CarPlay

You’d think putting three electric motors into a sportscar to generate a total of 697bhp would be pretty impressive in itself, as would a 1085bhp 5-litre V8 gas engine, but no: Koenigsegg had to combine the two. The exclusive Swedish supercar manufacturer’s new Regera hybrid delivers a total output of 1782bhp.

With all that power, it might be a little hard to hear the stereo over the engine noise and tire screeching, but Koenigsegg has fitted a CarPlay unit to the car for those times when you’re taking things a little easier … 
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Apple has hired former president and CEO of Mercedes-Benz Research & Development Johann Jungwirth to join the company as Director of Mac Systems Engineering. The hire was confirmed by Jungwirth’s LinkedIn page, and first noted by a report in the Financial Times detailing Apple’s recent hires in the automotive industry and secretive new automotive research lab.

The report claims Apple’s automotive hires are for a new research lab where “experienced managers from its iPhone unit, are researching automotive products.”
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Earlier today, Apple seeded the first iOS 8.3 build to developers alongside Xcode 6.3 beta with Swift 1.2. Readers have discovered that the new operating system brings a new wireless CarPlay feature to the iPhone. This means that users can now wirelessly connect their iPhone to the car to bring an iOS-like experience the dashboard. Previously, users would have to connect their iPhone to the car via a USB Lightning cable. We first reported in March 2014 that Apple has been working on wireless CarPlay. It’s yet to be seen how long the wireless CarPlay rollout takes and which cars support it in the future. The new update also, like with OS X 10.10.3, brings easier Google login functionality for users with two-factor accounts:

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My next new car probably won’t have CarPlay. I’ve reached this decision in part due to automakers’ slow crawl to put CarPlay in vehicles that you can actually buy today. While 2015 may bring the feature to more vehicles on the road with more than 30 automobile brands committed to ship CarPlay in the future, we’re still not there yet and the roll out is slow.

More influential, though, is my experience using aftermarket CarPlay in my current car for several months convincing me that CarPlay’s features are not yet where they need to be. As I noted in my hands-on review last fall, CarPlay introduces a new set of problems while trying to make using your iPhone in the car safer and easier.

So if CarPlay isn’t ultimately the answer to creating a better iPhone experience on the road, then what is? I’m convinced the Apple Watch will be better suited…

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If you’ve somehow missed the overflow of coverage from CES 2015 last week, don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. During the show we took a look at the latest devices and accessories that are expected to be released throughout 2015. The show was packed with new smartphones, home automation tools, cases, and some unexpected surprises. If you didn’t catch all of the coverage from the show, check out the roundup below with links to everything that we found interesting…

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Demonstrating how Apple’s CarPlay will be integrated into upcoming budget vehicles, Harman has shown the Integrated Essentials Cockpit, a new OEM solution that does away with direct touchscreen interaction in favor of a steering wheel-mounted touchpad. The Integrated Essentials Cockpit eliminates the currently popular center console-mounted screen, instead bringing Apple’s CarPlay interface directly into the dashboard behind the steering wheel.

Unusually, the CarPlay UI then sits between a left-side speedometer and a right-side tachometer, below a bar with a thermometer and above a fuel gauge and odometer. More pictures and details are below.

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Pioneer was first to bring CarPlay to the market without requiring you to buy a new car, and at CES 2015 today the company announced the second generation of its CarPlay-enabled NEX in-dash receivers. The latest Pioneer NEX displays all support CarPlay and start at $700 with 6.2-inch and 7-inch resistive and capacitive touch displays.

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Kenwood announced today at CES 2015 its first entry into the aftermarket CarPlay space with its new DDX9902S multimedia receiver. Kenwood’s announcement follows the roll out of competing aftermarket CarPlay head units from both Pioneer, which was first to bring CarPlay to the market and Alpine, which built a dedicated CarPlay display. In addition to supporting CarPlay, Kenwood says its DDX9902S display will support Google’s Android Auto feature in the same unit.
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Volkswagen, at CES 2015, has finally announced what it plans to do with both CarPlay and Android Auto. The German auto manufacturer has confirmed that it will begin shipping cars with CarPlay capabilities later this year in its 2016 models. We reported back July of last year that Volkswagen and Apple were in talks to bring CarPlay to VW’s 2016 models.

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[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfrN8IVQB84&channel=parrot]

Parrot today introduced its new infotainment system, currently known only by its model number, “RNB6,” that features a 7-inch 720p display. The system runs on a custom build of Android, but has full support for the iPhone’s CarPlay feature, allowing control of your cell phone’s key functions through your dashboard.

Even without a phone connected, the system offers onboard navigation (integrated with the dashcam), phone call capability (presumably over Bluetooth unless connected via CarPlay or Android Auto), vehicle diagnostics, music and climate control, and more.

