Ford and GM Open Car Software To Outside Developers 82
Dr Herbert West writes with news that General Motors and Ford have both used CES to announce a Software Development Kit for developers to create in-car apps. "Ford is focusing on three primary categories for apps: news and information, music and entertainment, and navigation and location. Marchwicki said the automaker will “instantly deny” apps that incorporate video, excessive text and gaming in a bid to reduce the risk of distracted driving. After developers have incorporated the Sync AppLink code into a proposed app, they submit it to Ford engineers for review. Ford will certify the app is bug-free and appropriate for automobiles. Once approved, Ford will work with the developer to provide a distribution license and get the app on the market." Similarly GM seeks infotainment apps that can be downloaded directly to the dashboard. "GM will provide developers with an SDK through an online portal that allows them to work with the automaker to design, test and deliver relevant automotive apps. GM also is including an HTML5 Java Script framework in its SDK."
Re:Why not pause on shift out of park? (Score:5, Insightful)
Why do they bother?
The future car computer is an iPhone/Android dock.
You almost had me for a moment there. (Score:4, Insightful)
I thought maybe they were opening up the software that actually matters. No real chance of that, though.
Re:Why not pause on shift out of park? (Score:5, Insightful)
Why do they bother?
The future car computer is an iPhone/Android dock.
Exactly. Cars last over a decade but that's a century in silicon-years. When I was shopping for used cars recently many of them boasted GPS maps built in, only they needed updating from non-existant dvd updates made for them. Pointless when my smart phone does a much better job and knows what the price of hotel, and hours places are open and where the coffees shops are. In a few years my smart phone will be google glass. The car cannot possibly keep up.
On the other hand I love my hands free voice activated phon calling that just piggybacks on the smart phones address book.
So what you need is a versatile interface definition to the smart phone that can use voice and video in the car but not supply any og the intelligence from the car. the car is just an input and out put device. these evolve less fast. consider the video screen, mouse and KB. not much has changed in decades.
Re:Why not pause on shift out of park? (Score:4, Insightful)
until you find yourself in your car without a charger, and then you find out just how quickly the battery run out when your iphone has the maps app, gpsm and 3g running.
Worse, and far more often encountered is the great null zone (something you city folk never actually experience except in elevators) where there is no cell service or insufficient bandwidth, like Edge or GPRS) and you can't really use on-line maps. I use to think this only occurred in the boonies of the Western US, but driving around in Upstate New York off of freeways quickly disabused me of that notion.
A dedicated GPS, either built in or suction cupped on the dash is a far better solution.
What is needed is a bluetooth way to send an address to the damn thing directly from the phone. Why do they all forget this feature?