Apple vies for more dashboard space as tech competition grows
(Bloomberg) While Steve Jobs regretted Pandora UK Outlet Sale not making an iCar, Apple Inc. for years was ambivalent about the auto industry. Now it vying for dashboard space held by Microsoft Corp., BlackBerry Ltd. and Pandora Media Inc.
By year end carbuyers will be able to choose from several vehicles that incorporate Apple iPhone functions, using Siri voice controls for navigation, texting, e mails and music. Displacing competitors in the car may be more difficult than in desktop computing or mobile phones, as the technology giant grapples with challenges including extreme temperatures, noisy cabins and long product cycles.
impossible to overestimate the Pandora UK Sale difficulty of integrating an outside software system well into a vehicle, said Eric Noble, president of industry consultant Car Lab. Valley routinely fails to recognize this. the world largest technology company by market value, wants to gain traction as automakers struggle to balance customer demands with safety concerns. BlackBerry QNX Software Systems and Microsoft are the main suppliers of automotive operating system software according to researcher IHS iSuppli, while Pandora is the top in car music streaming service.
Knowing many consumers already use iPhones as cheap substitutes for built in navigation systems, automakers are working to incorporate Apple technology to minimize driver distraction and increase customer satisfaction. Apple Siri is already built into General Motors Co.
works well enough for some things, but I personally think Siri doesn work that well, Montoya said in a phone interview. frequently doesn recognize my voice. Apple enabled system in GM subcompact cars wasn as useful for navigation and other functions as systems automakers already offer, Montoya said.
has not been designed for the car, where the cabin is often noisy, said Chris Schreiner, a research director for consultant Strategy Analytics Inc. and a former engineer for GM OnStar telematics service. tune voice systems for each car. Expecting Siri to work at the same level in every vehicle isn practical. focus
Next, Apple iOS 7 software will be fully integrated into models made by GM, Honda Motor Co., Nissan Motor Co. and Hyundai Motor Co., Apple said last month. Icons familiar on iPhones and iPads will migrate to the center console screen in cars.
something that people want, and I think that Apple can do this in a unique way and better than anyone else, CEO Tim Cook said in a July 23 conference call. a key focus for us. announced plans for Siri Eyes Free capability two years ago, and cars with that option are arriving now. That suggests to Montoya that the more elaborate integration steps Apple discussed in June won appear until 2015, he said.
Honda, Hyundai, BMW, Daimler AG Mercedes Benz, Land Rover, Jaguar, Volkswagen AG Pandora UK Outlet Sale Audi, Toyota Motor Corp. has also got some real skin in the game. They know people want things to be seamless. the early 2000s, Apple showed little interest in working directly with carmakers.
provided technical information to connect iPods and iPhones so people could play music, but weren interested in going beyond that, said Larry Dominique, executive vice president of auto researcher TrueCar Inc. and Nissan North America former head of product planning. was no interest in doing much with us. car
While Jobs, who died in 2011, was cool to the industry, he was passionate about cars. Mickey Drexler, an Apple board member and CEO of apparel company J. Crew Group Inc., last year said Jobs had wanted to try his hand at designing a car and regretted not doing so.
at the car industry: It a tragedy in America. Who is designing the cars? Drexler said in May 2012 at a Fast Company conference in New York. dream before he died was to design an iCar. approach has changed, said Cook, who described auto applications as another part of the company like the App Store is a key part of the ecosystem and iTunes and all of our content are key, and the services we provide from messaging to Siri and so forth, having something in the automobile is very, very important, Cook said.
Apple rivals have worked hard to establish a foothold inside the car that they will be reluctant to give up. BlackBerry Pandora UK QNX, with 50 percent of the 2012 market for proprietary OS in autos, and Microsoft, with 25 percent for Chairman Bill Gates, are the biggest, said Anna Buettner, IHS iSuppli automotive infotainment and telematics analyst.
About half of all music listening takes place in autos, a crucial battleground in the $15 billion local radio advertising market.
to deliver apps is a controlled , Lobenstein said in an interview. place a big priority on quality. We place a big priority on safety. We really want to curate that , and we don want to open it up to just anybody. Apple.