Apple’s Bid To Rule The Roads

Mobile technology has penetrated into all walks of life. A simple mobile device with its myriad apps is now the sole gateway to information and entertainment from around the world. It’s almost impossible to name an area where mobile technology hasn’t arrived. The most coveted and far-reaching field, however, has to be automobiles. Automobiles are used by virtually the entire populace of the civilized world. Mobile technology has been attempting to make inroads into the automobiles for a while now. Apple founder, Steve Jobs, envisioned an iCar prior to his death. Jobs passed away before he could get to it. Apple is now driven to making this last dream of its beloved founder see the light of day.

Apple has been actively pushing the use of ‘Siri’ technology in automobiles. Several automakers are striving to bring Apple’s mobile technology into everyday automobiles. The integration of iOS apps with automobiles will have far-reaching consequences beyond imagination. Apple’s voice controlled personal assistant comes in a sleeker car version known as the ‘Siri Eyes Free’. The ‘Eyes-Free’ mode is able to interface with the car’s own voice-control system and give the users device control over the car’s infotainment systems by means of USB or Bluetooth.

‘Siri Eyes Free’ enables you carry out regular mobile functions with relative ease. Keep your eyes firmly focused on the road while you’re handling the wheel. The major disparity between ‘Siri Eyes Free’ and the Siri of the device is that the eyes-free mode discourages features which distract the driver away from the road. A step in this direction takes Apple into a territory that wasn’t much explored until now. Microsoft has been providing synchronization systems to ford right from ’07. Google has been pioneering work on a self-driven car for many a years. The Android systems are currently being applied to the infotainment systems of several auto-manufacturers.

Apple is going to lock horns with Google and Microsoft again for the car. Apple’s reluctance to obey the rules is going to pose a bit of a problem. What’s more worrisome is the slow growth-rate of the automobile industry.

Accommodating Apple’s closed technology into vehicles is a potential killjoy for OEM’s. Apple needs to be more open about the technologies of the future, at least with their auto partners to provide proper integration. This is also a great marketing strategy for entirely unrelated reasons. A car running on iOS gives a user all the more reason to stay vested in the Apple Brand.

With multiple technologies in the pipeline for Apple, by means of the various Hardware and Software offerings, an actual iCar seems unlikely. A more sensible direction for Apple may be to convert as many cars as possible into iCars with their hardware and software integration. The ‘Siri Eyes Free’ can be seen as a dry run of sorts. If this integration technology receives the appropriate response then we are sure to see more work on ambitious infotainment systems. The current competition in this field notwithstanding, Apple’s operational tactic is just that much capable of reaching the top position. The way Apple controls and regulates its ecosystem right from hardware, software and even services, it is guaranteed to introduce a standard of sorts to the auto industry.