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It remains to be seen how the new in-car connectivity camps are going to co-operate, if at all.

THE COMING CAR WARS BETWEEN APPLE AND GOOGLE

Apple’s New CarPlay and Google’s Android-based OAA Are Both in It to Win It, as Smartphone Connectivity Promises Smarter Cars

When you buy or lease your next car, you’ll likely have a new option to consider: Apple or Google?

The battle for the car between Apple, Google and Microsoft has heated up considerably this year with the launch of Apple’s CarPlay and Google’s Android-based Open Automotive Alliance, The Guardian reports in a comprehensive rundown of competing in-car systems.

CarPlay, unveiled at the International Motor Show in Geneva this week, is an evolution of Apple’s previous car connectivity, which used a dock connector to hook up iPods and iPhones with car stereos. The new platform uses Apple’s new Lightning Connector, compatible only with the iPhone 5 series, which allows far greater connectivity, including the ability to power the car’s GPS, place calls and read messages aloud as well as command the car and the iPhone via Siri.

Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo were the first to announce that CarPlay would be fitted to certain 2014 models, while BMW, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Jaguar, Land Rover, Kia, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Peugeot, Citroën, Subaru, Suzuki and Toyota all said they’re working on integrating CarPlay into vehicles further down the road.

The aim of OAA, which Google launched in January, is not just to connect Android from a phone with the car but to tailor it specifically to the in-car experience. "The Open Automotive Alliance is a group of leading automakers and technology companies that share a vision for making technology in the car safer, more seamless and more intuitive for everyone," says an OAA statement on its website.

As with Google’s agnostic approach to the smartphone itself, the theory behind the OAA is that the platform will allow car manufacturers more differentiation than competing systems, while maintaining cross-compatibility from a common software across different auto brands.

Honda, Hyundai and GM are pledged to both Google and Apple, which means that models compatible with Android and the iPhone are likely from all three, though not necessarily in the same car.

Microsoft has been doing in-car technology and mobile phone connectivity since 1998, when the AutoPC was released as a joint project with audio company Clarion. That evolved into Windows CE for Automotive in 2000, which begat Microsoft Auto before being officially renamed Windows Embedded Automotive (WEA) in 2010. Microsoft powers three carmakers’ systems, most famously Ford’s often-clunky Sync system, which launched in 2007 and enables users to control the radio and other in-car entertainment features via voice, as well as make and manage calls on a connected phone.

If having three separate camps wasn’t enough to complicate the in-car market, Guardian tech writer Samuel Gibbs notes, a separate group called the GENIVI Alliance formed in 2009 has been working on an in-car system built around Meego, the operating system abandoned by Nokia. Good luck with that.

The final contender for the in-car space is the Connected Car Consortium’s MirrorLink, a system that displays apps and functions from smartphones on a car’s screens controllable via touchscreen or buttons. It boasts a wide range of device compatibility, with audio streaming as well as screen mirroring available for various smartphones and other devices. MirrorLink started off life as a Nokia project called Terminal Mode first presented in 2009 before being renamed MirrorLink in 2011. By 2012 the Connected Car Consortium had 56 members including GM, Honda, Hyundai, Toyota and VW, as well as LG, Sony, HTC and Samsung.

It remains to be seen how the new in-car connectivity camps are going to co-operate, if at all. Certain cars may only come equipped with compatibility for the iPhone or Android smartphone, for instance. But a few car makers are playing the field, including Ford, which currently uses Microsoft’s systems but is also signed up to CarPlay, and Kia, which uses Android but is also a CarPlay member. GM is signed up to both Apple and Google as well as the GENIVI Alliance, as are Honda and Hyundai, which means drivers might get the choice of Android or iPhone compatibility at the point of buying a new car.

Unless Apple specifically excludes the OAA in its licensing agreements for CarPlay, some cars could default to Android but switch to iPhone connectivity when an iPhone is plugged into the system. How that would work for the driver is unknown at this point, but either way, Gibbs concludes, 2014 promises the most interesting and exciting technology to hit in-car systems in decades.

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