Comment on Apple, Google bring smartphone functions to car dashboards

By RYAN NAKASHIMA, AP Business Writer, San Antonio Express-News: World
Thu, 09/03/2015 - 12:12pm

Apple, Google bring smartphone functions to car dashboards

With the 2016 model year, Apple's CarPlay and Google's Android Auto will turn cars as affordable as a base model Chevy Spark into rolling robotic assistants that give directions to nearby restaurants or play the latest hits with commands as simple as "Play Ellie Goulding." Both CarPlay and Android Auto should give drivers more time to keep their eyes on the road compared with the automakers' own voice systems, which can require multiple steps and looking at on-screen menus. For the last few years, drivers of most new cars have been able to speak to their phones and have audio stream through a car's speakers using the nearly ubiquitous Bluetooth wireless standard. Volkswagen's entry level 2016 Jetta 1.4T at $17,680 offers CarPlay and Android Auto as part of a $995 technology upgrade that includes a larger touch screen and rearview camera. General Motors stands alone in offering CarPlay and Android Auto as standard equipment on cars as inexpensive as the Spark — the 2015 version retails for upward of $12,170 — and as high-volume as its Chevrolet Cruze and Malibu sedans and Silverado trucks. Chevrolet marketing director Steve Majoros calls the decision "revolutionary," and one the automaker hopes will improve its market share. On a quick demo of a fully-loaded, coffee-colored 2016 Accord Touring, the Android Auto voice assistant helped me play songs from artists like Adele, Sting and Ellie Goulding but would not recognize "U2" as anything other than "YouTube." In the demo, Apple's notoriously quirky maps app directed me to drive to Honda's American headquarters in Torrance through the research and development back way, bypassing the front driveway and visitor parking lot even though it was a more direct route.

 

Comment On This Story

Welcome to Wopular!

Welcome to Wopular

Wopular is an online newspaper rack, giving you a summary view of the top headlines from the top news sites.

Senh Duong (Founder)
Wopular, MWB, RottenTomatoes

Subscribe to Wopular's RSS Fan Wopular on Facebook Follow Wopular on Twitter Follow Wopular on Google Plus

MoviesWithButter : Our Sister Site

Movies With Butter More Movie News

More World News

  • Kamala Harris Doesn’t Need to Pick Sides on Israel-Gaza. She Needs to Uphold U.S. Law
    Time, Saturday - 09/21/2024 - 07:00 AM

    Kamala Harris still has time to change direction on U. S. policy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in a way that could secure her the presidency, reduce further damage to Washington’s standing internationally, stop what many—including many Jews, Israelis, and Holocaust scholars—have called a genocide in Gaza, and prevent a regional war.

    More | Talk | Read It Later | Share
  • Concerns Grow as Conflict Escalates Between Israel and Hezbollah
    Time, Friday - 09/20/2024 - 09:36 AM

    U. S., U. K. and United Nations officials urged restraint as tensions ramped up between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. After days of escalating conflict, Israel carried out extensive airstrikes targeting Southern Lebanon on Sept. 19 and Hezbollah retaliated on Sept. 20, prompting fears of further conflict and a wider Middle East war.

    More | Talk | Read It Later | Share
  • Japan Celebrates Shohei Ohtani Making History in the MLB With 50-50 Record
    Time, Friday - 09/20/2024 - 04:40 AM

    TOKYO — Shohei Ohtani’s feat of becoming the first major leaguer with at least 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a season was met with extra editions of newspapers for fans to read on their way to work on Friday morning in Japan. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Ohtani raced past the 50-50 milestone as he hit three home runs and stole two bases in a game during the 20-4 rout of the Miami Marlins on Thursday, securing a playoff berth for the Dodgers. Read More: Shohei Ohtani Is What Baseball Needs The news topped morning headlines, and “Ohtani-san” was the No.

    More | Talk | Read It Later | Share
  • Taiwan Court Upholds Legality of Death Penalty but Limits Use to Only the Most Serious Crimes
    Time, Friday - 09/20/2024 - 04:10 AM

    Taiwan’s Constitutional Court upheld the legality of the death penalty but moved to limit its use, in a decision that strikes a balance between keeping the punishment’s deterrent effect and preventing its abuse. The court on Friday affirmed the constitutionality of capital punishment but restricted its use to only the most serious crimes, while emphasizing the need for better safeguards.

    More | Talk | Read It Later | Share
  • ‘It Sounded Like Gunfire.’ Lebanese Reel From Deadly Pager and Radio Blasts
    Time, Thursday - 09/19/2024 - 03:56 PM

    First, on Tuesday, there were exploding pagers. On Wednesday, walkie-talkies began detonating, along with other electronic devices. Panic took hold of whole areas across Lebanon—particularly in Shia communities where Hezbollah are present—as devices designed to be held in the hand and close to the face blew fingers off hands and took out eyes. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] “We were confused at first,” Joumana, who was visiting loved ones at a hospital in Lebanon’s capital Beirut on Wednesday, tells TIME.

    More | Talk | Read It Later | Share
  • What Does Anwar Ibrahim Stand for? Malaysia’s PM on His Balancing Act at Home and Abroad
    Time, Thursday - 09/19/2024 - 03:00 AM

    A lot has changed since my last conversation with Anwar Ibrahim 10 years ago, when he jumped on a crackly phone call between court hearings to reveal his chances of beating a trumped-up sodomy charge “didn’t look good.” [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Things looked considerably brighter for Malaysia’s Prime Minister when we caught up last month at the opening of German semiconductor giant Infineon’s new Malaysia plant.

    More | Talk | Read It Later | Share