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Apple Launches CarPlay At Geneva Show

Posted by samzenpus on from the drive-differently dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Apple announced today a system called CarPlay, which integrates your iPhone with your car, with Siri voice control. CarPlay will be offered in Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo vehicles this year, and others 'down the road.' From the press release: 'CarPlay makes driving directions more intuitive by working with Maps to anticipate destinations based on recent trips via contacts, emails or texts, and provides routing instructions, traffic conditions and ETA. You can also simply ask Siri and receive spoken turn-by-turn directions, along with Maps, which will appear on your car’s built-in display.'

8 of 264 comments (clear)

  1. Innovation? by AmiMoJo · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Apple seems to have invented what a lot of people have been using for years - a head unit with MirrorLink capability. How come it is suddenly wonderful?

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    1. Re:Innovation? by Black.Shuck · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Innovation != Invention

      innovate |nvet|
      verb [ no obj. ]
      make changes in something established, especially by introducing new methods, ideas, or products: the company's failure to diversify and innovate competitively.
        [ with obj. ] introduce (something new, especially a product). we continue to innovate new products.

      So yes, Apple innovates. They innovate on the execution of ideas, rather than invent new ones.

    2. Re:Innovation? by UnknowingFool · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Fancy new package to you has at times meant UI that consumers will accept to others. Take for example the first MP3 players. You could only get high capacity and bulky or portable but low capacity when the iPod came out. The interfaces sucked and getting music onto them was a pain in the ass. What Apple did with the iPod, anyone could have done; they just didn't. But as a geek, you may not care about ease of use as a feature. Consumers care.

      --
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    3. Re:Innovation? by maccodemonkey · · Score: 4, Informative

      Apple seems to have invented what a lot of people have been using for years - a head unit with MirrorLink capability. How come it is suddenly wonderful?

      Eh, there's an argument for functionality, but on a technical level, it's actually pretty cool. It's actually a second screen capability, not a mirroring capability. Apps using the API get to use the car display as a discreet second display, rendering whatever content they want dedicated to that display.

    4. Re:Innovation? by CohibaVancouver · · Score: 5, Informative

      Please describe how it is a pain in the ass

      In a Windows context, pre-iPod MP3 players mounted as a drive letter and simply allowed you to drag over a file structure and related files, which were mirrored on the player.

      iTunes required you to recreate this structure, renamed and, in some cases, moved all your files - And don't get me started on iTunes inability to list files based on filename. If you didn't have the 'title' tagged correctly in the MP3 file you were S.O.L.

  2. It's not either/or by sjbe · · Score: 4, Informative

    The 3 auto makers offering it first are all high-end luxury brands.

    Volvo cars aren't exactly priced in the stratosphere. Even their expensive offerings are still FAR cheaper than those from Mercedes and Ferrari. Volvo makes nice cars but they are mostly at the lower end of the luxury segment if you consider them a luxury vehicle at all.

    Personally, if I had they money to be driving around a Ferrari, I would already have a really nice custom stereo system in it, which would surely have a dedicated GPS system in it.

    A reasonable thing to do but why not have the option of layering on Siri or similar Android services in addition? I'd rather have the consumer electronics stuff handled by a consumer electronics company whenever possible. I have a GPS in my truck but it is woefully out of date, expensive and the graphics pretty much suck. Car companies are REALLY bad at updating firmware and they don't do enough product volume to get costs down to reasonable levels. When possible it makes a lot more sense to use something like a smartphone to handle many of these tasks.

    (Again, the wealthy have the means to pay for "concierge" services by phone where they can make requests of a live operator who answers. Why settle for an automated system like Siri?)

    Just because you have a bit more cash doesn't mean you want to spend it needlessly. Concierge services are expensive and most people who can afford a nice luxury vehicle didn't get their money by being frivolous with their cash. It's not an either/or proposition either. Personally I'd be more likely to use Siri (even with its deficiencies) than some high priced live service even if I had the money just because it would probably be an occasional use thing with me.

  3. Re:Here are 2 reasons this is crap by ColdWetDog · · Score: 5, Insightful

    First off all, most of the people who hate Apple are right here on your favorite website. Not exactly Ferrari / Volvo / Mercedes big customers.

    Second of all, lots of people like (or at least tolerate) the Apple brand. Makes more sense than Ford attaching themselves to Microsoft.....

    I think it's a dumb idea (and I have a lot of Apple hardware and software). I like my cars like I like my women - simple, easy to fix and not associated with a lot of proprietary add on junk that will out date in a couple of years. Upgrades are hell.

    But that's just me.

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  4. Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded. by sjbe · · Score: 4, Interesting

    1. Apple maps is a joke and completely useless

    Based on what? Yeah they flubbed the roll out but I've used it since and it mostly works fine. I'm guessing you are one of those people who read all the bad press and presumed that Apple would never fix the problem. Guess what? Over over 30 million people use Apple Maps mostly without problems. Apple Maps is certainly not a joke and anything but "completely useless". Your assertion is mostly without any basis to support it.

    2. considering how many people hate Apple, they're losing prospective customers for a $60,000 car for example because of one tiny feature.

    Apple sells millions of devices a year and you think people "hate Apple"? Have you actually been to an Apple store lately? They are packed. Nobody buys Apple products because they have to. They are all discretionary purchases and people buy Apple's gear because they... gasp, LIKE the products. Who knew?

    Maybe YOU don't like Apple but out here in the real world Apple is wildly popular.