Google Brings Android to Dashboard; Forms Open Automotive Alliance to Compete with Apple
According to CNET Google has made vast inroads into the automotive industry by aligning itself with General Motors, Audi, Honda and Hyundai. Combined with a partnership with graphics giant Nvidia, Google wants to make cars the ultimate mobile device accessory thanks to a CES 2014 announcement
The venture will officially be called the Open Automotive Alliance. What OAA hopes to achieve is quite extraordinary. They want to merge the power of Google's Android operating system, which is used on millions of phone and tablet devices, with existing automobile technology. If this venture is successful services like Google Earth will replace traditional car navigation systems that are clunky to use. Other potential uses could include text-to-speech dictation for safely sending text messages while driving. Cars will be able to be updated via a software update, The OAA will come up with new car safety standards that pave the way for safer, integrated automobiles.
"The OAA is dedicated to a common platform that will drive innovation, and make technology in the car safer and more intuitive for everyone," the group said. Its "open development model and common platform will allow automakers to more easily bring cutting-edge technology to their drivers, and create new opportunities for developers to deliver powerful experiences for drivers and passengers in a safe and scalable way."
The alliance believes that Android provides a key step forward in making connected cars a reality.
"The OAA is aimed at accelerating auto innovation with an approach that offers openness, customization and scale, key tenets that have already made Android a familiar part of millions of people's lives. This open development model and common platform will allow automakers to more easily bring cutting-edge technology to their drivers, and create new opportunities for developers to deliver powerful experiences for drivers and passengers in a safe and scalable way."
Making all cars consistent on a safety basis is already hard to do. Will the drive to implement Android into the automobile actually impede driver & passenger safety? Ricky Hudi, Head of Electrics/Electronics Development at AUDI AG, doesn't think so.
"The worlds of consumer and automotive technologies have never been more closely aligned, and this alliance will only pave the way for faster innovation," said Hudi. "Working toward a common ecosystems benefits driver safety above all."
Would having Android in your car will be beneficial or distracting to you? Let us know what you think should happen to the future of automobile tech in the comments below.
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