Clear Channel’s Total Traffic Network and Toyota have teamed up to give drivers real-time traffic and weather updates on their dashboard.
In a three-year deal, Total Traffic Network, a subsidiary of Clear Channel Media and Entertainment, will work with Toyota in order to relay real-time updates of both traffic and weather conditions straight to a driver’s dashboard via HD radio technology.
Announced at 2013’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES), the deal means that a number of 2013 Toyota and Lexus models will have the feature as standard on their dashboard, which will show updates through both text and graphics.
The new in-dashboard services will include The Weather Channel’s Doppler weather radar, as well as real-time weather forecasts from TTN’s traffic updates. In addition, both local and national forecasts will be available for over 120 cities in the U.S., according to Toyota.
Traffic updates will be provided through maps and incident coverage reports which are updated every two minutes, as well as upcoming 15, 30 and 45-minute predictive traffic information.
Both services will be provided for free to customers. Toyota also plans to eventually expand the service coverage beyond HD radio, and make the service accessible for vehicles equipped with Entune by connection to a driver’s smartphone.
Kevin Dorsey, President of National Media Groups for Clear Channel Media and Entertainment commented:
“This new agreement with Toyota highlights our ability to leverage our distribution, programming and technology platforms to bring consumers what they want, where they want it and without annoying subscriptions. Our digital expertise helps to provide one-of-a-kind solutions for our partners and we are looking forward to joining forces with Toyota to further enhance the driving experience.”
Toyota and Clear Channel are not the only ones focusing on dashboard applications and technology in the new year. Ford has also announced an update to their cars, the Glympse app, which can be used to tell friends and family where you are via GPS technology and voice commands when on the road.
Image credit: Jonathan Kos-Read
Related:
- Ford’s Glympse tracks your location when driving
- Continental receives license to test driverless cars on public roads
- Honda’s pint-sized “Micro Commuter” unveiled
- Toyota to recall 2.7 million faulty vehicles worldwide
- Audi scraps plans to sell electric supercar
- Your next car could have invisible seats
