Samsung Aims to Put Fast Cellular Connection Into Existing Cars

While Apple and Google are putting CarPlay and Android Auto in new automobiles, Samsung is making older cars the first focus of its connected car push.

The product, announced Saturday but still not finalized, is called Samsung Connect Auto, and plugs into the diagnostic port found on nearly all cars made over the last two decades and offers LTE internet access as well as the potential for services like roadside assistance or usage-based insurance.

In the U.S., Samsung is working first with AT&T, which will launch the service in the second quarter, Samsung said. The company isn’t saying how much the device or service will cost, but said it is working with partners around the globe.

The companies involved so far include Amdocs, AT&T, AXA, China Unicom, Cisco, Ericsson, Europcar, HERE, IBM, Jasper, Oberthur Technologies, Openbay, Orange and Willis Towers Watson.

The move comes ahead of a Sunday event at which the company is expected to launch its new range of Galaxy S7 flagship phones.

Verizon has debuted its own service, called Hum, that offers some of the same services, but without a high-speed Internet connection.

Samsung’s new auto product will run Tizen, the operating system that Samsung has been trying to make into a thing, despite a world that seems content to run Android. As a result, Tizen has been largely relegated to companion products, such as the Gear 2 smartwatch.

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

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