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Everything is becoming smart, folks, and the buck won’t stop with automobiles. While we’ve already seen decent efforts by automakers to make their cars more smart and connected in recent years, rumors from the Wall Street Journal suggest they’re about to get even more serious about it.
The publication is reporting that Google is planning to team up with Audi to develop a comprehensive smart car experience that makes it easy to access entertainment and information on the road. The system would employ Android, natch, which would be a good platform to latch onto considering how open it is.
While further fine details of the partnership have yet to be disclosed, WSJ tells us to expect the full gamut at CES 2014 in Las Vegas. We’re not sure if we’re getting a simple announcement or a cool tech demo, but excitement jolts us either way.
Many would contend that not everything needs to be smart, with the likes of televisions, smoke detectors, and even kitchen appliances and doorbells finding a way to stay connected. But smart cars are definitely one natural evolution that the industry seems to be gravitating toward.
Many auto makers are equipping their systems with 4G LTE, and it won’t be long before you might be able to sign a two-year data service agreement along with your lease on a car. Bringing the best of smartphones and tablets to everything doesn’t always work, but the marriage between these mobile devices and automobiles is certainly one of the more sensible ones.
Phandroid will be toting all their bags to CES when all of this is said to be going down, and you can be sure we’ll be looking to hunt down these two major players as they make a very significant push for a smarter vehicle in 2014.
Well done, Google!
P.S.: And I want that source open, to port it to my father’s Lada ;)
They should have teamed up with apple , siri > google now
If they teamed up with Apple, the interface would be pretty with a nice screen but no real functionality and no customization. Apple would probably also tack on at least a K onto the price of the car. Id bet Google would offer their service free with the purchase of the car. Google Now is ahead of Siri on all levels, and getting farther away by the day.
They wouldn’t be mutually compatible. At least by using Android, they can build iPhone compatibility into the UI. I doubt Apple would do the same.
Besides, Apple would probably insist that all of the cars use the same engine, and would charge you $.99 every time you wanted directions :-P
The rate they’re dragging ass, this will probably become a reality before they get off their back sides and figure out how to build A3s and S3s in a timely manner. FFS.
I’ve got my eye on an S3, too bad I won’t be seeing Android in it.
“How do I unlock my Audi’s bootloader?” ;-)
Google Maps in the dash with updates from Waze. I’d take it.
Android in cars would be awesome.
Bout damn time. tired of seeing manufacturers using ipads in their vehicles.
I wish my Nissan LEAF had Android on board, or at least a docking station and decent API for an Android device…
It came standard with speed camera warning voice in GPS database but there are a few misplaced cameras that always bother in wrong places… and if I lower the volume for voice guide I won’t hear important messages such as battery is getting low..
So I like android on my phones….but seriously, the last thing I want on the car is android.
As much fun as it is flexible, google’s idea of throwing everything at the wall and see what sticks works just fine for non essential gadgets. It’s just not a good idea in a car. Granted, it’s not a fighter jet or a space shuttle….but it’s still dangerous. Let’s face it, 99% of what google throws out there are horrible and unreliable.
But cars can have an infotainment computer running wathever OS user prefer and the main engine and motion controller/computer that show dash RPM/speed/temperature, etc one independent from the other.
I’d prefer to have a standard dock for tablets and documented API, that would be easier to upgrade just the tablet, still using an external vehicle GPS/anthena/comunication radio, and should have access to all sensor readings and maybe a protected mode writing (like android permissions)
BTW have you seen an app called Torque ?
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.prowl.torquefree
Cool! Pairing with the phone and tethering will make this great!