Siri, won’t you drive my car?
On Monday, Apple officially
announced CarPlay, integrating many of the applications you can find on
its iPhone directly into the inboard display in automobiles for easier
use. Cars that are preloaded with CarPlay will let drivers access
turn-by-turn directions on Apple Maps, as well as their iPhones’
messages, music (including streaming apps like Spotify and Pandora) and
telephone, without having to take out the phone itself.
The system will work with the iPhone 5, iPhone 5c and iPhone 5s.
Drivers will apparently connect
their iPhones via a cable into the car’s infotainment system. That cable
will both charge your iPhone and hook up your phone to be used with
CarPlay. You can use CarPlay either with the car’s touchscreen or via
Siri voice control; CarPlay cars will also ship with a button on the
steering wheel that will activate Siri. A CarPlay app for iPhone will
soon be available via an update to iOS 7, though the app will be useless
if you don’t own a car with CarPlay. (And you thought your Candy Crush
habit was an expensive in-app purchase.)
CarPlay is debuting at this
week’s Geneva Motor Show, in models from Ferrari, Volvo and
Mercedes-Benz. Apple said in a press release that CarPlay will later be
available in cars from (deep breath) BMW, Ford, General Motors, Honda,
Hyundai, Jaguar Land Rover, Kia, Mitsubishi, Nissan, PSA Peugeot
Citroën, Subaru, Suzuki and Toyota.
Volvo teased the new technology in a YouTube video released Monday morning.
Apple had shown off an early
version of CarPlay — then dubbed “iOS in the Car” — at its Worldwide
Developers Conference last year. Though other cars have been able to
hook up to smartphones and play multimedia through the car’s
infotainment system, CarPlay represents the first solution made by
Apple.
Source: https://www.yahoo.com/tech/
