Online cab aggregator Ola on Tuesday launched Ola Play, a connected car platform that promises its riders an immersive, personalised in-car entertainment experience with music, radio, video clips, movie trailers etc., while on the go.

The platform is powered by proprietary in-car and Cloud technologies from Ola, which has partnered with mobile technology firm Qualcomm for the platform hardware, and with Apple Music, Sony LIV, AudioCompass and Fynd to offer interactive entertainment experiences to its riders.

The services will be made available on Ola Prime in Bengaluru, Mumbai and Delhi for Ola Select (loyalty membership programme) customers to start with, and will be rolled out across other cities to cover 50,000 vehicles by March 2017.

Speaking at the launch, Bhavish Aggarwal, co-founder and CEO, Ola, said: “Ola Play is the world’s first connected car platform for ride-sharing, that will completely transform the consumer’s ride experience, giving the user the power to control the interactions within the car.”

With over 60 million minutes spent by users in Ola rides every day, the impact on consumer comfort, convenience and productivity will further propel ride-sharing as the first choice of mobility for many more millions, added Aggarwal.

In-car experience

Ola Play transfers the control of the in-car experience to users from the driver console, which enables seamless interfacing with the consumers’ mobile device, once a ride begins.

Customers can enjoy the experience from their own devices or from the large-screen devices mounted in cars. The platform is built as an intelligent, context-aware system that uses customer preferences and current-ride information such as time and destination to offer personalised recommendations during the ride.

As part of its strategic partnership with Ola, Mahindra and Mahindra is integrating this technology in its vehicles, enabling both companies to build ride-sharing solutions.

Sony LIV, a premium Video-on-Demand service, is partnering with Ola to further customise popular shows, movies etc for consumers.

AudioCompass will provide curated audio tours with location-aware guided experiences and local trivia while commuting.

And Fynd allows consumers to shop online from thousands of offline stores located on the route of the commute.

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