AT&T’s quest to attract developers (and make you hate it less) is off to a strong start in 2013.

Today at AT&T’s Developer Summit Keynote, held alongside CES in Las Vegas, the carrier announced three new platforms to show its commitment to new technologies: Digital Life, a nationwide home security and automation service; Mobile Payments; and Connected Car. To give an idea of what’s possible with smarter cars, AT&T showed a video that featured a car with a huge touchscreen and a life-like voice.

The three platforms aren’t anything new for the tech industry, but by announcing its support, AT&T is placing a very public bet on the future. And of course, it helps that all of these platforms will be intimately tied to its mobile network.

Before diving into the above platforms, AT&T chief technology officer David Christopher discussed a few of the telecom giant’s new API solutions. AT&T is working on a new advertising API that will give 80 percent of revenue to developers, as well as a Call Management API.

Digital Life will launch in eight markets in March. The home security aspect will be monitored 24/7 by call centers in Atlanta and Dallas.

“This market is completely unpenetrated,” said Glenn Lurie, the president of emerging enterprises for AT&T. He pointed out that less than 20 percent of U.S. homes had some sort of home security, even though AT&T’s own research found that many more consumers wanted it. Mostly, AT&T found that consumers wanted more features and value out of home security.

Digital Life is more than just home security for AT&T. It also provides the capability to control just about everything in your home. You can use it to set the temperature and energy consumption in your home while you’re out. It can send you a notification if you have a water leak, and it will even be able to completely shut off the water. AT&T has built apps for every mobile platform, as well as HTML 5.

“It gives you control of your home again anyplace, anytime you want it,” Lurie said.

Today, Cisco and NXP announced they are making a strategic investment in Cohda Wireless, which builds hardware to make cars smarter and more connected. The technology creates wireless communication systems between cars, as well as between cars and infrastructure, to create a safer driving environment. It allows vehicles to interact with each other so drivers receive notifications about cars traveling at high-speeds, out-of-control vehicles, or traffic congestion, and have a better chance of avoiding a collision.

“Driving is really one of the premier use cases where we will be able to experience the power of the Internet of everything,” said Andreas Mai, director of product management for Cisco’s smart connected vehicles unit. “This technology allows cars to communicate with each other and with infrastructure like traffic lights. Various test sets have proven that this could prevent 80% of crash scenarios.”

Cisco has been working on smart vehicles for a few years now and recently funded a separate business unit to work on creating more connected cars. Even though new cars often come tricked out with safety features, millions of people around the world are still injured or killed in traffic-related accidents every year. There is still a long way to go, and by creating a stronger link between vehicles and their drivers, Cohda’s technology seeks to reduce accidents by making safety systems more dynamic and responsive.

“If you are driving and another car is approaching on a side road driving too fast, the system in your vehicle is aware of the other vehicle and can generate a warning so you can take steps to avoid the accident,” said CEO of Cohda Wireless Paul Gray. “If the time is too short for the driver to react, the vehicle may preemptively break. What this means for the driving public is significant improvement in safety.”

As this is a two-way dialogue, the technology is only useful if a significant number of cars on the road have it. Cohda has partnered with 12 car manufacturers in Europe to install the technology in their vehicles in 2015 (model year 2016). The equipment is also being tested in the US, with eight car makers engaged in trials in Detroit. While it is important for multiple car makers to collaborate to make deployment a reality, each manufacturer has control over how they implement the technology.

“From a driver-experience perspective, they want additional security for their vehicle, but there are a range of industry implications as well,” Mai said. “On the business side, the connectivity of cars will transform the automotive industry. We are going to be able to connect vehicles to the Internet, which means applications in the entertainment space, location-based service space, and insurance space. The insurance industry is very keen to understand better what really happens in the event of an accident. Then there are the services you can provide. Remote diagnostics mean that abnormalities can be detected and customers told when a service is needed.”

Cisco’s expertise in software and networking and NXP’s experience with building semiconductors will help Cohda bring the technology to market. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Verizon has agreed to acquire in-car technology company Hughes Telematics for $612 million, the two companies announced Friday.

The deal will make it possible for Verizon to expand its offerings in machine-to-machine (M2M) applications and connected apps that bridge the gap between phones and cars. Verizon will pay $12.00 per share in cash for the deal, a massive premium over Hughes’ Thursday closing price of $4.35 per share.

“We expect M2M and telematics to drive significant growth for Verizon and we’re taking an important step forward to accelerate solutions that will unlock more opportunities for existing and new HTI and Verizon customers,” said John Stratton, president of Verizon Enterprise Solutions, in a statement. “In powerful combination with Verizon’s global IP network, cloud, mobility and security solutions, Hughes Telematics’ flexible service-delivery platform has the potential to reach beyond the automotive and transportation realm to create new opportunities in mHealth, asset tracking and home automation.”

Pending regulatory approval, the deal is expected to close some time in the third quarter of this year. Verizon intends to operate Hughes as a subsidiary within Verizon’s Enterprise Solutions group. It will keep on Hughes’ exiting management team.

If you’re feeling like a Friday laugh, you can watch a poorly acted video showing off Hughes Telematics’ capabilities below.

Photo credit: kaczor58/Shutterstock

CUE, which Cadillac launched at the CTIA technology conference in San Diego, shows how much impact mobile technology is making on well-established systems. While Ford clearly led in this area with its release of its voice-operated SYNC communications system in 2007, Cadillac’s system has some innovations of its own.

CUE features an 8-inch LCD touchscreen on the dashboard that you can connect to your smartphone via Bluetooth. You can browse and navigate through the CUE’s simple screens by swiping through and tapping apps, much like you would on a smartphone or tablet. There’s a little cubby hole underneath the screen for placing your smartphone.

One of CUE’s more interesting features is gesture recognition. It can recognize that your hand is near the console and once your hand is within eight inches, the number of icons on the screens increases to give you more options. There are also similar features that coordinate with hand motions, like pinch-to-zoom and sense recognition that makes the screen feel like you’re pressing a button more than pressing a screen when you select an icon.

CUE’s first appearance will be in April inside the Cadillac XTS, the luxury brand’s new large car. After that implementation, CUE will head over to other models in the Cadillac lineup.