APPLE’s new ‘CarPlay’ system, unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show, will resonate with business users as much as it will with fashion-conscious teenage drivers.
The system effectively integrates an iPhone into the car’s controls, allowing the driver to access a number of functions on the phone, without potentially expensive or traumatic distractions.
If the car has voice control, usually activated by a button on the steering wheel, it can be used with Apple CarPlay to access the phone’s Siri voice command system.
The driver can then make phone calls, receive messages, use phone-based GPS navigation, access traffic updates or even change the music choice in their phone’s playlist, without ever taking a hand off the wheel.
Even in cars without voice control the system will still be useful, as it will work with car touchscreens or even knob-based controls such as BMW’s i-Drive.
CarPlay will be offered to iPhone users as an update to the phone’s IOS7 operating system. According to Apple the first manufacturers set to make the connection available in their vehicles will be Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo.
The system is then expected to roll out quickly with BMW Group, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Jaguar Land Rover, Kia, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Peugeot Citroën, Subaru, Suzuki and Toyota all said to be planning to introduce it in the near future.
Announcing the system Apple’s vice president of iPhone and iOS Product Marketing Greg Joswiak says that CarPlay has been designed from the ground up “to provide drivers with an incredible experience using their iPhone in the car.
“iPhone users always want their content at their fingertips and CarPlay lets drivers use their iPhone in the car with minimised distraction,” Joswiak adds.