Apple leave Android in slow lane with innovative CarPlay
The International Motor Show in Geneva open this week with its press days. It is now open to the public until March 16 if you have a sudden urge to ring easyJet. Meanwhile, the most talked about exhibit at the show so far is, erm, Apple. Yes, the new motors are taking a backseat while after new solution to mobile connectivity on the motorway turns heads.
CarPlay, it says, takes things you want to do with your iPhone5 while driving and puts them on the dashboard. It lets the driver make calls, send and receive messages, listen to music and get directions, or under the control of a mounted display and Siri voice commands.
Apple has set out to make using the phone in the car much safer than with current hands–free solutions while leaving the phone to drive the electronics and you to drive the car.
It works by having a docking station for the mobile, which controls the alternative dashboard display, much less busy than a normal phone screen and the size of a built-in satnav. Suddenly, Apple has accelerated away and left Android playing catch up, although its in-car solution, Google Projected Mode, is reputed to be in hot pursuit.
Whether there will then be compatibility issues, such as needing to specified your phone to hire car companies before a trip abroad, remains to be seen. Car play will be appearing ready-installed in models from Ferrari, Honda, Hyundai, Jaguar, Mercedes and Volvo this year and many other manufacturers are lining up to have it in some of their cars as an option.
To find out more at www.apple.com/ios/carplay.
