Gadgetory

(upbeat music) - Hey, this is Natt with The Verge, and I am here at Google I/O 2018 where we are about to go check out the first car that has Android Auto natively built in. Let's go see. (upbeat music) We are now in the Volvo XC40. It's the first Volvo car that's going to have Android Auto pre-installed in the car. So, whether or not you use an Android or an iOS phone, you can still get access to Google Maps and all of the other Android Auto skin without actually connecting your phone. So, the system runs on Android P, which is the latest system, and it has all this stuff pre-installed. You have Maps, which you can tie to your account. It kind of lets you personalize the driver to the account. So you can adjust your seat. You can set your Maps shortcuts to your home, your work address, or other favorite destinations, and you also have access to a bunch of entertainment apps so that you can adjust which one you like. The newest part of this is now a Google Play functionality that lets you install different apps. Now, these are going to be curated so that all the apps that are available are going to be car specific. So you won't get every single Google Play app onto the car, just the stuff that makes sense, such as music or navigation or texting. The car will also have RCS pre-installed. So, that uses the new Google Chat protocol so that you can get messages without waiting to receive it on Hangouts 'cause R.I.P. Hangouts. There's also an integrated Google Assistant button that you can click and ask for the assistant to change other hardwares in the car, such as car temperature or seat warmers. Now, this is Volvo's skin on Android Auto, which means that this looks like a Volvo infotainment system, but it basically runs on Android. Other car makers may adopt the same thing, but it may look a little different. The goal is for the system to look like the car that you're familiar with and you use and drive all the time, but the experience of using an Android app such as Google Maps or Assistant will be consistent with what you use at home or on your phone. If you use a Google Assistant app on your iOS, that comes in this car as well. The way Volvo has it right now is that Google Maps is available both on the main infotainment screen and also up in the navigation up here. This is all a work in progress. It's just a demo, which means that Volvo actually won't be able to roll this out until at least 2020, but it's a good glimpse of what it looks like to have Android Auto in the car without your phone. The new Google Assistant update will be able to make appointments for you. So, in the future, Volvo believes that the car will then be able to tell when your car is ready for maintenance and then suggests that you can make appointments through Google Assistant within the car. Again, you don't need your phone for any of this, but if you have it tied to your Google account, that'll help. So, I mentioned this is running on Android P. If you wanna learn more about Android P, we actually have a different video that goes down all the lists of all the features coming to Android P; check it out.