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GM To Offer Apple CarPlay and Android Auto API In Most 2016 Vehicles

Posted by samzenpus on from the don't-forget-the-undercoat dept.

Lucas123 writes: GM today announced it will offer Apple CarPlay and Android Auto mirroring APIs on 14 of its 2016 vehicles. GM's announcement follows one earlier this week by Hyundai, which said it would offer Android Auto in its Sonata Sedan this year. Some of GM's Chevrolet vehicles — such as the Malibu, Camaro and Silverado truck — use a seven-inch MyLink infotainment system; those systems will be compatible with both Android Auto and Apple CarPlay in the beginning of 2016. Those models offering the smartphone mirroring apps include the all-new 2016 Cruze compact, which will debut on June 24. Other GM vehicles use an eight-inch version of MyLink that will only be compatible with Apple CarPlay at the beginning of the new model year. While development and testing is not yet complete, Android Auto compatibility may be available on the eight-inch version of MyLink later in the 2016 model year, GM said.

11 of 76 comments (clear)

  1. Pist frost by NoNonAlphaCharsHere · · Score: 4, Informative

    1) "infotainment" is not a word.
    2) People need to pay attention to what they're doing on the road and quit fucking around with cell phones and other cool whizzo shit on the dashboard.

    1. Re:Pist frost by drinkypoo · · Score: 3, Insightful

      1) Give this battle up now. The industry has moved on into the world of cutesy names long since, and you have no chance to win. Infotainment is the official, accepted term.
      2) Better infotainment systems means less fucking around with the gadgets, because the systems make it easier.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    2. Re:Pist frost by mjwx · · Score: 2

      1) Give this battle up now. The industry has moved on into the world of cutesy names long since, and you have no chance to win. Infotainment is the official, accepted term.
      2) Better infotainment systems means less fucking around with the gadgets, because the systems make it easier.

      I accept 1, but 2 is debatable, we need to encourage people to NOT fuck around with gadgets in the car at all.

      However vendor locked "infotainment" systems need to die and die a horrible death in a fire. In car nav systems are almost always inferior to third party, updates are difficult and in many cases, expensive. Manufacturers have made a system that is obsolete in 2 years max which cannot be replaced in a vehicle that has a serviceable life of 10+ years. This needs to change.

      I cant imagine how bad my current car, a 2002 Nissan Silvia would be if I couldn't swap out the stereo with something that knew what an MP3 was. I'd still be forced to burn music CD's like a Neanderthal. Fortunately it was a standard double DIN with standard Nissan connectors, so putting in a new Alpine head unit was easy. However this wont be the case with most 2012 cars in 2025.

      --
      Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
  2. touch does not belong in cars! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    bad bad very friggin bad.

    bring back mechanical controls, dials, switches, things that can be operated by feel and by memory, not by look-in-order-to-see-what-your-doing.

    1. Re:touch does not belong in cars! by CaptainLugnuts · · Score: 3, Funny

      Or you use the volume control within reach of your thumb and not reach for the radio at all, thereby keeping that hand on the steering wheel and improving your overall control.

      Put down my burger and phone? NEVER!

  3. Thats it? 14? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    GM today announced it will offer Apple CarPlay and Android Auto mirroring APIs on 14 of its 2016 vehicles....I really thought GM made a lot more vehicles than that.

  4. CarPlay is a must by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2

    They are doing something. CarPlay is going to make or break car companies, and the auto makers that don't have it in their cars will be out of the market, destroyed by those who do.

    Horsepower doesn't mean much in bumper/bumper traffic, so it is something that is losing its luster, especially among 20-somethings. These days, it is about amenities, features, and MPG. No CarPlay? No sale.

  5. This does NOT belong in cars by MpVpRb · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Looks to me like marketoids chasing buzzwords

    Car companies should concentrate on making cars and leave the fashionable electronics to the fashionable electronic manufacturers

    I wonder how many cars still have built-in analog cellphones? or built-in cassette players?

    The ONLY thing that should be built-in is a speaker system, tuned to the acoustics of the car, with an amplifier and aux jack

    ALL other "infotainment" devices should be separate

  6. This is exactly what belongs in cars by drinkypoo · · Score: 2

    The ONLY thing that should be built-in is a speaker system, tuned to the acoustics of the car, with an amplifier and aux jack

    What you don't seem to realize is that this is the equivalent of that for connecting your smartphone to your car. If only you knew anything about the subject at hand, like about cars or automotive infotainment, you would know that these are technologies for interfacing to your phone while in your car — and that these are both major standards. That means that virtually all smartphone owners will be able to use the interface in the car, designed for automotive use, instead of the interface on their phone which isn't.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  7. Save this crap for rentals by Snotnose · · Score: 2

    90% of the cars on the road are single drivers, whom I really don't want to be "infotained". Especially when it's the drive they do every day while eating an egg mcmuffin and shaving.

    The only time I can see this being A Good Thing (tm) is when you and your family fly into a vacation destination, rent a car, and need to drive for an hour or 3 (my typical vacation).

    If you can't keep your SO/kids entertained for the typical 20 minute drive, then keep your distracted ass off the road I'm using to get somewhere safely.

  8. Re:related news today re: Apple Car by BasilBrush · · Score: 3, Informative

    What makes you imagine Musk can make an electric car company from scratch and Apple can't? Musk is rich, but even so he nearly ran out of money, what with Tesla And SpaceX. He got so near to the brink at one stage he was going to have to pull out of one - but won some space contracts just in time.

    As well as the design chops and the desirable brand, Apple has effectively limitless amounts of money to throw at making a car.

    Yes, buying Tesla is an option, but there have been car related hires at Apple going on for some time now - if they were going to buy Tesla, you'd expect it to be before the hires.

    For the car buying public it is better that they compete. There will be more innovation, quicker that way.