Smartphones are now a part of everyday life. Need directions to a restaurant? Google Maps
is just a click or spoken word away on your phone. With the rapid pace of development of apps
and phones, the new features being offered are changing every day. Many people get tired of their shiny, new smartphone
in less than three years, and cell phone providers are now offering replacement
phones after two or even one year to keep customers happy and current.
On the other hand, people tend to replace their car every
five to seven years. Those used cars then
stay in service for another five to ten years after that. Now think about the development cycle of a
new car which takes over a year; whatever system existed to integrate the
vehicle with the smartphone when it rolled off the assembly line has to survive
three or four new generations of smartphones over its life cycle, and from phone
vendors that may not even have existed when the car was initially developed.
Coming up with a system that allows consumers to use certain
aspects of their phones with their cars is a significant challenge, but one
that consumers expect in today’s cars.
Different manufacturers have developed their own proprietary approaches
to this problem, and there are industry working groups developing specifications
for interfaces between cars, phones, mp3 players and other electronic devices.
The auto industry is still in its early stages of trying to
figure out how to deal with this new compatibility people expect from their everyday
electronic devices. Likely in ten or
even five years when we look back, many of the approaches that exist today will
seem antiquated, in the same way as people regard diskmen or the Edsel. Until
then, I look forward to seeing what emerges!
- David
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