Volvo

While everyone is waiting for the Apple TV or iWatch; Apple has quietly released CarPlay. Notice there is no “i” in the name of an Apple product. The last time Apple left out the famous “i” was because they had no choice. The Apple TV was going to be called iTV until the BBC put its foot dow. Apple announced the iOS Car initiative last year. Apple today with partners Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo will show off CarPlay this week.

CarPlay’s tagline is “smarter, safer and more fun way to use iPhone in the car.” It looks like an iPad mixed with Siri. You will need an iPhone connected to CarPlay at all times. Siri be your copilot for information and navigation. You will be able to use your contacts, make phone calls or listen to voice mails. Just like your other iDevices, Siri try to do what you tell it via voice commands.

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CarPlay of course work s with Apple’s Maps for navigation. One wonders if you will be able to use all 3rd party apps on the CarPlay. Right very few are on the program. If not, I wonder how long before CarPlay gets jailbroken? I wonder this because Waze is so much better than Apple Maps or Google Maps. Will you be able to put on Netflix for the kids or Watch ESPN? These are the things we want to know.

Volvo is the first to show off CarPlay. Other vehicles with CarPlay come out later this year. Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo, BMW, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Jaguar Land Rover, Kia, Mitsubishi, Nissan, PSA Peugeot Citroën, Subaru, Suzuki and Toyota are all ready to push CarPlay. I for one do not like Siri on my phone. So, I sure as heck do not want it in my car. I’d switch to Google’s Now and voice technology in a heartbeat if I could. Siri is unreliable and hardly works most of the time. However, since Apple’s CarPlay is powered by BlackBerry’s QNX platform it should work a little better. Fingers crossed.

By Rubens Saintel

Proud father, #Haitian, photographer, consultant, writer & entrepreneur. I love video games, movies, plays, technology (surprise), beta testing apps and all things sci-fi. SaintelDaily.com |AppleWatch101.com | NBA101.com