“Apple is showing off CarPlay at the Geneva Auto Show this week with its first crop of car makers, and so far we’ve seen it in action in Ferrari and Mercedes-Benz vehicles, but a new video gives an extended look at how it works with Volvo cars,” Darrell Etherington reports for TechCrunch.
“The video shows an interface that is quite different from that found in the Ferrari system, with smooth touch-based scrolling of content instead of button-controlled paging through tracks and other lists,” Etherington reports. “It also shows the CarPlay integration running alongside, or perhaps even within a wrapper of the existing in-car software, as this double-tall touch display panel shows off a list of other features including Volvo’s own navigation software and media management.”
The opening montage ends and the demo begins around 0:45 in the video:
Read more in the full article here.
“At the Geneva Auto Show, Mercedes revealed the all-new C Class, its first vehicle to support Apple’s in-vehicle iOS platform called CarPlay. Forgive the production quality of the demo,” Matt Burns reports for TechCrunch. “It appears to be a compilation of b-roll and likely not intended to be used as a demo. However, it shows all the core functions of Apple’s CarPlay. It’s all here: using Siri to make phone calls, send messages, navigate and select iTunes media. While the video may lack Jony Ive’s touch, it’s packed with details not shown as clearly elsewhere.”
Read more in the full article here.
Related articles:
Apple CarPlay uses BlackBerry’s QNX platform – March 4, 2014
Hands on with Apple’s CarPlay in a Ferrari FF; plus how Apple will push new third-party apps to the system – March 4, 2014
Apple’s ‘CarPlay’ set to take automotive industry by storm – March 4, 2014
Apple’s new CarPlay system will turn tens of millions of cars into iPhone accessories – March 3, 2014
Apple rolls out CarPlay giving drivers a smarter, safer and more fun way to use iPhone in the car – March 3, 2014
Apple to launch iOS in the Car with Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo next week; more makers coming this year – February 28, 2014
Honda’s ‘HondaLink’ offers partial iPhone-vehicle integration ahead of Apple’s ‘iOS in the Car’ – January 24, 2014
Apple patent application reveals in-vehicle holistic ID for ‘iOS in the Car’ – December 12, 2013
ABI Research: Apple’s ‘iOS in the Car’ to be No. 1 in-vehicle system by 2018 – November 1, 2013
General Motors adds Apple’s Siri Eyes Free to more vehicles following ‘remarkable’ customer response – October 16, 2013
Hidden contacts revealed within Apple’s iOS in the Car – August 8, 2013
Automakers integrate Apple’s iOS in the Car to minimize driver distraction, increase customer satisfaction – July 30, 2013
Why Apple is planning aggressive 2014 launch for ‘iOS in the Car’ – July 26, 2013
Why Tim Cook described Apple’s iOS in the Car strategy as ‘very important’ – July 25, 2013
Apple has its eyes on automakers with ‘iOS in the Car’ – July 5, 2013
Ford plummets to 27th in J.D. Power vehicle quality rankings on Microsoft-developed ‘MyFord Touch’ woes – June 20, 2012
Volvo did CarPlay right and is the only auto to allow full use of gestures. Ferrari only allows button equivalents. Mercedes has not touch support.
Merc’s implementation just sucks… I am sure Ferrari is not far behind. I would say even Volvo’s implementation looks like a version 1.0.
Here is one looking forward to version 2 and beyond where Siri can provide controls of everything in the car including managing car’s features and ideally remembering phone owner’s features. The car should provide all the controls and sensors and step aside for iPhone to manage everything for those who wish to travel in style and ease of use as only Apple can do.
I believe the care manufacturers know the future but they are going to make us suffer for as long as they can. I hope 3rd parties can step forward and provide advance customization.
For now, Ferrari was never on my list and this implementation confirms why, Merc is missing the point and Volvo despite the implementation is not right car style for me.
It will be interesting to see if BMW links CarPlay to its iDrive controller or adds a touchscreen. The screens in current models are high up on the dash and would require quite a stretch and lean for the driver to reach, so I suspect iDrive will be used (iDrive would be included with the car for those who do not have iPhones anyway).
However, this shows how Apple is designing CarPlay to be very flexible and adaptable to a particular vehicle’s needs and manufacturer’s design philosophies.
Looks like Volvo are the only one not trying to do it on the cheap.
Volvo has the advantage of having already planned to place its screen in the middle of the dash and have a touchscreen system. If you look at Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz, and BMW, those manufacturers already had dashboard designs with the screen mounted high in the center of the dash, really too far away for convenient touch systems.
Dashboards are one of the most expensive pieces to design in a car, which is why you don’t see them re-designed very often at a vehicle’s mid-cycle refresh (2-3 years after a new vehicle was introduced, when things like front and rear bumpers, lights, grills are typically redesigned). I think you’ll see more touch screen implementation over the next 3-7 years as car models get full redesigns vs. refreshes.
I was referring primarily to the fact that the ferrari seems to be a relatively unresponsive resistive touch screen and the volvo’s isn’t.
And how is that hands free?
This issue keeps coming up. You’d think the marketing people would get the clue that hands free is primary. If I was paranoid about Apple, I’d guess that the voice interface sucks and they’re avoiding it. But we know the voice interface does not suck (unlike the original SYNC, which OMG sucked if you were actually running the motor).
IOW: Get your act together marketing folks. Clicking on stuff in the car while driving is NOT gonna fly. Demoing this stuff while the car isn’t even running, is NOT gonna fly. Think before you demo.
Wrong. Watch the Ferrari demo. The Apple rep uses Siri quite frequently, and the response is just fine. However, in these demos they’re showing a variety of input methods, which is why you see touch screen usage, button usage, and Siri usage.
You’re right. He uses Siri quite frequently! My point is that he must use Siri EXCLUSIVELY. That is the demo we should be seeing. No hands. That’s how you must use it while driving, as I pointed out.
Because you can use Siri to control everything.
It is not hands free only because it is video demo. If the only thing that would happen is talk with Siri, there there would be nothing to see. So they stress manual control more.
Well because it has to cope with endless voices and accents (not to mention screaming kids et al) an exclusive voice control system simply is going to get panned. This is the right balance from Apple so that you can use as much or little voice as you want. However I have to say that the Merc implementation is pathetic talk about an after thought, but then Teutonic design doesn’t really please me generally as good as the underlying engineering may be. As for the video itself a team of delinquent youths could have done a better job. Volvo has done a great job of implementation and Ferrari a decent job I feel.
Be interested in how Jaguar/Land Rover implement it as their overall design of late has been top notch in terms of both exterior and interior treatment.
On the C class? The C class is a droid model, a very poor example of a MB. It should be standard on all models, not the el cheapo C class. Same with honda. Civic? How about on some real models that iPhone 5S owners buy?
I want that Mercedes pimpmobile with hand driers built into the console.