Apple’s surprise announcement of CarPlay turned a lot of heads. Bizarrely running on Blackberry’s QNX platform, of all things, CarPlay will launch through partnerships with Volvo, Mercedes, and Ferrari. But how hard will it be for other developers to add CarPlay support to their apps?
The good news is the answer is: ‘not very.’ But the bad news is, Apple’s the gatekeeper to when that happens, and they won’t open up access until they are convinced CarPlay is safe.
This week Apple announced CarPlay, a rebranding of ‘iOS in the Car’ from WWDC last summer. The software is an extension of iOS that is designed for hands-free use of Siri, Apple Maps, Phone, Messages, and services like iTunes Radio.
While Apple’s focus with CarPlay is clearly on its own apps and services, the company has chosen to launch with four “select third-party audio apps.” It’s good news for the chosen four, but how Apple plans to work with other developers on CarPlay integration in the future remains unclear.
Apple will launch “iOS in the Car” with Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz, and Volvo as partners at the Geneva Motor Show next week, according to the Financial Times.
While Apple has said that it has more than a dozen automobile manufacturers on board, the company is reportedly choosing to launch with the three aforementioned brands only. Apple executive Eddy Cue is a member of Ferrari’s board of directors.
Originally unveiled alongside iOS 7 at WWDC last summer, iOS in the Car is Apple’s interface for dash displays in vehicles. The extension of iOS lets the user navigate using Maps, make phone calls, control music, and use Siri without needing to touch an iPhone in the car.
Apple has said that iOS in the Car is a “key focus” for the company in 2014. A redesigned interface for iOS in the Car was discovered in iOS 7 last month. Automobile makers like Honda have been preparing their newer cars for the software with large touchscreens.
Source: Financial Times
Microsoft’s search for a new CEO is over. Satya Nadella, who was formerly the executive vice president of Microsoft’s Cloud and Enterprise group, will replace Steve Ballmer immediately, the company said today.
Developer Steven Troughton-Smith has uncovered screenshots of Apple’s unreleased interface for iOS in the Car, a feature that integrates an iOS device with a vehicle’s in-dash system. According to Troughton-Smith, iOS in the Car is in the current, public release of iOS 7.0.4. He assumedly found it after digging through the software’s code.
When Apple unveiled iOS 7 at WWDC last June, it teased iOS in the Car with a design that is pretty different from what Troughton-Smith has leaked. The screenshots reflect the iOS 7 aesthetic, and could very well represent the design Apple will ship to the public.
iOS in the Car has been labeled as “coming soon” since it was originally announced last summer. Apple has said at least a dozen automobile partners are on board with the technology, like Honda, Nissan, and Acura. It has been reported that iOS in the Car will go live alongside the release of iOS 7.1 in the coming months.
Some more screenshots provided by Troughton-Smith compared to Apple’s current materials:
A key feature in iOS 7 dangles the prospect of console-style action in front of hard-core gamers hooked on action-platformers and first-person shooters. But while developers can now add controller support to games, hardware makers face a new challenge: getting gamers to shell out $100 to morph their iPhones or iPads into console killers.
Hardware maker Signal is unapologetic about the hefty price tag for its new RP One controller, one of several new gaming devices certified under Apple’s Made for iPhone (MFi) program.
“Quality is not free,” Signal’s director Mark Prince told Cult of Mac, “and it makes no sense to compare an MFi controller to a ‘bag and tag’ generic [Bluetooth] controller.”
Core gamers want to sit down with a precision controller when they immerse themselves in a console game. iOS developers compete with the big boys of console gaming like Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo, for their audience’s gaming dollars.
It’s a clear trend, and even Apple, which has long played the “we don’t care much about gaming” card with iOS, has finally introduced built-in code to support game controllers.
Peripheral makers Logitech, SteelSeries, and Moga have all put their efforts into iOS 7-compatible controllers, each a little different. They all run $100, though, leaving gamers wondering if Apple has set the pricing.
“$100 is probably the lowest viable price point for most if not all of us to cover development, material and manufacturing costs, plus packaging, distribution and retail margins,” said Prince. “We’d like to go on record as saying that Apple does not set these prices.”
LAS VEGAS — Remember Anki, the little iOS-powered toy car app that Apple brought up on stage for its World Wide Developers Conference last year?
We got to catch up with them at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show to talk about the app, the AI-controlled toy cars, and how they’ve created the latest must-have toy gadget with Apple’s help.
Having previously been labeled the “least green” tech company by Greenpeace due to its reliance on coal at data centers, Apple is keen to live up to its “force for good” mantra by demonstrating the environmental credentials of its products.
And when you’re speaking about the Mac Pro, those credentials are pretty damn impressive.
The Consumer Electronics Show kicks off in Las Vegas next week, and today it was announced that Apple’s iBeacon technology will be used to organize a scavenger hunt on the show floor for attendees.
2013 was an enormous year for Apple. Yes, there were hyped keynotes galore, fabulous new products, record breaking sales, and much, much more. But 2013 was about more than just hardware for Apple Inc. During Tim Cook’s second full-year reigning over Apple we saw the CEO really settle into his role helming the largest tech company in the world while Jony Ive’s influence grew to greater heights than in the Jobs-era as he spread his design tentacles from hardware to software.
Jony and Tim weren’t the only stars of 2013 though. There was the up-and-coming VP of software engineering Craig Federighi and Craig Federighi’s Hair, while Apple’s hiring of Burberry CEO Angela Ahrendts received heaps of praise from both the financial, tech, and fashion markets. Oh and don’t forget about goons like David Einhorn, Carl Icahn and even cranky old John McCain getting their jabs in at Apple throughout the year.
Here’s Cult of Mac’s look back on Apple in the year 2013: