[digitalixus]

Or car markers could just stop being stubborn and greedy with their proprietary trash and just support Car Play/Android Auto. That way the car acts as a dumb terminal for displaying stuff from the phone and nothing is actually stored in the car.

But no, gotta charge hundreds for in-car map updates (that only get updated as often as you purchase them) and radio/traffic subscription that mobile apps charge a fraction of and always up-to-date for as long as you keep the apps updated.

[ndnxhs]

You just listed 2 more bits of proprietary crap though.

[hanniabu]

They're more slave than masters though, pretty much relayers in a sense. They're also more standard. For some reason standardization is always underappreciated

[cptskippy]

I agree with you that car makers should stop trying to provide piss poor alternatives to our phones and instead acts as conduits for them and I remember things like PlaysForSure so I am much more in favor of an open standard like Bluetooth that doesn't live or die by one company.

[voltagex_]

I'm pretty sure the phonebook thing is OBEX. You probably don't want the car hitting your phone for the phonebook every time you want to make a call. IVI systems are slow enough as it is.

[cptskippy]

Yeah, I was reluctant to say Bluetooth because it implied that we should stick with existing protocols but that isn't exactly what I meant to say. Rather we should have some forward thinking protocol that works over multiple interfaces and is still open and platform independent like Bluetooth. Maybe even just a baseline Car Dock standard requiring Microphone, Speakers, and a Touch Display.

Bluetooth is just so encumbered with legacy concepts and limitations. It hosts a myriad of protocols that don't benefit users but are easy to implement to check the Bluetooth feature checkbox. There's a full generation of Bluetooth equipped cars that only support headset or handsfree protocols but not A2DP or other useful protocols people want.

[mikeash]

I agree for most car makers, but I personally find Tesla’s UI to be better than CarPlay. And the map updates are free.

[eclipxe]

Agree 100%

[eclipxe]

Tesla doesn’t charge for map updates.

[dustindiamond]

I was really hoping for Apple and Google to create a bidirectional standard similar to PCoIP (a la VMware), and be able to essentially use the car’s touchscreen as a thinclient to the phone.