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Google's Android OS To Power Dashboard Displays (go.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the take-that-Apple dept.

schwit1 shares a report from The Wall Street Journal: Google is making a major push into the auto industry, partnering with the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance to use the tech company's Android OS to power media displays (Warning: source may be paywalled; alternative source) that will eventually be sold in millions of cars world-wide. The auto-making alliance, which together sells more vehicles than any other auto maker, is picking Google to provide the operating system for its next-generation infotainment system, marking a major victory for the Silicon Valley tech giant, which has spent more than a decade trying to replicate the success it has had with the smartphone in the car. The alliance, which last year sold a combined 10.6 million vehicles globally, will debut the new system in 2021, giving drivers better integration of Google's maps, app store and voice-activated assistant from the vehicle's dashboard, the companies said. The move comes as other auto makers have been reluctant to cede control of this space to tech rivals, in part because they see the technology as generating valuable consumer data that can be turned into new revenue streams. Slashdot reader schwit1 adds: "But can I get it unlocked and can it be turned off, like this traveling telescreen?

29 of 77 comments (clear)

  1. Cars I won't be buying... by DogDude · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The last thing I want in a car are more stupid gadgets. Driving is already dangerous enough with every other person staring at their phones while driving. Most people are not smart enough to do both at the same time. I know I'm not.

    And, why do I need more electronics that can break? Consumer-grade software today is so incredibly shitty (just ship it, we'll fix it later), that I couldn't imagine having something as buggy as Android running my car. No thanks. My dials and gauges work just fine, and never need software updates.

    --
    I don't respond to AC's.
    1. Re: Cars I won't be buying... by ArchieBunker · · Score: 1

      Those flashy Android gauges are going to look incredibly dated in a few years. This is a good example https://upload.wikimedia.org/w...

      --
      Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
    2. Re: Cars I won't be buying... by adolf · · Score: 1

      So what you're saying is: This one aspect of an automobile will look dated as time marches on, just like many other aspects of any given automobile also do?

      --
      Kid-proof tablet..
    3. Re: Cars I won't be buying... by ItsJustAPseudonym · · Score: 1

      They can re-skin the gauges with an update. It's not the *appearance* that is problematic, but rather all of the integration within a vehicle's systems (even though they will doubtless restrict it to non-critical systems).

    4. Re:Cars I won't be buying... by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      Tesla has this problem. Both the instrument cluster (IC) and large screen can crash and need rebooting... While you are driving. There is some button combo you have to do, holding down the steering wheel controls to force a reset.

      So you can suddenly lose your IC, or it can freeze and give you false information. The main screen controls everything else, including basic stuff like windscreen wipers and lights in the Model 3, so that crashing is pretty serious too.

      This is the problem with allowing software updates - you get beta quality code with vague promises to fix it later that never get fulfilled.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    5. Re: Cars I won't be buying... by dunkelfalke · · Score: 1

      That actually looks pretty cool in a retrofuturistic 1980s cyberpunk kind of way.

      --
      "It's such a fine line between stupid and clever" -- David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap
    6. Re:Cars I won't be buying... by mikael · · Score: 1

      You already have 150+ embedded electronics systems in your car; cruise control, anti-skid lock braking, electronic ignition control, electric windows, remote locking, diagnostics, indicator light timing, entertainment system, radio, CD player. Upmarket vehicles in Europe already have touchscreens that have replaced mechanical controls. Just a wipe clean screen.

      --
      Vintage computer adverts: http://www.vintageadbrowser.com/computers-and-software-ads
    7. Re:Cars I won't be buying... by jenningsthecat · · Score: 1

      The last thing I want in a car are more stupid gadgets.

      The last thing I want in a car is an "Operating System" without which the car won't run, which also tracks my car's every move and gives all kinds of personal data to an advertising company. When the spyware in my car is also the software that allows the car to run, then I might as well be driving a Windows 10 computer with wheels but no power switch.

      And, why do I need more electronics that can break? Consumer-grade software today is so incredibly shitty (just ship it, we'll fix it later), that I couldn't imagine having something as buggy as Android running my car. No thanks. My dials and gauges work just fine, and never need software updates.

