bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

of course this could also have been a rumor put out by apple.

tell me about the risks and tradeoffs.

any company that does not participate will be negatively impacted sooner or later.

the 'use' of this data has barely begun and sure, CAN it have negative consequences? theoretically but probably the bigger risk is hackers getting into that data than the companies collecting it. but whether a person chooses to use android auto or apple carplay or not, sure of being a complete luddite, that person's data is EVERYWHERE anyway if they use charge cards, go in public places, use a cell phone, i.e., almost everybody.

scooky

Article I read on the topic earlier was a statement from Toyota. They said Apple just wanted thing like if they car was moving/running. Not much else.
Google wanted throttle position, maintenance info, bunch of stuff.
That earlier article was explaining why Toyota was adopting Apple but not Google at that time.
My main point was just around why Toyota was dragging their heels on this and a curiosity about what might have changed. I don't know about other companies that haven't adopted.

I'd rather not engage on this here. I suspect the people that care already have some ideas. Because of my job I'm very aware of big data collection, but not sure how much I care.

While I think it will be technically possible, and recent laws making it legally possible to maintain some privacy. I think it will be increasingly difficult for the people that choose that route.
And the benefits for trading that privacy will get increasingly valuable and enticing.

JDR76

Wonder if/when BMW will get it. Does Infiniti offer it? I assume it's a matter of "when" and not "if" for pretty much all manufacturers. I don't really get it (for AA or CarPlay), but it's clearly what the market is asking for.

BippuLexus

Definitely true. Its clear that consumers want the option for Apple Car Play and Android Auto. There are going to be people that want those nice luxury cars and just want the standard infotainment system. This is why more and more two-style step ups are introduced. You have Lexus, MB and BMW offering smaller screen sizes for the lower infotainment tier. And you have Audi having choose between regular gauges or Virtual Cockpit.
Apple Car Play and Android Auto is for the people that want to skip those infotainment packages and just use their phone.

I agree. Having the options there and letting people decide is definitely good. I don't doubt that.
What I'm arguing against is the people that think Apple Car Play and Android Auto are the most important features of a car. There are people saying "If it doesn't have Apple Car Play, I wouldn't buy that car." I think that's too extreme because there are so many, so many other things that make a car good rather than some mirroring service.
I also think its too extreme to spend upwards of 40 plus thousand dollars on a vehicle to skip the infotainment package (to save a few thousand dollars) just to use a phone mirroring system as an infotainment system.

I like what BMW is doing to their Apple Car Play. Make an option or a subscription service for people that want it. Internally - BMW must of done an review of how their cars were purchased and realized not much people were optioning Apple Car Play. Its likely the reason why its not standard on BMW cars.

Its Siri's Eyes Free and its exactly the same as Siri. It functions the same way if you were using it for text messages.
If you use Siri with in Apple Car Play for text messages, you speak and it reads to you what it says through speaker.
If you use Siri Eyes Free for text messages, you speak and it reads to you what it says through speaker.
Its the same thing...

Our opinions are just different and that's fine. We will just agree to disagree. I think your main target and vent message is about the Lexus Enform. If you take the time to learn Lexus Enform, its better than Apple Car Play.
Its also able to do everything Apple Car Play does without having to mirror your phone. The only exception is Audiobook, Pandora, or Google Maps/Waze.
And for me - AudioBook and Pandora is 100% useless. I have my own playlist/radio. Also - with free weather/traffic on the standard Lexus Navigation - I think Google Maps and Waze is useless. While using the standard Lexus map, I can still use the split screen function too. At the end - I believe its not worth having to connect and disconnect my phone every effing time I get into the car.
Lastly - the new Amazon Alexa voice system only works on the Lexus standard infotainment system. So, if you say "find the nearest donuts shop.", it'll only pull up on the Lexus maps.

Your last point proves the conversation we are having now.
Like MattyG said earlier:
Apple Car Play and Android Auto is appealing to the person that literally can't put down their phone that they would need just so they can check their messages while driving.

BippuLexus

Really? That's extreme. What about Apple Car Play and Android Auto that is so good makes you wanna skip Toyota/Lexus products? I guess you would skip BMW too? Because BMW doesn't offer Apple Car Play as standard and it doesn't offer Android Auto either.

I don't like Apple Car Play or Android Auto. I think its useless compared to the infotainment system you get from luxury cars.

However - from what I gathered - people want it because they want to skip options. Its for the people that buy "stripper" cars or luxury cars. Meaning - cars that literally have nothing on it. There are tons of people that buy cars with nothing on it and are forced to use their phones on AC vent bracket. These same people want their cars to have Apple Car Play and Android Auto so they can get these same cars with nothing on it and just use their phones again (but in a more integrated way).
Car companies are catching on to this and started to introduced 2 different type of screens you can buy. If you option for the car with nothing on it, you'll get the smaller screen. If you option the car with their standard navigation and infotainment system, you'll get the bigger screen.

BMW likely doesn't give a crap about these mirroring services. They just moved Apple Car Play to subscription based services. I think BMW might have did an internal review of their customers and realized majority of BMW driver doesn't really want it.

mjeds

not entirely true.

Carplay and Android Auto appeal to people that don't want to be bothered with the different clunky infotainment systems in vehicles.

personally, until I had Carplay in my new G80 I didn't see the value in it, and could have cared less.. Now that I have it, I get it. every car manufacturer makes a different infotainment system, they are all clunky and in general a pain to use. Carplay is essentially plug and play and you get the same interface you use on your phone in your dash. done and done.


I don't text when I drive, and while the read and respond system of Carplay is pretty neat, I have "do no disturb while driving" automatically activated so I don't get the texts.

