Apple says its CarPlay vehicle infotainment system will debut this week
Apple on Monday announced that its automobile infotainment system, now called CarPlay, will make its debut this week in new vehicles from Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo.
The Cupertino tech company first unveiled plans for a car infotainment system last year, when it called the feature “iOS in the Car.” It’s been a while since then, but Apple finally announced that the system will roll out with several new cars shipping this year.
At the Geneva Motor Show in Switzerland, Apple said CarPlay will make it possible for iPhone users to conduct several tasks on their devices by giving voice commands to Siri. Users will be able to activate Siri by pressing a dedicated button located on the steering wheel of vehicles that support CarPlay.
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“CarPlay has been designed from the ground up to provide drivers with an incredible experience using their iPhone in the car,” said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s vice president of iPhone and iOS product marketing, in a statement. “iPhone users always want their content at their fingertips and CarPlay lets drivers use their iPhone in the car with minimized distraction.”
With CarPlay, users can make calls, use the Apple Maps navigation system and listen to and respond to text messages. CarPlay also lets users control their music as well as music played through third-party audio apps, such as Spotify.
In addition to Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo, other car manufacturers will support CarPlay down the road, Apple said. Those companies include BMW, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Jaguar Land Rover, Kia, Mitsubishi, Nissan, PSA Peugeot Citroën, Subaru, Suzuki and Toyota.
For now, CarPlay will only work with the iPhone 5s, iPhone 5c and the iPhone 5. Users who want the feature will have to conduct an iOS 7 update on their device.
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