HERE Technologies – the location data company owned by Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Intel, among others – showcased a touchscreen device for two-wheelers, in partnership with Pioneer that provides in-car audio and video solutions.
“While touchscreens have been popular in cars for years and make driving safer as your phone can be mirrored to the car, thus reducing its usage while driving, there aren’t many similar touchscreen devices for two-wheelers – and using a phone while riding can be dangerous,” Abhijit Sengupta, senior director & head of Business for India & Southeast Asia at HERE Technologies, told FE. “We have tied up with Pioneer to co-develop connected devices and services for the two-wheeler market.”
These devices are called Smart Display and Ride Recorder. While the Smart Display can be installed on a two-wheeler and provides crash detection and emergency call, navigation, speed limit alerts, speed camera warnings, traffic updates and weather insights, the Ride Recorder is an AI-powered dashcam for two-wheelers which video records everything around the two-wheeler on which it is installed.
Manish Bhasin, vice-president & head of Product and R&D, Pioneer India Electronics, added that these devices will be introduced in the market by the end of 2025, and Pioneer is targeting a price point lower than Rs 10,000 to make these devices accessible to the masses.
Sengupta added that HERE Technologies is also taking to various OEMs so that these devices can be factory-fitted on two-wheelers. “In India, almost 20 million two-wheelers are sold every year, so it’s a big opportunity for us.”
