Apple announces CarPlay

[Kaido]

http://www.engadget.com/2014/03/03/apple-announces-carplay-voice-and-touch-access-offers-access-to/

Apple has officially announced CarPlay, its new in-car interface that'll be compatible with new Ferrari, Mercedes and Volvo cars unveiled at the Geneva Auto Show this week. Designed "from the ground up" to bridge the gap between your iPhone and your auto, it will offer touch and Siri-based voice navigation of your smartphone services, including contacts, voicemail, notifications, map directions and music cueing -- it will even support third-party apps like Spotify and iHeartRadio from launch. Voice controls will be activated by a button on the steering wheel, while the in-car touchscreen is populated with those familiar iOS 7 icons for easy access. The service will launch as an iOS update for Lightning-enabled iPhones (that's iPhone 5 and up), with CarPlay-compatible vehicles launching later this year. And if any of the above aren't your preferred automaker, Apple says that you can expect compatible cars from BMW, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Toyota and several more in the near future.

Update: At first CarPlay will only allow you to connect through a Lightning cable, but WiFi should be coming in the near future -- at least from Volvo. And, in case you're wondering, the CarPlay connection is based on the H.264 video protocol, and sends user input from the touchscreen back to your iDevice. There's also a video demo/teaser that we've added after the break.

 

[ViRGE]

I think the lack of any responses to this thread succinctly summarizes the lack of enthusiasm about CarPlay.

 

[RampantAndroid]

I think the lack of any responses to this thread succinctly summarizes the lack of enthusiasm about CarPlay.

Dunno, sounds neat but it's only in brand new cars so it'll take forever for there to be serious uptake. Also, Volvo. Blech.

 

[Kaido]

Dunno, sounds neat but it's only in brand new cars so it'll take forever for there to be serious uptake. Also, Volvo. Blech.

I had an older Volvo S80 for about a year, it was the bomb! Definitely changed my mind about the brand. Lots of power, nice heavy weight, amazing interior. Their new shooting brake & other models look pretty nice too!

 

[JackBurton]

When I buy my next car, I'd like it to have CarPlay. Definitely a step in the right direction.

 

[captainslow]

Meh. I'll stick with my 3.5mm for now. And a map. You find more interesting things with a map because you can't read it

 

[Printer Bandit]

CarPlay, Coldplay.

 

[santz]

thankyou OP, much appreciated. i too would like to own my next car with carplay, but as some one already mentioned, this tech may take some time before it is installed in cars. so we are looking atleast a couple of years before we see this in cars other cars.

That being said, kudos to volvo for trying to better their infotainment system

 

[Rakehellion]

The main thing I hate about Siri is that there isn't a dedicated button for it. Maybe they'll change that in a future iPhone.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Great, now my car will be incompatible with Android and need to be upgraded every 2 years.

 

[TheStu]

The main thing I hate about Siri is that there isn't a dedicated button for it. Maybe they'll change that in a future iPhone.

Pressing and holding the home button isn't dedicated enough for you?

Great, now my car will be incompatible with Android and need to be upgraded every 2 years.

Apparently CarPlay is an overlay on their existing infotainment... or perhaps alongside is a better way of putting it.

 

[slugg]

CarPlay isn't even powered by Apple software. They contracted QNX. So maybe it won't suck?

 

[Red Storm]

Pressing and holding the home button isn't dedicated enough for you?

For something like Siri to really be useful, it needs to be able to be voice activated, like how the Moto X works. When I most want to dictate commands to my phone is when my hands are occupied with other things such as driving. Having to press a button defeats the purpose.

 

[TuxDave]

For something like Siri to really be useful, it needs to be able to be voice activated, like how the Moto X works. When I most want to dictate commands to my phone is when my hands are occupied with other things such as driving. Having to press a button defeats the purpose.

I would still prefer button activated. If I was in a car, a button on the steering wheel would suffice.

 

[Tegeril]

CarPlay isn't even powered by Apple software. They contracted QNX. So maybe it won't suck?

That's a *bit* of a reach given the public statements that have been made.

What we actually know is that QNX is running on these cars. Apple and QNX have some means of getting the CarPlay interface onto the car. Whether it's a QNX app, a QNX app that just receives a UI from Apple and transmits touch data back and forth, we don't know.

 

[RampantAndroid]

I have had two QNX based cars (TSX and A4) and BOTH have had SERIOUS issues requiring reboots. Sync has been so much better in my experience, and I regret getting another card with QNX in it.

