Chevy Is Making Big Moves with the Connected Car
According to a variety of sources (like this one), about 51% of Chevy brands worldwide will soon have 4G LTE WiFi along with either Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. That’s pretty cool–but I have to ask what this means for radio.
On my way back from Asia a couple of weeks ago, I read a Wall Street Journal review of Hyundai’s factory-supplied Android Auto-powered infotainment system that comes with new Sonatas. Overall, the reviewer liked how the dashboard display mimicked much of the display on his phone. He found it very intuitive with a short learning curve. Then there was this paragraph:
You can still listen to AM or AM, satellite radio or a CD while using Android Auto Navigation, but you have to jump back and forth from the Android App to the car’s home screen, which gets annoying fast.
Okay, so this GUI issue is just when the nav system is in operation, but anything that’s annoying will discourage use. This got me thinking about how terrestrial radio functions will be integrated into something like Android Auto or CarPlay. Is it in either Google’s or Apple’s interest to encourage radio listening? Or will they bury these functions in the interface?
Another reason why the radio industry has to keep on top of what’s going on in cars these days.
