Faced With Endless Telematics Updates, Automakers Have Their Aha Moment Though Web-connected infotainment systems have become important selling points for automakers, endlessly vetting and serving apps to those systems after making the sale may not be how companies want to use their resources. Outside firms have stepped into the void, acting as middlemen between content providers and a car's telematics system. Last week at the New York auto show, Acura announced that its 2013 RLX would use software from Aha, a content packager for mobile platforms, on a new in-dash system. Drivers will find Aha on the system's display, alongside regular radio and navigation options. Essentially, Aha uses a smartphone's Bluetooth connection to funnel content, like hundreds of streaming Internet radio stations, to the vehicle's in-dash system for playback over the car's stereo. The company also bundles other content for access on the dash, including audio books, news feeds from NPR and CNN, and even Facebook posts that are read aloud by a Siri-like automated voice. For drivers, the primary benefit is that the online connection is enabled not by a piece of easily lost hardware, but by the driver's smartphone. No additional fees are required, unless you exceed your carrier's monthly data allotment. Aha aggregates all the feeds under a single app, which can be updated at any time by Aha over online servers and fed directly to the driver's smartphone, for broadcast over the car stereo. This effectively removes an automaker from the content-curation business. Other companies are pushing this approach, including Livio Radio. Until recently, Livio has focused on aftermarket add-on devices for broadcasting Internet radio stations in cars, but the company also intends to work with car companies to load its software on their telematics hardware. Even navigation companies are inching toward similar connected solutions. Telenav has a new app called Scout for Cars, which uses its smartphone navigation program to beam navigation information into an in-dash system, along with local information, weather, traffic and points of interest. The first vehicles to feature Scout will come from Ford later this year. Aha is owned by Harman International Industries, which makes telematics hardware for the car industry. Aha, however, was created to run on a variety of in-car head units from different manufacturers. It already runs on two Pioneer car systems, for example. Because the technology is enabled by a smartphone, a driver could conceivably carry listening preferences from one car to another - provided the next vehicle had an in-dash system compatible with Aha, according to Robert Acker, the company's general manager. A Honda owner would be able to take preset stations, favorites and Facebook settings directly into a Subaru or Acura vehicle. "The idea is that my content goes with me wherever I am, as long as you are logged in to Aha," Mr. Acker said.