TuneIn and XPENG Join Forces to Reimagine In-Car Streaming Audio in Electric Vehicles

TuneIn, the leading radio station and live-streaming audio service, announced a new partnership with XPENG, a Chinese smart electric vehicle company. The TuneIn app will be integrated into XPENG’s lineup of electric vehicles including its flagship sedan and SUV models. This new partnership with XPENG vehicles provides access to live sports, 24-hour newscasts, continuous music and podcasts from around the world through a seamless infotainment system integration.

Apple and Mercedes Benz announced that Apple Music’s Spatial Audio content with support for Dolby Atmos is now available as a native experience in Mercedes Benz vehicles for the first time. Apple Music with Spatial Audio comes fully integrated through the brand's MBUX infotainment system in the Mercedes Maybach S Class, the EQS and EQS SUV, as well as the EQE, EQE SUV and the S Class. These vehicles are all equipped with studio-quality sound, giving drivers a fully immersive listening experience.

In a effort to expand its reach in the lucrative automotive sector, Swedish streaming audio company Spotify has launched its very first hardware product. With free and widely available radio stations still dominating the space, car audio remains the last frontier to be conquered by streaming services. Spotify seems determined to cover that market, even if it requires launching a proof-of-concept product. Spotify Car Thing is basically a dedicated Spotify player with voice controls for Premium subscribers, cutting the ties to the smartphone.

McIntosh Laboratory announced that its latest McIntosh Entertainment Systems — the MX1375 Reference Entertainment System, employing 23 specifically tuned speakers, and the MX950 Entertainment System, are going to hit the road in the upcoming 2022 Jeep Wagoneer and Jeep Grand Wagoneer. Both vehicles will be available in mid-2021. The two iconic American brands have been collaborating to develop an exclusive sound system combining imagination and expert engineering in equal parts.

Mentor Graphics Corporation announced the Mentor Automotive A2B Analyzer, the industry's first third-party development platform supporting the Automotive Audio Bus (A2B) technology developed by Analog Devices. Introduced in 2014, A2B digital audio bus technology enables distributing audio and control data together with clock and power over a single, unshielded twisted-pair wire.