Gadgetory

what's up folks I'm Antoine Goodwin on the floor at the 2014 LA Auto Show and I'm about to get a look at Google's new in-car app system that's right it's Android auto and we're gonna see it behind the wheel of this 2015 Hyundai Sonata now here in the Sonata and we've got our Android phone plugged up by a USB to the Hyundai's infotainment system and the first thing that you'll notice is that the on-screen interface looks a whole lot like Google now on your Android lollipop device you've got some sort of contextual information about commute times and what the current weather is like and also your recent call information but then getting past that you get integration with a bunch of different apps popping into the phone system right here you'll see your recent calls everything's very simplified and you don't actually really have to touch the screen to gain access to any of these things you can hit a button here on the steering wheel and sort of give Google those sort of voice controls that you're used to using on your phone call Joey Allen Joey mobile and it operates just like it would on your phone and it kind of looks a lot like it does on your phone you hit the map button and you pop it to an interface that looks a lot like Google Maps and again you have those sort of Google Voice commands that you can give here navigate to the nearest coffee shop catch the one you want and then you're on your way now we've seen some of this before at Google i/o when this system was demonstrate it but one of the things we're seeing right now is our first implementation of third-party apps Google's are sort of released an API that allows third-party app developers to develop for Android auto and get their apps working in your car now currently it only supports audio apps that are gonna be things like podcasting your news readers and messaging apps they kind of want to limit you to things that aren't going to be distracting in the car and that are going to be useful when you're behind the wheel so the all of the audio apps are gonna kind of look more or less the same Google Play Music has larger album artwork in the back and an orange color scheme and when you pop into Spotify it looks pretty much the same except for its green the reason behind that if they don't want you fiddling around with a lot of complex controls they want the play button in the same place every time so you're not gonna spend a lot of time filling around the screen you'll have more time with your hands on the steering wheel and on the road now one of the most distracting things you can do in the car is fiddle around with text messages so we have something in place here with Android auto that's gonna help you deal with that text messages from third-party messaging app and text method just come in and notifications and are read aloud by the system without you having to take your hands off of the wheel now I can respond to that text message via voice using the steering wheel controls reply see your message I'll be there in about 10 minutes there's your message I'll be there in about 10 minutes do you want to send it sure big message now I've received the message and reply to the message with minimal interaction with the screen very cool now you'll be able to get your hands on Android auto in the 2015 Hyundai Sonata sometime in mid 2015 Hyundai's gonna bring it to the market alongside apples apple carplay and pro payment system for iPhone devices I've an inch long goodwin on the floor at the 2014 LA Auto Show be sure to stay tuned to the rest of our coverage of the show