Gadgetory

the infotainment system in new cars is about to get a major new chapter or just get made obsolete as apple carplay and Google's Android auto start shipping in some 2016 models and the aftermarket has beaten car makers to the punch already installing carplay and android auto systems in the cars we already drive you don't have to be a mobile tech nerd to love this idea just a car owner who wants to feel less pain while driving I'm Brian Cooley with my top 5 reasons at carplay and android auto are going to be a blessing now these are my picks based on spending a lot of time in a lot of cars and try my patience with their cabin tech and admittedly limited time poking around car playing Android autos and serve very very new don't screw this up guys and make us both look bad here we go number 5 dashboard distraction I put this low because let's face it screwing around with infotainment while you drive is still screwing around with infotainment while you drive no matter who design it however Apple and especially Google are expert at predictive knowledge their systems are built to try and know what you mean or want before you're even done inputting it nice on a phone critical in a car number four lousy user interface car makers are all over the road on their UI what their screens and displays look like all too often have a single thing in common they look like hell Google and especially Apple have a look and feel to their platforms that holds together across all screens and ideally across third-party apps it creates some badly needed consistency imagine if cars had a gas pedal on the left and sometimes on the right number three old media even Apple the folks who invented iTunes aren't so much in the mp3 game like they used to be and neither they nor Google were ever married to things like satellite radio HD radio CDs they have no problem quickly embracing the new and dumping the old things like streaming choices that come so fast car makers can often just hope to be two generations behind number two stale POS your car's current navigation rig points of interest seldom are they are instead these stiff rigid outdated categories of things that take longer to page through than to drive to and almost never are they aware of what you like it's mostly collections of obvious things like national chain locations or overly broad categories like museums or cemeteries yeah kill me move over and let live search and my preferences and history flourish in the - before I get you number one some things that are certainly beyond the ability of Apple and Google to fix beyond infotainment like complicated touchscreens for temperature control why blind spot and Lane Departure warnings that all sound like the same bird chirping or absurd 180 miles pedometers that crush every increment down so small you can't tell you're doing 50 or 70 without taking out a magnifying glass the number one thing that Apple and Google can know must improve in the dash is maddening voicecrackboys commanding cars used to be like magic until smartphones arrived and showed us it's actually more like a gallstone get out of the way car makers there's no technology better proven you shouldn't be involved in then voice command dress add in the fact that voice envelops most of what happens in the dash and I can't wait to talk to Siri or say ok Google behind the wheel more top 5 list - wait the car lover go to see net on cars calm but on top 5