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Radio streaming services provider Securenet Systems announced it has integrated Livio Connect's "smartphone-to-dashboard" solution into its mobile streaming app platform. Securenet Systems provides third-party apps for Internet radio, with more than two-thousand listener apps on the Android and iOS platforms.

Senior Managing Director for Securenet Systems Kerry Brewer said, "With Livio, we simply add the Livio Connect API to an app, upload the code library, and once enabled, any one of our apps will now work with car dashboard buttons or listener device commands."

Read more on Livio Connect in RAIN here. Securenet's press release is here.

Following this year's Consumer Electronics Show (see our January 8 issue "A flurry of new deals from CES will make Net radio more accessible in the car" here), the hottest topic in Internet radio is the connected automobile. Webcasting is about to cross an incredibly important chasm of connectivity, and establish itself as a major source of consumer audio with the aim of becoming as ubiquitous and easy-to-use as AM/FM in the car. Three of the professionals leading the way will join us for our "Dashboard Discussions" panel at RAIN Summit West in Las Vegas in April.

What should your strategy be for optimizing the automotive opportunity? Here are the experts who will steer you in the right direction:

Hakan Kostepen (pictured right) is Director of Product Planning, Strategy & Innovation at Panasonic Automotive Systems Company of America. He's part of the leadership behind the company's in-car integration and development of all Panasonic Company technologies and products to optimize the "in-car user experience."

Roger Lanctot (left) is Associate Director in the Global Automotive Practice with tech-focused research and consulting firm Strategy Analytics.

Roger has 25 years experience in the technology industry as an analyst, journalist, and consultant. Roger has conducted and participated in major industry studies, created new research products and services, and advised clients on strategy and competitive issues throughout his career. His experience also includes five years at Telematics Research Group.

Like Roger, Carl Rohling (bottom right) is a RAIN Summit veteran. He's VP/Sales & Business Development with TuneIn Radio.

TuneIn software is integrated into the MINI Connected system, making it the first car to enable drivers to tune to Internet radio via the car's dashboard and steering wheel controls. TuneIn also works with the Dension Internet Radio Stick and Livio's USB/Bluetooth system for in-car connectivity.

Carl's background is in legal and business, with managerial experience in digital media and consumer electronics. He's led business development at digital audio software firms Passalong and Creative.

RAIN Summit West is Sunday, April 7 in Las Vegas. The annual full-day Internet radio conference is a co-located education program of the NAB Show. Now in its 12th year, the Summit focuses on the intersection of radio and the Internet. Keynoting the even will be RAB president and CEO Erica Farber (more in RAIN here) and Rhapsody International president Jon Irwin (more here). Register today (then you can get a jump-start on your travel plans!) via the RAIN Summit West page.

The ReadWriteWeb blog counts podcast aggregator Stitcher, plus Pandora, Clear Channel, Spotify, and NPR "five companies that will define the future of radio."

It's through efforts like partnerships with automakers, battling for royalty reform, a third party app platform (Spotify), cross-platform availability, and APIs for other products that ReadWrite says will prove to be part of the formula for these companies' success.

"Under-the radar" upstarts like Shuffler.fm, the Hype Machine, SoundCloud, and The Echo Nest get "honorable mention" nods.

Read the blog here.

Ford and Microsoft are celebrating 5 years of the Ford Sync in-car connectivity platform, and its installation on 5 million vehicles. SYNC was first announced on Jan. 7, 2007 at the International CES. It was one of the very first of this technology that's now offered by nearly every car manufacturer.

But as the Verge writes, "A tepid response from drivers could be why it's taken Ford five years to install Sync in five million vehicles, but the fact that the system doesn't come as a standard option in the manufacturer's full range — Ford claims that Sync is installed of 70% of its cars 'in general' — no doubt contributed to that sluggish growth."

Ford Sync enables in-car connectivity to content sources like iHeartRadio, TuneIn, Pandora, and Stitcher (among very many others).

Read the press release here, and the Verge here.

Livio Radio founder and CEO Jake Sigal was named Entrepreneur of the Year at the 12th annual Automation Alley Awards Gala in Troy, MI. Automation Alley is a technology business association for tech professionals and engineers in southeast Michigan.

Livio creates mobile apps, a Bluetooth device, and manages Livio Connect, its "APIs" that work with car companies and app developers -- all designed to connect the mobile phone experience to the car dashboard.

General Motors announced in September its plan to work with Livio for in-dash radio functionality for the 2013 Chevrolet Spark equipped with MyLink Radio (here).

Read more in Crain's Detroit Business here. 

General Motors today announced it will work with both Livio and TuneIn for in-dash Internet radio functionality for 2013 Chevrolet Sparks equipped with MyLink Radio.

Livio's "Livio Connect" technology, used here in the company's first OEM integration with GM, will connect the TuneIn music smartphone app with the MyLink Radio. Livio Connect is a middleware framework protocol that enables hardware devices and mobile apps to connect to and interact with one another.

A press release says all of the TuneIn buttons and controls from the mobile device will be available on MyLink’s seven-inch touch screen, while the app on the phone itself will be disabled to help promote safer driving.