Apple CarPlay Unveiled at CES 2015

It was a great year for automotive tech at CES. This year, stunning unveils have come from Mercedes-Benz, Audi and BMW in the self-driving car technology. However, using Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, you can connect your phone in many cars.

How it all started?

About a week before the 2015 International CES, Audi sent an A7-based research model on a self-driving test from one of their headquarters in San Francisco Bay Area to Las Vegas. The A7 arrived in Las Vegas

after one day, without any incident. The car was put in front of the Las Vegas Convention Center, among cars from Toyota, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Ford, Volkswagen, Jeep, Chrysler, Dodge and Hyundai.

Another demonstration was made by BMW, which with its new I3 electric car they managed to show that it can find a parking space by itself without hitting obstacles. Also, Volkswagen and Hyundai showed the same thing.

It seems that on this road to fully self-driving cars, the self-parking is the next big innovation. In a short matter of time, all these cars will have this great new feature. Imagine that if you will have to hurry somewhere, you just have to pull up the car to a parking garage entrance, get down and the automobile will find by itself a parking place. When you want to go home, you will summon the car and before you make it to the street, the car it would wait for you in a special pickup zone.

Cabin tech improvements, Apple CarPlay

Looks like cars are beginning to get some new cabin tech improvements. Known also as “iOS in the Car”, Apple CarPlay allows you to connect your iPhone to the car that you are driving, if the car has a compatible touchscreen-enabled head unit. It doesn’t sound unusual, but once you connect your iPhone, the magic starts to show up. After the two are paired, your unit will display its own version of  iOS, with great icons designed by Apple, and even a Siri support. The great thing about CarPlay is that you can use all the apps without actually touch it. This includes navigating to the shops, playing music, reading and text messages and taking phone calls.

However, the selection of apps is limited compared to what you will find in the App Store. Apple considered that not every app makes sense to be used while you are driving. For example, you won’t find Angry Birds, or Twitter or Facebook in your CarPlay. But, you can use iTunes Music, watch videos or navigate using Apple Maps. In the future, the giant tech company is planning to introduce in CarPlay features such as iHearRadio, Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher or Beats Radio.

How do you control Apple CarPlay?

Controlling CarPlay is relatively simple. There are three ways to control it, and none of them include touching your iPhone.

• The first control over CarPlay is using Siri. This can be the simplest way to us it, because you will be able to talk to your car and tell it what to do. Using Siri, you will be able to dictate messages, even have your messages read out to you, requesting a specific playlist or radio station, or playing your favorite song.
• Every car comes with physical buttons or knobs. You can use them to control CarPlay among Siri options. You will be able to adjust your volume control, answer a call or track skip.
•  If you have a touchscreen display cook into a dashboard, it would be easy to use your CarPlay. With a simple touchscreen, you will be able to open or close your favorite app.

Will CarPlay drive you home?

Unfortunately, CarPlay is not a driverless technology. So if you ask Siri to drive you home, you won’t get
a favorable answer. However, CarPlay can use your iPhone’s Apple Maps app to guide you home while you are driving. If you have an in-dash display, the Maps app will appear on your display, showing you turn-by-turn guidance. If the car doesn’t have a display, you will get your guidance on audio.

Greg Joswiak, Apple’s vice president of iPhone and iOS Product marketing declared:

"CarPlay has been designed from the ground up to provide drivers with an incredible experience using their iPhone in the car."

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