      Not to mention that your car could become the next victim of the people responsible for Gnome 3, Unity, Australis, and the like. Wouldn't it be fun to wake up and discover that you have to learn how to use your car all over again? "Oh, we put the speedometer on the passenger side because we thought the new dark-grey-on-black 12-point text theme looked cooler over there. And BTW, your radio volume control is now a toothpick-thin virtual slider on the edge of the screen-that-is-your-dashboard. We could say that we hope you like these design changes, but frankly, we don't care".

      --
      'The Economy' is a giant Ponzi scheme whose most pitiable suckers are the youngest among us and the yet-unborn.
  2. What could possibly go wrong... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Oh yeah, that's just what I want, Google having yet more access to me, with no way to block or remove it. Looks like vehicles from the "Renault-Nissan-Mitsubish Alliance" are now on the list of vehicles I will NEVER buy.

    1. Re:What could possibly go wrong... by bobbied · · Score: 1

      Oh yeah, that's just what I want, Google having yet more access to me, with no way to block or remove it. Looks like vehicles from the "Renault-Nissan-Mitsubish Alliance" are now on the list of vehicles I will NEVER buy.

      Well, my Nissan quest wasn't a bad Mini-van considering... But I'm with you, I don't want Google as my Co-Pilot, unless I can turn them off and the "do not track" setting is actually honored. With Google, heck, with Apple too, you cannot ever be sure the security settings are being honored, but you can at least turn a phone off or place it in a faraday cage if you don't want it phoning home with personal data.

      --
      "File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
    2. Re:What could possibly go wrong... by NoNonAlphaCharsHere · · Score: 1

      Sorry, you lost me at "Mini-van".

    3. Re:What could possibly go wrong... by rtb61 · · Score: 1

      That will probably be true because they were idiots that made stupid decisions. The smart decision for an auto mobile association is a dock standard. Here is our dock standard, this is the connector and these are the mounts. Here is the power and here is the data from various sensors, cameras and temperature controls and of course speakers. We will fit which ever tablet from the manufacturer that provides us the most cash and is not dick brained about it or pisses off our customers.

      A standard on connectors gives the automotive manufacturers the whip hand, they can always swap out tablets and if the shit really hits the fan, they can recall the vehicle, pull out the existing tablet and fit a new brand, to many screams of anguish from the existing content seller controller. Hell people could get a cheap one standard, keep it as a spare and put in a much better one.

      What ever they should do, they should not listen to Google, evil is as evil does. They should go with an open standard for a vehicle tablet connector and have the tablet manufacturers always competing, that is the only smart decision to make. So a vehicle industry connector and mounts, connectors for temperature sensors and controls, probably a vehicle speed input, connectors for speakers, and probably a digital output for an amplifier and camera inputs, maybe an antennae jack, probably a microphone connector.

      Honestly if it controls nothing in the vehicle beyond the vehicles speakers it would probably make the most sense, keeps it by far the simplest and cheapest and most reliable for the auto manufacturer themselves and some companies will pay to have their tablet fitted and if it is shit the customer can just pop it on out and buy another and pop that one in. That would be smart thinking and fuck alphabet and google.

      Fuck all the hassle of a media centre, far simpler to to create a vehicle tablet dock standard, done and finished, apart from bragging about your extra special amplifier and speakers, far more sensible (offer a full range of tablets pre-fitted, customer choice, means you will not lose customers who own existing content with other suppliers, see smart thinking not the lies Google will feed you).

      --
      Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
    4. Re:What could possibly go wrong... by bobbied · · Score: 1

      Sorry, you lost me at "Mini-van".

      Ah, haven't had multiple kids yet. Well, stop at two or the Mini-Van is going to be something you need....

      --
      "File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
    5. Re:What could possibly go wrong... by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      The smart decision for an auto mobile association is a dock standard.

