VNC Automotive
19th December 2024
As 2024 comes to a close, we’re taking a moment to celebrate a great, collaborative year and reflect on some amazing personal and professional milestones. From exciting product launches to incredible team achievements, it’s been a remarkable journey this year.
Team achievements and community engagement
2024 was a year of growth, recognition, and meaningful contributions within and beyond the workplace that made this year special for our team and the communities we support.
Team Achievements
We were thrilled to welcome five new colleagues to the Product Engineering, Sales Engineering, Senior Management, and Marketing teams. It’s always exciting to see fresh talent join our ranks. Two of our colleagues, Chunyan White and Tom Sharman, have marked 10 years with VNC Automotive bringing amazing dedication and contributions over these years. In addition, three team members earned well-deserved promotions.
Of course, it wouldn’t be VNC Automotive without some fun along the way. We had numerous social activities: from coffee, cake and a stroll around the Country Park, to a Squid Games and Putt & Shuffle team-building events — our team likes to dive headfirst into a challenge.
“We have been lucky to have five new employees join us throughout 2024. Francesco, Chris, Dean, Ali and Anastasiia have all settled into their roles and the wider team amazingly. We’ve also had two of our employees hit their 10-year anniversaries. Tom Sharman and Chunyan White, a huge thank you both for your continuing hard work.” — Samantha Gammage, HR & Talent Manager
Community Engagement
In 2024, our team participated in the Cambridge Dragon Boat Festival and raised almost £600 for the Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. More than that, our Head of Marketing, Julia, completed a Marathon Mighty Hike, fundraising for Macmillan Cancer Support. Some of the colleagues used their ‘giving back a day’ to support local schools and cook meals for Jimmy’s Shelter for the Homeless in Cambridge.
Collaborations and customers’ wins
2024 was a busy and rewarding year for our customer partnerships. We’re proud to celebrate both new collaborations and long-term relationships, while continuing to work on exciting projects that we look forward to announcing in 2025.
North Wales Police
This year, we had the privilege of working with North Wales Police. Our engineering team has successfully rolled out the Cobalt Cube® across their fleet of Audis and enabled the ANPR system to be displayed on, and controlled from, the OEM dashboard screen.
“This year we were delighted to have worked with the fantastic team at North Wales Police to address challenges with their ANPR system. By integrating the display and controls into the OEM dashboard, Cobalt Cube freed up cabin space, improved officer safety, comfort, and retained vehicle resale value. The positive feedback from officers has been incredibly rewarding.” — Umair Siddiqui, Business Development Executive.
Enovation Controls Partnership
We began a strategic partnership with Enovation Controls, by incorporating our trusted CarPlay® SDK into their vehicle head units. This collaboration marked a milestone in the motorcycle industry and made Enovation Controls the third motorcycle company worldwide to feature CarPlay compatibility. Riders now enjoy seamless access to essential information, multimedia content, and applications on move.
Celebrating 10 Years with Changxing
This year, we marked a decade of partnership with Changxing, a key milestone in our collaboration. Together, we integrated our MirrorLink Server SDK into their T-Box and head units, creating a versatile infotainment system. This solution enabled carmakers across Asia to deliver localised apps tailored to different regions, all without altering the main system.
Trade shows
In 2024, the VNC Automotive team attended eight memorable events across the UK, US and Germany. We connected with partners and customers in the consumer technology, law enforcement and first-response industries and showcased our SKDs and the Cobalt Cube in a very new branded demo car.
IACP 2024 In Boston, US:
“IACP 2024 in Boston was a great event! We met existing partners and some new contacts. GM showcased Cobalt Cube® in their Chevy Tahoe, drawing visitors to our booth to test our custom-made demo pod. We also demonstrated the kit in Ford vehicles, generating great interest from law enforcement. I was very pleased that our plug-and-play claims worked brilliantly first time!” — Rose Dunne, Technical Account Manager.
PFE in Fort Worth, Texas:
“Our experience at PFE was fantastic; it was the busiest show we’ve attended so far! We made a strong presence, met some partners and connected with many police fleet managers who oversee up to 4,000 vehicles. We also had some fun apart from exhibiting: Archie conquered all 5 levels of the rodeo, and Dean hit a bullseye in pistol shooting.” — Chunyan White, Technical Account Manager.
Product milestones
This year, we focused on enhancing our existing products, introducing innovative updates that deliver against the evolving needs of our customers.
Cobalt Cube® with Camera Feeds app
In September, the Product Engineering team launched the Camera Feeds app with Cobalt Cube v2.4.3. This update allows HDMI or USB cameras to connect directly to Cobalt Cube, display real-time content on in-vehicle screens and manage touch control from displays.
“This feature supports innovations like body-worn cameras, thermal imaging, and vehicle-mounted traffic cameras to increase officer safety and efficiency. The Cobalt Cube as an offering continues to be a more cost-effective, ergonomic and safer way to include new technology in service vehicles.” — Peter Galek, Product Engineering Director.
Cross-platform support of smartphone mirroring systems
In November, we upgraded our cross-platform support for Apple CarPlay and Android Auto to the latest specifications to provide Auto-OEMs and tier 1 suppliers with best-in-class integration and certification support. Our SDKs enable efficient, low-cost, and high-quality integration of CarPlay and Android Auto into new vehicles, with compatibility across Android, Automotive-Grade Linux, QNX, and other Linux-based platforms.
Cobalt Link+ Viewer SDK
The VNC Automotive SDK team also delivered an important update to the Cobalt Link+ Viewer solution, expanding support for Bluetooth remote control (HID). This SDK enables embedded devices with screens to mirror key apps and features from users’ smartphones. The new update is fully compatible with the latest Android and iOS devices, including the Apple iPhone 16, Google Pixel models, larger tablets, and foldable devices.
Looking back at 2024 fills us with pride, but we’re even more excited about what lies ahead. With innovative products, exciting collaborations, and the dedication of our team, 2025 promises to be just as good. Thank you to everyone who made this year a success!