“Technology is moving rapidly from the app economy of the smartphone to automobiles — a transition for which both tech companies and automakers are rapidly preparing,” David Montalvo reports for CNBC.
“On the road, tech companies like Google and Apple are leading the charge for self-driving cars. Meanwhile, car manufacturers like Volvo are preparing their fleet for the day autonomous vehicles take the road, with sometimes unintentional results,” Montalvo reports. “Earlier this year, the Swedish company announced that it would be the first automaker to replace physical car keys with a smartphone app.”
“It’s all part of what Hyundai Motors America CEO David Zuchowski said is a ‘big transformative event’ that could eventually result in cars replacing mobile phones as smart devices,” Montalvo reports. “‘There will be alliances,’ Zuchowski said, that could turn automakers into ‘hardware makers’ for Silicon Valley. Still, when it comes to Apple, ‘I don’t see us competing with them.’ He suggested that such a partnership could allow tech companies to focus on what they already do best for consumers — creating applications that make consumers’ lives easier. ‘They want an Apple experience,’ Zuchowski said. ‘The car is the ultimate mobile device, right?'”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Is that a car in your pocket or are you just happy to see us?