Audi is set to announced a new in-vehicle technology partnership with Google, a new report finds. Audi will reportedly make an official announcement on the Google-based infotainment system. at the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Audi will use the annual electronics convention to outline plans to use Google’s Android operating system for its future in-car infotainment systems. The tie-up is expected to give both drivers and passengers access to music, entertainment and navigation apps that mirror the usability of Google’s Android-based smartphones.
Google’s in-car strategy will follow a similar move made by rival Apple earlier this year. In June Apple announced a its latest iOS in the Car that essentially turns a car’s center screen into an iPhone interface. Automaker’s like Ferrari, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Jaguar, Kia, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan and Volvo have already signed on to use Apple’s iOS in the Car.
“The car is becoming the ultimate mobile device,” Thilo Koslowski, an analyst at the research firm Gartner Inc., told WSJ. “Apple and Google see that and are trying to line up allies to bring their technology into the vehicle.”
So far Audi is Google’s only known automotive infotainment partner, but the two sides are said to be pushing to establish Android as a major player in the in-vehicle technology field. Google has offered its mapping technology to automakers since 2006.
In addition to its new Android-powered infotainment system, Audi is expected to demonstrate its latest autonomous vehicle technology at CES. Google has long been a pioneer in the area of self-driving vehicles, but there is no indication that the two companies are collaborating on the future of driverless cars.
December 30, 2013December 30, 2013
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