Google and Apple set to battle over in-car infotainment systems

Himanshu Arora

Posts: 902   +7

It looks like Google and Apple have found a new battlefield: the automobile industry. After fiercely competing with each other in smartphone, web browser, and tablet markets, both the companies are now working with leading car manufacturers to develop in-car entertainment and information systems.

According to a Wall Street Journal report, Google and German automaker Audi AG are working together on Android based in-car infotainment systems and they plan to announce their partnership at the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas next week.

google apple cars ios in the car infotainment system

The Google announcement is being seen as the answer to Apple's "iOS in the car" initiative, which was launched in June at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). As part of the initiative, Apple is developing technology to integrate iPhones with car's dashboard control panels. The iPhone maker is working with the likes of BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Honda Motor for the project.

While Apple's technology requires an iOS device connected to the car's built-in display, Google, on the other hand, hopes to have Android running on the car's own built-in hardware.

According to the report, 80 million new cars and light trucks are sold every year. Quite clearly, the market has huge potential and this is the reason Apple and Google are trying hard to penetrate it. The concept of smart cars has also opened the doors for leading chip-makers like Qualcomm, Intel, and Nvidia, to enter the car business.

Permalink to story.

 
It's a strange perspective, to see the process of making products as a mere weapon for the actual goal: to win in the battlefield of competition.
 
I can see the day when plugging in your smartphone especially Android can upload malware to your car and render it inoperable and you would need to install Car Anti-Virus to disinfect it. ;)
 
Some territories are now banning cellphone use while driving (calling/texting) and now this "infotainment"?
maybe it's just me but I get headaches just by watching the free movie on a 16" screen on my favorite bus when I travel to the city. I'll get more headaches if I watch any movie on an 8" screen on my 5yo car.

the only info integration I want are map/gps services.
 
Didn't Microsoft already have a partnership like this with an auto maker going back to like 2008? Seems like Apple/Google are playing catch up.
 
I believe that in the near future all cars will have an Communications System, for entertainment, complete computer interface with home and office, the car will read your email to you, make adjustments to your work schedule, all by voice command Your car will communicate with other nearby cars (data). No hands telephone systems will be common in all new cars, your car will be able to identify you, and you alone will decide whom drives it, I just wish the car of the future will be a bit larger than they are now, using new materials to reduce weight and still be a decent size so it can be safe on highways, soon I believe everyone knows, cars will drive themselves. So left the games begin to see who will offer the best experience in this area. I would hate to have to call the game early between Apple and Google.
 
I think that if they start a war over car infotainment system, cars will become less safe to drive cause of too many distractions.
 
I can see the day when plugging in your smartphone especially Android can upload malware to your car and render it inoperable and you would need to install Car Anti-Virus to disinfect it. ;)
I can see the day when plugging in your Apple smartphone can get you lost in the middle of the wilderness. Oh wait, that day has already come.
 
I prefer google based car, yeah you know why, I don't want get lost in the middle of nowhere because of iphone :D
 
Back