Both Apple and Google are looking to turn cars into iPhone and Android accessories, and they even have partners among automakers to help them, as proved at the Geneva Motor Show.
The 2014 edition of the Geneva Motor Show opened today, and automakers weren’t shy to reveal their new rides and the technological upgrades that came with them. Among the most important announcements made today was the implementation of Apple CarPlay (previously known as iOS in the Car) by three important car makers: Volvo, Ferrari and Mercedes Benz. Mind you, this doesn’t mean that people will have to wait for months to get a vehicle featuring Apple’s in-car entertainment system. On the contrary, all three automakers announced that CarPlay-enabled vehicles will start shipping this week.
Of course, Apple won’t settle for only three companies, as this tech company wouldn’t mind at all taking over the entire auto world. Some of the other automakers that will soon ship vehicles with CarPlay include Honda, Hyundai and Jaguar in the short term, and MW, Chevrolet, Ford, Kia, Land Rover, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Open, Peugeot-Citroën, Subaru, Suzuki and Toyota in the long term. A short glimpse reveals that Fiat’s Chrysler and companies from the VW Group are missing from the enumeration, possibly suggesting that these automakers might turn to Google for an in-car entertainment solution.
Apple CarPlay will make use of iOS devices to deliver content on a display and in your car’s speakers. Vehicles that feature such smartphone integration systems from the moment they exit the factory’s gates simplify things a lot, as they make third-party solutions unnecessary.
As far as automakers are concerned, Mercedes Benz likes to play on both sides. A recent job advert suggests that Daimler, the owner of Mercedes Benz, is looking for a software engineer to implement Google Projected Mode, the search giant’s own version of an in-car entertainment system. As the name suggests, this system will mirror Android devices, while featuring itself a simplified version of Google’s mobile OS. Knowing this tech company, it probably has something more otherworldly for us than what the name lets us assume.
It’s anyone’s guess that Google Projected Mode and Apple CarPlay won’t be available by default on any car (with the exception of Ferrari, maybe), and will only come as a (very expensive) extra, but if you can afford buying a luxury car, the price of an in-car entertainment system will surely seem insignificant.
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