Google To Unveil Connected-Car System At Annual Developer Conference
Google’s entry into the world of connected vehicles is in the final phases of development, but those who can’t wait to see its interface will have their chance when the system debuts at the tech company’s annual Google I/O Conference next week.
Automotive News reports the system — dubbed internally as Google Auto Link — will be the first fruit to be harvested from the Open Automotive Alliance’s connected-car efforts. GAL will also be a projected system, whereupon Android smartphone users will be able to connect with their phones through the controls and displays of vehicles so equipped.
As for who will be the first to offer GAL and when, Google will not announce the former during the annual conference, while the OAA said to expect the system to arrive in vehicles “starting in 2014.” At the moment, members Audi and Hyundai use some of Google’s services within their own embedded infotainment systems, including Google Earth and Google Search.
In addition to GAL, Google will announce upcoming features for Android “that will enable the car itself to become a connected Android device,” further bringing smartphones and vehicles together as one entity as far as the company’s ambitions are concerned. The two programs will likely face challenges from rival Apple, who unveiled its own CarPlay at the 2014 Geneva Auto Show; the system is already available to Ferrari FF purchasers, and will be offered to the consumer bases of Mercedes-Benz, Hyundai, Jaguar, Honda and Volvo later this year.
Seattle-based writer, blogger, and photographer for many a publication. Born in Louisville. Raised in Kansas. Where I lay my head is home.
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If you asked the cartoonist Sandra Boynton to draw a car....
So do things like this: http://www.amazon.com/Ouku-navigation-Function-software-Download/dp/B00A3KJ9ZE fall into that subject? Seems ironic if not b/c Google started Android, and there now seems to be a grass roots developer base that is working on things such as the head unit in the link (there are many others out there in the wild). Has anyone seen, used, installed, played with an Android powered/based car stereo head unit?
Oh it will be such a thrill! Strap on an Android app and let it take you for a country ride on Sunday. Look! The occupants are wearing Google Glasses for that genuine moo-cow experience while they twitter their earth-shattering revelations to their friends and collect likes. Heaven on Earth. Yes Indeed. The human brain crumbles into dust as the powers that be discover that all people really want to do is trade inane observations of fulsome triteness with each other. Gossip, in other words. Give them enough connectivity and the view out the window might be real ... or it could be GOOGLE.
Just what the world needs : more distractions while driving, more accidents, more deaths. Real progress!!!