AT&T and Audiovox Further the Realization of the Connected Car

AT&T* today announced an agreement with Audiovox Electronics Corp, a wholly owned subsidiary of VOXX International (NASDAQ :VOXX) to provide network connectivity to an Audiovox telematics and location-based service system designed to help consumers monitor, manage and maintain vehicle health and safety. According to Audiovox, the addressable market for this system is approximately 165 million cars.

The system is a do-it-yourself plug-in On-Board Diagnostic (OBDII) device that will work on all post 1996 model year vehicles.  The system allows cell phone restriction while driving, vehicle tracking and even has a ‘lot spot’ feature that helps you find your car with Google maps for those times when you forget where you parked it at the mall.  Maintenance alerts and reminders are sent directly to you, and the driver scoring feature lets you coach young drivers and monitor fuel consumption to conserve gas and save money.

The system is also the gateway to additional security and convenience features such as vehicle lock/unlock for remote access and remote start all managed through a smartphone app.  For these upgrade features, a consumer would be required to purchase additional security and/or remote start modules and have them professionally installed.

The OBDII device will use an embedded HSPA wireless modem to send telematics and location data that can be accessed through a smartphone, tablet or desktop computer.

Audiovox plans to market its telematics solution through its nationwide distribution network, which is one of the most extensive in the industry.

“Audiovox is on the leading edge of a wave of connected products that deliver advanced services to cars that would not otherwise be connected.” said Chris Penrose, senior vice president, Emerging Devices, AT&T Mobility. “Combining the power of the AT&T network with Audiovox’s telematics solution unlocks amazing sets of capabilities for our customers.”

“I am pleased to add AT&T as a service provider for our OBDII device,” said Tom Malone, president of Audiovox Electronics Corporation. “AT&T has a solid track record of supporting new and innovative connected devices to the marketplace, and we are very excited about this relationship as it will allow us to continue connecting vehicles and their drivers; providing advanced technology to monitor the vehicle’s health.”

AT&T is a telematics leader, offering mobile Internet access in vehicles manufactured by both domestic and foreign automobile makers. AT&T provides outstanding connected and M2M device support and professional services to many of the world’s largest device manufacturers and global exporters of wireless-enabled equipment.

AT&T has certified and supports over 1,500 varieties of connected devices, such as tablets, eReaders, tracking devices and mobile personal emergency response (mPERS) systems.  AT&T’s labs have a dedicated team of engineers focused on bringing new devices to market, global roaming and integrated SIM provisioning, billing and reporting tools.

For the complete array of AT&T offerings, visit www.att.com.