DMS) technology. The research highlights that Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) alone is an insufficient measure of impairment and advocates for real-time functional assessment to better reflect real-world risk and improve road safety. The initiative includes collaboration with experts and universities and will expand in future instalments to cover other forms of impairment, including cannabis.
CoLab Joins NVIDIA Inception Program
CoLab has joined the NVIDIA Inception program, becoming part of NVIDIA’s global ecosystem of AI innovators focused on bringing artificial intelligence into the physical world. The collaboration will explore how NVIDIA technologies—spanning simulation, training environments, and synthetic data generation—can accelerate AI adoption for teams designing complex physical products such as vehicles, industrial equipment, medical devices, and energy infrastructure.
CoLab positions its platform as an “Engineering Operating System” for the AI era, emphasizing human-in-the-loop decision-making where engineers collaborate, evaluate trade-offs, and apply AI-generated insights without removing expert judgment from the process. By capturing design intent, rationale, and trade-offs through digital design reviews, CoLab aims to dramatically shorten design cycles while improving decision quality. Participation in the NVIDIA Inception program reinforces CoLab’s strategy to integrate best-in-class AI capabilities with its collaboration and decision-making layer, helping engineering teams move faster from design to validated outcomes.
FPT Joins SDVerse
FPT announced it has joined SDVerse, the global B2B marketplace for automotive software founded by General Motors, Magna, and Wipro, strengthening its role as a full-stack AI system engineering and mobility technology partner. By offering its AI-Defined Mobility (AIDM) solutions on the SDVerse platform, FPT aims to help automakers and suppliers accelerate the transition from software-defined vehicles to AI-defined mobility with globally compliant, AI-integrated design and manufacturing solutions.
FPT’s AIDM portfolio is built around four pillars: an enterprise-grade in-car and cloud data platform developed with Microsoft OneLake; agentic AI at the edge powered by Qualcomm and NVIDIA; AI-driven software development and test automation on AWS; and AI-enabled manufacturing through its virtual factory solution. Backed by a global workforce of 5,000 automotive software engineers and adherence to international automotive standards, FPT positions its SDVerse presence as a way to deliver end-to-end, scalable, and compliant AI mobility solutions worldwide.
Somerville & Lynn Cut Illegal Bus-Stop Parking With Solar-Powered ‘SafetySticks’
As the MBTA prepares to expand enforcement against cars blocking bus lanes and stops, Somerville and Lynn are already seeing strong results from a quieter approach: small, solar-powered enforcement devices known as SafetySticks. Developed by Austin-based Municipal Parking Services (MPS), the devices have led to sharp declines in illegal parking at bus stops in both cities, changing driver behavior even before regional enforcement ramps up.
In Somerville, a pilot installation at a single Elm Street bus stop revealed the scale of the problem, with violations occurring as many as seven times a day. During a 67-day pilot, 469 violations were recorded. Since expanding to 25 SafetySticks citywide, Somerville has seen steep drops in violations at monitored stops, including one location where incidents fell from 68 in June to just 14 by September.
Lynn followed roughly a year later and reported similar outcomes. After introducing SafetySticks in March, the city saw violations at bus stops drop by as much as 70% over the next four months, signaling rapid shifts in driver behavior despite a smaller deployment.
The Boston Globe has highlighted Somerville’s program as a potential model for other cities, noting that automated, highly visible enforcement can deter illegal parking without constant police presence. The early success in both communities suggests that scalable, low-maintenance technology could offer the MBTA and other municipalities a cost-effective way to improve bus reliability and safety, rather than building new enforcement systems from scratch.