 

[Rakehellion]

Pressing and holding the home button isn't dedicated enough for you?

That's exactly the opposite of what "dedicated" means. It just delays my input by another second so I might as well use the keyboard.

 

[RampantAndroid]

That's exactly the opposite of what "dedicated" means. It just delays my input by another second so I might as well use the keyboard.

Uhhh....when driving, you can't use the keyboard. Or, if you do, I hope you get a pretty massive ticket instead of running some poor person over.

 

[Rakehellion]

Uhhh....when driving, you can't use the keyboard. Or, if you do, I hope you get a pretty massive ticket instead of running some poor person over.

So it's only useful when blind.

 

[TheStu]

So it's only useful when blind.

No, the blind can use the keyboard actually.

But the point is that, if holding the home button for a second is a MASSIVE inconvenience that can only be solved by putting another button onto the phone then... I don't know man, I think you might have larger problems.

Also, yea, you probably shouldn't use the keyboard while driving.

 

[Tyranicus]

I have had two QNX based cars (TSX and A4) and BOTH have had SERIOUS issues requiring reboots. Sync has been so much better in my experience, and I regret getting another card with QNX in it.

It's interesting that you have had such a good experience with Sync. A friend of mine has had nothing but problems with it and has had to reboot to get it working before.

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

Dunno, sounds neat but it's only in brand new cars so it'll take forever for there to be serious uptake. Also, Volvo. Blech.

It does things that QNX already does, but using closed standards and with a poorer interface. And it's not even wireless.

They should have done this using MIRACAST which is an open protocol. I think there are also some protocols for touch interfaces now.

And so people know, this is an interface to your iPhone. So if you have no iPhone, Carplay does nothing for you. But if the car comes with it, you can be damned sure that you just paid for it.

 

[Emulex]

my old 2011 bmw would use bluetooth to activate siri, and it worked quite fine.

Using a touch-screen whilst driving sounds like a really bad idea!

 

[RampantAndroid]

It does things that QNX already does, but using closed standards and with a poorer interface. And it's not even wireless.

They should have done this using MIRACAST which is an open protocol. I think there are also some protocols for touch interfaces now.

And so people know, this is an interface to your iPhone. So if you have no iPhone, Carplay does nothing for you. But if the car comes with it, you can be damned sure that you just paid for it.

You mean Miracast, that was implemented after Airplay? I cannot blame apple for wanting something specific. As for it being iOS specific, that's not that surprising. And it makes sense for Apple to do that. Apple has no incentive to further adoption of Windows Phone or Android. They have every incentive to have value add with iOS devices.

What I REALLY want is my whole infotainment system to be a dumb system that requires my phone to do the heavy lifting. Have my phone hook in to the car to get access to the larger GPS antenna and compass (and speed the car is at/angle the wheels are at to calculate where you are when you have no GPS fix) and display things on the screen. Let the phone calculate the route and such. Free updates for maps, infotainment system upgrades happen without a new car (that is to say, they happen when my phone is updated, or I get a new phone.)

my old 2011 bmw would use bluetooth to activate siri, and it worked quite fine.

Using a touch-screen whilst driving sounds like a really bad idea!

I've always said this. It's why Ford's MyTouch system was one of the reasons I skipped buying AWD Fusion. I'm a fan of a spin-ey wheel and touch buttons. Which both my Acura TSX and Audi A4 have plenty of. Touch screens do not belong in cars UNTIL the touch screen can raise/lower sections to simulate buttons.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JvYM-VVQ4w

 

[Zaap]

People haven't used Sync recently if they mount the "touch screen while driving" argument.

The touch screen in my C-Max simply doesn't function if the car is in motion. And you don't need to use it anyway. First off, everything has the same physical buttons as you'd have anyway, but better still voice commands handle most everything and work extremely well. Frankly, I find it the only setup worthy of being modern 2014 technology. Car systems are mostly still stuck in 1994 or something. It's pretty pathetic. The system in a friend's new BMW made me laugh the other day... I thought I was back in the 90's. Really? This much for a car and the electronics still suck this hard?

I've long said it; Apple should get into this businesses because clearly SOMEONE needs to set a decent standard other than Microsoft. If there's anyone that could whip everyone in line and bring car tech forward to where it should already be, it's Apple.

Looks like possibly they agree.