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."

Comments

Less apple more ISO standard interface please

[Anonymous Coward]

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.

Re:Why spend another $700 for a car stereo

[Scowler]

How is this better than vanilla Bluetooth Audio?

Apple stole nothing

[zerofoo]

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.

Re:Apple stole nothing

[Toshito]

Buttons are the way to go for an interface in a car. That and big knobs or switches. Something with a lot of tactile feedback. Just look at an airplane's cockpit.

A touch interface has no place in a car, much too dangerous to use, and totally useless in winter when it's -30C and you wear gloves. The screen becomes slow as molasses and you can't control it without removing your gloves.