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Apple’s new CarPlay iOS feature has recently arrived through a limited number of in-dash vehicle entertainment systems and aftermarket products, but Apple has now introduced official guidelines for companies building CarPlay hardware through its Made-for-iPhone/iPad/iPod (MFi) licensing program, according to sources. 
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Most of my favorite gift picks this year fall into the category of using the iPhone and iPad on the road so I already shared my favorite gift items for road warriors including CarPlay in-dash receivers and more. The Mac, though, is less transit-friendly when it comes to gifts unless you’re looking for a power adapter for charging in the car, so below I’ve collected some more Mac-friendly gift picks as well as a few analog options and more. Catch up with the rest of 9to5Mac’s holiday gift guides for more ideas and follow 9to5Toys.com for the latest deals. 

Apple and Google are back at it again and attempting to bring a safe and friendly mobile experience to your car. Android Auto and CarPlay are the two company’s re-imagining of mobile user interfaces for the car and both are gearing up for a major rollout over the next year.

Each system is designed to work with its respective native mobile platform, but there are differences between the two that may appeal to different people. Today we’re comparing Apple’s CarPlay to Google’s Android Auto using the 2015 Hyundai Sonata. This car comes packed with both systems, so you won’t have to compromise either way, but there are some important differences between the two…

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Developer Adam Bell has published a preview of his latest project that attempts to allow CarPlay, Apple’s iOS feature usually reserved for in-car entertainment systems, to run directly on iOS devices.
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The iPhone has easily become the best jukebox in the car with your iTunes library, iTunes Radio, streaming services like Beats Music and Spotify, and great apps for keeping up with podcasts. With hands-free features powered by Siri, you can even stay in touch with phone calls and text messages all without ever taking your eyes off the road. If you’re a passenger, the iPad is a great screen for gaming, reading, watching movies, and more.

This holiday season is especially exciting with new features built-in to iOS like CarPlay and Hey Siri, which allows you to activate Siri while your iPhone or iPad is charging completely hands-free, and below are some of the best products to gift the iPhone or iPad-owning driver this year.
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Apple has responded to a University of Utah study which criticized the safety of using Siri while driving, stating that it didn’t test the company’s in-car versions, Siri Eyes Free and CarPlay.

Of the six speech-recognition systems tested by researchers, Siri was found to be the worst for driver distraction. The study hooked up drivers to heart-rate monitors and other equipment designed to measure the degree of stress experienced by drivers while carrying out a range of voice-command tasks, giving each system a distraction rating from 1 (best) to 5 (worst) … 
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Overcast 1.1 is out now, bringing several big improvements to the podcast client. The update adds rotation support for the iPhone, which is particularly helpful for people with car docks that enforce landscape device orientation. Arment tastefully uses popovers for the playback settings, a UI element that is generally underused on the iPhone.

For iPad, the app is now truly optimized for the larger canvas, making liberal use of split views and modal sheets. Given that Overcast prides itself on a clean appearance, a native iPad UI for navigation is very welcome indeed. Like the stock Mail app, a list view sits side-by-side with episode details like artwork and show notes. 9to5Mac reviewed Overcast when it originally launched, so check that out if you are looking for more details about the app’s functionality.

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CBS has updated its Radio News application with support for Apple’s CarPlay interface. The new UI allows users to browse and play the network’s library of on-demand shows such as the CBS Evening News and 60 Minutes. Users will also find that the Now Playing screen presents them with their local weather conditions.

Also included in the new update is a set of bug fixes for issues such as two audio tracks playing back at once for some users. There is also a new introduction screen that walks users through the functions of the app. CBS News also rolled out a channel for the Apple TV earlier today.

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Stitcher Radio, one of Apple’s first CarPlay partners, has released an update that enables the dashboard interface in its popular podcast app. The update also includes bug fixes and stability improvements. The release comes just days after Stitcher was acquired by a music streaming company called Deezer.

Stitcher joins Rdio, Spotify, and iHeartRadio in supporting the in-car UI that was first demonstrated alongside iOS 7 last year. Several other apps, including Apple’s own Podcasts and Beats Music software, are still slated to gain support in future updates.

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Alpine today announced its first aftermarket in-dash receiver with support for Apple’s CarPlay feature for iPhone users. The new Alpine iLX-007 will be the company’s first display to support CarPlay following Pioneer’s rollout of the feature to its latest NEX displays earlier this month. Alpine’s new in-dash receiver features a 7-inch capacitive touch screen comparable to Pioneer’s high end NEX8000 CarPlay compatible model ($1,400), but at a much lower price point of $800 as it lacks other hardware features.

Alpine’s CarPlay offering is still one of the first on the market yet and joins Pioneer in allowing drivers to have CarPlay without buying a new car. Several automakers have already announced CarPlay availability on certain models of new cars, some of which are already on the road, but will require firmware updates in the future before CarPlay is present.
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