HARMAN International, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. focused on connected technologies and solutions for automotive, consumer and enterprise markets, announced today that the ARD Audiothek app will be available in the HARMAN Ignite Store, a leading connected vehicle platform that enables automakers to develop, manage, and operate their own in-vehicle app store. Starting in Germany, the collaboration between HARMAN and ARD will enable automotive manufacturers to offer the ARD Audiothek app easily and securely in their vehicles moving forward, offering millions of drivers the opportunity to experience ARD audio content in their cars.

ARD Audiothek: more music and more news for audio fans. Fans and discoverers of audio offerings can look forward to the extensive content ARD Audiothek offers, including podcasts, audio books, documentaries, reports, and the live radio streams of the public broadcasters. Background information on recent topics from politics, science and society, as well as live and exclusive ARD content are available. Users of the app will be able to easily access their favorite podcasts through their personal playlists when entering the car.

The HARMAN Ignite Store brings users their favorite content in-vehicle, making the vehicle a seamless extension of consumers' digital lifestyle. It optimizes the driving experience by providing access to a rich ecosystem of cloud-based applications and services. This means that automotive manufacturers, dealers and service providers can easily import and manage new cloud applications and services into a vehicle's infotainment system and thus serve the comfort, information and entertainment needs of customers all over the world. HARMAN Ignite Store includes an ever-growing range of media content, point-of-interest solutions, and messaging applications.

Albert Jordan, VP of HARMAN Ignite Store at HARMAN International, comments: “Since the launch of HARMAN Ignite Store, our goal has been to provide automotive manufacturers, drivers and passengers with the richest possible range of content and to continually expand it. It is becoming increasingly important to provide comprehensive entertainment and information options in the car. We are therefore pleased to be able to enrich our platform in collaboration with ARD, who supplements our offering with high-quality audio content and is well-known in Germany."

Alexander Sasse, Head of ARD Partner Management Audio and Voice, adds: “The goal of ARD Audiothek is to be available on all major platforms where people want to listen to ARD's radio programs and audio-on-demand content. In-car media use is of great importance to ARD – we want to continue to help shape in-vehicle entertainment and offer people real added value with our content while driving. Through collaborations, we ensure we achieve this goal and are therefore very pleased with the successful cooperation with HARMAN.”

You can find more information about the HARMAN Ignite Store here, and about the ARD Audiothek here.