3SS and Cinemo enable in-car entertainment experiences

3SS and Cinemo to Enable Superior In-Car Entertainment Experiences

STUTTGART, Germany — 3 Screen Solutions (3SS), a leading provider of software solutions for multiscreen entertainment, and Cinemo, a global leader in automotive infotainment middleware, today announce their technology collaboration which will bring advanced digital entertainment to cars.

Cinemo is a pioneer and established leader in the arena of in-vehicle infotainment and connectivity. The company is renowned for technology innovation and expertise, its automotive solutions having been adopted by numerous leading car manufacturers.

3SS is an acknowledged enabler of advanced TV entertainment user experiences (UX). Pay-TV operators around the world, with a combined reach of over 35 million homes, have deployed 3SS technology to deliver seamless experiences to subscribers across a wide array of devices and screens. Meanwhile, these service providers benefit from streamlined, real-time cross-device UX management and content curation.

3SS is sharing its vision of how in-car entertainment, powered by 3SS’ 3Ready Product Framework, could look in what Tomasz Dzikowski, Product Owner Automotive at 3SS, describes as, “the third living space”. The showcase demonstrates how car makers and service providers can differentiate by providing exceptional in-vehicle UX, featuring next-level content discovery and sharing in the car. The solution is due to have its worldwide debut at CES 2022, Las Vegas, Jan. 5-8, 2022, in a demo to feature popular children’s service TOGGO from SUPER RTL, Germany’s leading provider of kids TV programming, and multi-player games from leading provider AirConsole.

Extending Entertainment Everywhere

Mobility in vehicles no longer means passive. Car interiors are being redesigned to give more space and attention not only to the driver, but the other occupants as well. Bigger, higher-quality screens and faster connectivity are accelerating that trend.

3SS views automotive as a natural expansion of its enduring commitment to help operators deliver seamless UX across all screens. Dzikowski explains: “We know from the new paradigms of autonomous driving, electrification and today’s dynamic in-vehicle infotainment ecosystem, that soon screens in cars will be augmentations to the long-established entertainment everywhere concept.”

The benefits of the new solution for in-car entertainment are myriad: It brings the much-loved content super-aggregation experience to the car, with passengers able to access a rich array of pre-integrated third-party content and apps. Enhanced content discovery and aggregation means that everyone in the car gets personalized entertainment, from video streaming to in-car gaming. Multi-screen video synchronization and sharing are enabled: As a result, passengers can either watch or play together or independently throughout the journey. Furthermore, this diverse content offering can be efficiently enhanced and adapted in real-time via a remote management platform.

“Gradually, consumers will have more free time in the car,“ explains 3SS’ Dzikowski. “They can decide boost their productivity by catching up with the news or doing work, or they can simply enjoy the moment, relax and watch content, make video phone calls or play games.”

“Critically, next-level in-car entertainment must be seamless and integrated with the living room experience, while adding new flavor with the vehicle’s specific ecosystem and environment context. It’s an exciting new area to explore, together,” he adds.

“TOGGO has long been committed to bringing top-quality content to children, and to understanding their needs, wherever and whenever they’re watching: It’s a core value for us,” says Robert Dube, SUPER RTL’s Head of Product & Data TOGGO Digital.

“We created TOGGO to be 100% just for kids,” Dube adds. “We are excited to now explore how to bring the best kids viewing experience from mobile, web and TV directly into the rear-seats of cars,” Dube added.

3SS is widely acclaimed in its field

Multiscreen TV services and innovations enabled by 3SS, powered by trusted 3Ready User Experience, have won over 18 industry awards. These accolades span Connected TV Awards, CSI Awards, VideoTech Innovation Awards and Red Dot Design Innovation Awards, among others.

In the last three years alone, multiscreen TV projects delivered by 3SS have been acclaimed with “Best TV User Experience” awards no fewer than four times, the most recent occasion in December 2021.

Real-time in-car experience optimization and curation

The 3Ready Control Center, part of the 3Ready Product Framework, is the key to enabling the UX flexibility and management capability that bring this new in-car entertainment experience to life. The user experience can be managed and targeted dynamically, in real-time, with capability for application and content curation. The result is superior viewing enjoyment for the user and operational efficiencies for the service provider.

The Cinemo Play Anywhere solution redefines the infotainment experience in the car and puts all passengers in the media driving seat, delivering any app from the automotive play store, with synchronized visual content on multiple displays.

In July 2021, Cinemo Play Anywhere was selected for the esteemed ABC Award The World of Mobility, by the German Design Council in the Automotive Brand Contest 2021. As the leading mobility award, the ABC Awards uniquely celebrate forward thinking, future-oriented designs and ground-breaking technical development.

This technology collaboration will benefit telcos and other service providers as well as their customers: “Operators are key to providing these seamless experiences everywhere, as well as enabling the connectivity to power it,” says Pierre Donath, 3SS CPO & CMO.

“Furthermore, telcos and video service providers are eager to seize this opportunity to build even stronger, wider-reaching subscriber relationships,” he adds.

“Cinemo solutions are deployed in millions of automobiles worldwide; as such, its established APIs and technology solutions are trusted by car makers. Using Cinemo’s products and technologies, we look forward to bringing the same high-quality experience consumers enjoy on the sofa at home or on their favorite mobile devices to vehicles,” added Donath.