Apple announced CarPlay during the WWDC this year, a vehicle software that mirrors the iPhone’s display to the car’s center stack. With CarPlay, iOS users will have a new way to make calls and reply to messages within the car, use Apple Maps for navigation, and listen to music through their iTunes account.
Car manufacturers such as Honda, Hyundai, Jaguar were to roll out CarPlay in some 2014 models. The Apple website also says it will roll out CarPlay in select cars in 2014, but according to Computerworld, the roll outs may take longer than expected before it reaches end users. Car makers are apparently delaying CarPlay deployments and also looking at Google’s Android Auto as an alternative to cater to both Apple and Android users. This makes sense as car manufacturers would not want to alienate buyers by offering just one or the other platform.
According to report, CarPlay rollouts have been delayed by three of five leading automakers that were to integrate the middleware into 2015 models coming out this year. Mercedes Benz, Volvo and Honda have confirmed that they will be fending off the official integration until 2015, which could mean that cars with Carplay integration will only roll off production lines later next year. Hyundai is one automaker that still plans a 2014 deployment of CarPlay and Android Auto.
The delay could give an advantage to Google’s Android Auto. Though it initially seemed that CarPlay would dominate the luxury-vehicle infotainment scene thanks to Apple’s early announcement, the delay has changed things for the Cupertino company. Now, chances are that Android Auto and CarPlay would enter the market around the same time, which is not the ideal situation.
Android Auto works just like CarPlay to help drivers focus on the road while attending phone calls or receiving turn-by-turn navigation instructions. Moreover, Android Auto is expected to be cheaper than CarPlay. If you want it in a car you already own, compatible systems from Pioneer sell for between $700 and $1,400. Once they do hit markets, it would be interesting to see the two major mobile rivals continuing the battle in the automobile arena.
Think Uniq 