What I do like is the ability to easily connect for hands free and the ability to find and use any music on my iPhone or use a streaming app without a clunky interface that requires me to log into yet another service, and I can go from car to car that have carplay and not have to sync my Bluetooth for hands free or music streaming, or do any kind of setup. Just plug in and go, my phone is hands free and my music is streaming through the universal carplay app.

the simplicity of the system is why people want it. so they don't have to deal with propriety infotainment systems with horrible user interfaces.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

you keep making this point but you're missing a (much) bigger picture than just what a car's infotainment provides and that is AI. siri, alexa, and google assistant integration will expand and evolve you'll be able to 'tell' your car all kinds of things that no infotainment system will do, like "turn on the slow cooker at the house and put an appointment with joe smith on my calendar for 10a.m. tomorrow"

makes sense... think of the car as the 'controller' (*****, buttons, gestures, touchpads, touchscreens, screens, etc.) and the phone is the 'brains' (or a link to the cloud brain). you want a fancy controller, you pay more. there's NO WAY car companies will be able to keep up with the cloud vendors.

does't matter what they think, their customers will demand it.

nitroracer

Anyone that thinks "Siri Hands Free" and Siri through CarPlay are the same thing... well, how can I put this nicely... is someone that begrudgingly owns an iPhone. We'll just leave it at that.

This idea that an infotainment system is some sort of status symbol is ridiculous. As an example, Virtual Cockpit is available in a base A4 with "Virtual Cockpit" selected. It's very underwhelming and way overpriced. Either way, I'd rather spend a couple seconds dictating a text through CarPlay than 30 seconds through Lexus' infotainment system. My dad would tell me those are the "same thing". Except one is an order of magnitude faster...

JDR76

I think BMW realized that people want it so badly they will pay to get it. Kind of like how BMW has been with the pushbutton start on several models. They charge extra for it, because they know people will pay to get it. Easy money.

JDR76

Genuinely interested in what Siri can do through CarPlay that it can't through Siri Eyes Free. I do use it to compose text messages but that's about it, and occasionally for random questions, but that's about it. I'm not a big "on the phone" guy in the car.

mjeds

Car Play is the higher end version of Eyes Free. Car Play interacts with the cars Media Center, touch screen and Steering Wheel controls.

Eyes Free is simply a connection through Bluetooth to the Cars audio system.

One requires a Car Play compliant Media center and touch screen in the car, the other doesn't.

essentially it is all Siri, but from my experience with "eyes free" it cannot - launch music, tune to a specific playlist or track by artist, initiate a phone call, or respond to a text directly, schedule an appoint, check traffic, Carplay can.


and by respond directly I mean this.. with carplay when a text comes in, Siri askes if you want her to read it, you respond "yes" she reads it, then siri asks "do you want to reply" you say yes, siri then asks "what do you want to say" you say your message, Siri then reads it back to you and asks if you are ready to send, you say yes and it sends.

at no point or time to I have to touch a button or look at a screen, it's akin to having a conversation with a passenger.

with "eyes free" the message comes in and is read, but you can't respond to it, you have to press the button, tell Siri you want to send a message to "whomever" and then go through the prompts, the message isn't read back to you, so if it didn't pick up what you said correctly, you have no way of knowing without looking at your device.. I found "eyes free" to be pretty bad in my RCF, it's ability to understand (likely the RCFs infotainment systems interference in this) was marginal at best.

Carplay is no different than using Siri directly on you phone, in my G80 I can even initiate it by saying "hey Siri" I don't need to fumble for a button.

With "eyes free" I could not say, "hey siri, open pandora and change to 80s rock station" it would not do this at all, with Carplay I can.
With "eyes free" I could not say, "hey siri, schedule dr. appoint on September 29th at 8:30am" with carplay I can
With "eyes free" I could not say, "hey siri, what is the traffic like on my route", with carplay I can

geko29

The integration with Waze, Pandora, Audible, etc. Waze alone is 1000x superior to the built-in navigation system in any car. And yes, right now I wouldn't buy a BMW, even though I'm driving one today.

You're entitled to your opinion, even if it's wrong.

This definitely does not describe me. I literally just bought a top-trim vehicle with additional options less than a month ago, which cost me a pretty penny. It comes with an 8.3" display AND a 12.3" display AND a heads-up display, and has very pretty maps with Google Earth overlay and all sorts of live data delivered via an inbuilt cellular connection (which has its own additional cost). But the navigation is utter rubbish compared to Waze. I tested it head-to-head last week, and it took almost 50% longer to get home using Here/Google vs. Waze.

And I don't give up the built in infotainment--which is one of the best on the market--by having Android Auto. It's another option, or additional mode. I don't use AA every time I drive. But it's invaluable when I do, and I won't buy another car that doesn't have it.

JDR76

Thanks. I get what CarPlay is and does. I was just trying to get more clarification on what Siri does in CarPlay that it doesn't do in Eyes Free. Or perhaps your answer is that Siri does EVERYTHING in CarPlay? My sister has CarPlay. Guess I need to play with it some more.

nitroracer

On my IS, if you hold down the "call" button, you can interact with Siri through the car's mic (assuming USB/bluetooth connected iPhone). It won't show anything on-screen, though. It's sort of a roundabout way of accessing your iPhone "hands free", as well as wildly slower and clumsier. Actual CarPlay provides seamless, and most importantly fast, interaction with ones iPhone.

CarPlay isn't just about Siri, anyway. I'm not sure why that was brought up. Someone assumed that the only worthwhile feature was hands-free texting.

JDR76

Gotcha. Thanks.