Ford Motor Company has taken on a venture that will allow two of the world’s most popular mobile OSs to find common ground in its car. The week began with reports that Ford is making its car infotainment systems wholly compatible with Apple Inc.’s iOS and Google parent company Alphabet’s Android. This move will see iOS and Android hold a more prominent fixture in car info, audio and comm systems. Further, Toyota too has opted to adopt the Ford tech, proving that accessing mobile tools from one’s car dashboard stands to become the new normal.
Ford unites iOS and Android
Ford has long been working on making its comm and infotainment systems more viable with mobile devices. Cars of the motor vehicle giant come with system features like the Siri compatibility, the Connect control and monitoring app, as well as new AppLink tools.
Now Ford has set the bar again by adding better sync features for both iOS and Android. Soon, cars with Ford’s upcoming in-car systems will not only be able to get and make calls and texts, but access a range of other mobile apps as well.
SmartDeviceLink, or SDL, by Ford lets drivers access device apps by means of the dashboard or even voice control. The software has even caught the eye of rival motor giant Toyota. According to a statement made by Ford ahead of this year’s CES in Las Vegas, Toyota will adopt the software. Taking the software aboard is made easier by the fact the Ford has released it as open-source.
“Ford is making the software available as open-source, because costumers throughout the industry benefit if everyone speaks the same language,” Don Butler reports.
Ford appears to essentially be vying to create an industry system standard for future cars. The open-source software also comes as an alternative to car makers who aren’t willing to open their doors to U.S. tech entities.
The creation of SDL by Ford hints at the pressure felt by automakers to fend off the advances of dominant mobile OSs such as those of iOS and Android. SDL will bring more choice to the industry. Both Apple and Google have their own in-car software, CarPlay and Android Auto respectively. Both these allow drivers to mirror their handsets onto their dashboard monitors.
But Ford also stated the SDL wiil be compatible with both CarPlay by Apple Inc. and Google’s Android Auto. This suggests that the firm holds no competitive intentions withn its SDL. Among its many other sync abilities, SDL has popular apps such as Spotify’s streaming service and iHeartRadio too
