The ‘Connected-Car’ market will be one of the big growth industries in the next few years with a host of developers looking to lead the way. You can guess that Apple will be at the front of the queue and their CarPlay system stole a lot of the headlines at the Geneva Motor Show.
FSM EXCLUSIVE DEAL CarPlay allows the user to view an iOS7 like bunch of icons in the car’s display panel, using a combination of Siri and touchscreen technology as commands. It seems like the system Volvo are pioneering is currently the most intuitive, but there were also offerings from Ferrari and Mercedes at the Geneva show.
Obviously the system needs to link up to a compatible iPhone. The iPhone 5, iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C are currently part of the development initiative, connected to your car using a lightning cable.
The lightning cable is an 8pin plug which is only compatible with the newest generation of iPhones following its release in 2012, and many of you will have marvelled at how it can be plugged into your phone either way round – unlike micro USB.
These kinds of cables and devices which can transfer data from ‘machine-to-machine’ do represent the future of connected technology.
In many of these future cars, Apple may be working in conjunction with operating systems like QNX – a system that many readers will associate with BlackBerry. BlackBerry bought QNX in 2010 for $200m and it could play a major part in their business plan if the company are to get back on the right track.
Connected Cars have captured our imaginations for years, and driving along whilst talking to your car seems like a real glimpse of the future, but we may be jumping a few years ahead of ourselves Craig Gray, Service Centre Manager at CarShop explains that although this technology is now on the market it will not be readily available for the majority of cars on the road.
It’s obvious why manufacturers are clamouring to be at the forefront of connected car technology – any successful incursion into a growing market like this could further encourage brand loyalty and ensure future sales for Apple users.
QNX and Qualcomm MirrorLink played a big part at the recent World Mobile Congress indicating that systems like CarPlay are high on the priority list for manufacturers. By the time this kind of technology is in place for the mass market, systems like Android will have surely joined the game.
