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How Apple's CarPlay Could Shore Up the Car Stereo Industry
Velcroman1 writes: "Car stereo salesmen and installers around the country are hoping Apple's CarPlay in-car infotainment system will have a big presence in the aftermarket car stereo industry. The Nikkei Asian Review reports that Alpine is making car stereo head units for between $500 – $700 that will run the iOS-like system Apple unveiled last month, and Macrumors added Clarion to the list of CarPlay supporters. Pioneer is also getting into the game, with support said to be coming to existing car stereo models in its NEX line ($700 – $1400) via firmware update, according to Twice. Given Apple's wildly supportive fan base, its likely that a lot of aftermarket CarPlay units are about to fly off stereo shop shelves. Indeed, CarPlay coming to aftermarket stereo units could bring back what Apple indirectly stole from the industry going back as far as 2006."
I wouldn't trust Apple. When this becomes successful, before you know it, they will force other manufacturers out of the market. Look at how they are controlling the app-store, and forcing developers to not compete with Apple's products.
If Pandora's box is destined to be opened, *I* want to be the one to open it.
I recently bought a new car with the USB dongle in the glove cabinet to hook stuff directly to the car stereo. (a 2000 bucks option)
They failed to mention it only supports apple products.
Its time that a ISO standard arrives for cars so i can hook any device to it that supports the standard.
If Apple infotainment is great why don't we see it in the airplanes. We don't see it because it is damn too expensive. I do respect Apple's commercial acumen, quality, design and innovations, but I don't own any of the apple's products nor am I planning to, and I have tried..... No offense to Mac owners and I have heard a lot about their quality and durability. When someone is buying and Iphone, it is easy to bury equipment depreciation to service provider fee. When someone will buy a car in the nearest future, apple infotainment will be one of the many junk services that people will just cross out. I quietly hope that Apple infotaintment will take the same place among junk fees and services such as extended gold service plan, super coated seat protection, anti-theft glass engravings, floor plan fee and other.
How is this better than vanilla Bluetooth Audio?
The car electronics companies gave away the market. I was in car audio for years while in college. I sold and installed almost every brand you can stick into a dashboard - that was in the 90s.
Mobile electronics interfaces are still stuck in the 90s. The mobile industry has completely ignored the user interface advancements of the last 10 years. Take a look at the average aftermarket radio - buttons and dot-matrix LED displays that should have been replaced years ago.
Don't even get me started about bluetooth in car - absolutely no mobile manufacturer makes a stable bluetooth implementation. They all universally suck.
The best thing I put into my car was a bracket to hold my smartphone. After trying 5 different headunits, I finally gave up trying to find one that approaches the functionality and usability of my Nexus and iOS devices.
The mobile electronics companies screwed this up - apple stole nothing from them.
I recently spent $35,000 on a peripheral for my phone, but I forgot to check if the peripheral worked with my phone.
Can someone write a law that says that all peripherals have to work with my phone?
Thank you very much.
Signed, ignorant consumer.