Apple CarPlay
Apple iOS for your car
With the recent release of iOS7.1, Apple lifted the details on CarPlay, the long-awaited 'iOS for your car'.
CarPlay was announced at the recent Geneva Motor Show initially in models by Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz, and Volvo. This is one exclusive list, however more are announced to follow from Nissan, Peugeot, Jaguar, Land Rover, BMW, Volvo and General Motors.
This announcement comes at an interesting time as I have had recent conversations with my colleagues about digital technology having little to no impact on the largely analogue in-car experience. It would seem that in-car technology has a strong focus ahead.
What is it?
Well firstly, CarPlay isn’t an in-car system that runs iOS. It's integrates your iPhone with your car's own existing digital system. This will give you the control to easily manage your iOS device. The idea being that you plug your iPhone into your car, which will integrate with your car system.
Without then taking your eyes off the road, the iOS devices functionality is readily available. As you might expect, CarPlay will require a lightning connector and the power of recent iOS devices, so older iPhones won’t be an option. The iPhone5, 5s and 5c are perfect however.
Thoughts
I'm a huge Apple fan but I will reserve final judgement until I see it in action myself. Volvo has recently added CarPlay to one of their vehicles in a promo which can be viewed here; http://youtu.be/GUhcODePAdY
This interface would make perfect sense, and even if they totally dropped the ball with it, it'll be better received than just about any other car OS I’ve seen, which are for the most part, junk. After having multiple in-car entertainment systems over the years, I don't care as much about wow factor, I just want it to work, be quick and reliable.