      The smart decision for an automobile manufacturer is lock-in. That's why they don't want a standard like that. Instead, they want amenities which they can use to sell cars. Now that all automakers are basically competent to produce a car worth driving, they are competing primarily on features. But they also want to be able to sell the buyer another car in a few years, so they're not going to give them features that let them feel like they've got a new car without buying one.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  3. Don't worry by viperidaenz · · Score: 3, Funny

    Apple will partner with the other big car brands. Except their implementation will receive software updates continuously. Your cars performance will lower slightly with every update until you feel you need to buy a new car to gain back what you've lost.

    1. Re:Don't worry by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Wow. A homophobe on Slashdot? Who woulda thunk it.

      Fucking bigot.

  4. Agreed by ArchieBunker · · Score: 1

    Can't wait for the inevitable crash or freeze up and now my dashboard shows nothing. Android would be the last of my OS choices.

    --
    Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
    1. Re:Agreed by Kaenneth · · Score: 1

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

  5. Crash by hawguy · · Score: 1

    Great, I look forward to my dashboard crashing while I drive with no instruments until (if?) it reboots, maybe it'll get stuck in a reboot loop like my last Android phone.

    I don't care if they want to make an android display for secondary information, but I hope they keep some traditional gauges for things like the speedometer, gas gauge, and highbeam/turn signal indicators.

    1. Re:Crash by 2ms · · Score: 1

      They'll certainly do everything possible to control everything in the car. And tell you it's "free" even though they're just mining your ass for data to use to take over other things.

  6. Lock in by PPH · · Score: 1

    As long as it's a DIN standard box, I can pull it out and replace it with something else. Over-the-air software updates? No thanks. I'll bring it into the shop rather than wait for the script kiddies to push crap onto my ECU.

    --
    Have gnu, will travel.
    1. Re:Lock in by 2ms · · Score: 1

      In the beginning. Then Google starts controlling the lights, then the ac, then the steering, the brakes, the engine/motor...

    2. Re:Lock in by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      As long as it's a DIN standard box,

      Not only won't it be, but most car stereos aren't either. And even the ones that are often have faceplates of nonstandard sizes so you need some special bezel kit. That's true even in my 1998 A8. DIN standard box, oversized face. At least that's just a bit of plastic away from being fixed, though.

      However, nobody ever used a DIN-standard cluster AFAICT, not even in trucks and buses.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  7. Just what we need by 2ms · · Score: 1

    Google stealing all our personal information through our cars as well.

  8. Now our cars will spy on us! by Chas · · Score: 1

    Yay!

    "You are speeding. I am calling the police and downloading the logs..."

    --


    Chas - The one, the only.
    THANK GOD!!!
  9. DNW by Hallux-F-Sinister · · Score: 1

    NO, thanks. Just say no to more unnecessary tech cluttering our lives. I do not need a DASHBOARD to be "Android"ed. The dashboard of a car is a place we've pretty much got licked, thank you very much. There is no way this tech SIMPLIFIES anything, except MAYBE wiring, if you don't mind the possibility of RF interference jamming your INSTRUMENTS, or making them display something incorrect. I'm sure it won't be long before cars start getting hacked into displaying a speed that is either higher or lower than actual, causing traffic jams, speeding tickets, or collisions, perhaps even pileups. This one's a hard NO.

    Tell you what, automakers... when there have been zero exploits, compromises, etc., to Android for more than the lifetime of a car, I'll think about it. In the meantime, NO. You make a car with an Android-based-computing-device powering the dashboard, and you've made a car I'll never buy. Screw that noise.

    This idea makes as much sense as an Android-powered HAMMER. It's an unnecessary over complication that is just a problem waiting to happen.

    Also, I don't want to have to wait for my DASHBOARD to BOOT to drive my car. This idea is full of "fail."

    --
    Our reign has gone on long enough. Indeed. Summon the meteors.
  10. obligatory by astrofurter · · Score: 1

    In Soviet American car, speedometer watches you!

  11. No escape by tsa · · Score: 1

    Good deity, there really is no escaping Google anymore is there?

    --

    -- Cheers!

  12. Do you know how fast you were going? by Daralantan · · Score: 1

    I'm sorry officer, I don't know how fast I was driving. My car was too busy offering me advertisements based on recent driving experiences. Oh hey - it's telling me about nearby lawyers right now!