Report: “Android M” to support use as a car infotainment OS

But will car makers agree to cede control of the infotainment system to Google?

Read the whole story

 

[kindakrazy]

"Android is purpose-built to be integrated into something like car infotainment hardware"

Um, no. Android sure as hell is not purpose-built to be loaded into car infotainment hardware. It was originally designed strictly for cell phones, then they rejigged it to work better on tablets, and now they are working on rejigging it to make it work better on cars.

Simply put, what and how you should do something in a car, particularly when it is moving, is a lot different than what you want to enable when you are using a cell phone or a tablet.

 

[kindakrazy]

bbulkow[/url]":3cpex1g7]If you've tried the systems that try to use the cell phone as the "device" and just create a UI, you run into an immediate technical problem: with high resolution interfaces, attempting to wirelessly run a display just doesn't work. My phone ( like many ) has a 1920 x 1024 screen, I expect my car to have the same, and running that over any RF interface (even without battery constraint) is a serious challenge.

Everything gets laggy.

Therefore, based on this one technical reality, we must have the car's device be a full device. Given the low cost of cell phone hardware and screen, this is all very resonable, and the industry will line up to sell us that.

But then either we need a standard physical interconnect (which we have, DIN), needs a standard cabling (which we don't have), and car makers be weaned off the $2k "navigation systems". We'd have some competition in the car device area.

If ATT/Verizon figures out this is their next market, there might be enough power to "make it so".

But let's show another vision. I have a "car stereo". It's a small amp and speakers and a mic and a bluetooth radio. I then have a cradle for my cellphone (with power). Maybe I have a backup camera, which uses wifi (like dropcam)?

How is this not cheaper, better, more expandable?

That's what I'm running today..... even in front of a $1500 pioneer nav system which I didn't buy (was retrofit by the previous owner) because that pioneer UI system is TERRIBLE. It requires something like 6 screen touches to lay in a route, and if you upgrade the map to a recent version, you lose voice control.

Take the nav system out of the dash.

First, car makers are only weaning themselves off $2k navigation systems by starting to integrate $2.5k navigation systems with built-in LTE, so they also get a cut of your monthly car cell phone bill AND they also get to sell your driving habits and vehicle issues to dealerships. "Time for your oil change. Northtown Ford is coming up on your right, you can have it done immediately."

And for crappy companies, wishing that cell phone companies would take over from car companies is like saying you prefer to be shot in the arm instead of the leg. Cell phone companies should be legislated into only being dumb pipes, [talk, text, data]. They particularly should be prevented from being involved in any manner of physical or software UI. Especially software, given their past 20+ years of screwing up UI's on cell phones.

 

[kindakrazy]

auxilio[/url]":2xyyvo2l]

Ryan B.[/url]":2xyyvo2l]

ryanmt[/url]":2xyyvo2l]

MechR[/url]":2xyyvo2l]

Just like Harman's CEO, the Reuters report said that Android's startup time will need to be greatly improved in order for it to be a viable car infotainment OS.

Finally, someone notices! I hope any boot-time optimizations extend back to phones and other non-car systems, too.

Why? The big battery in a car can certainly maintain a smartphone OS in standby for months.

...until it gets drained, or fails, or is disconnected for any reason...

I don't understand what the point of your post is. Car batteries are warrantied for several years. You have to replace them about that often. There should be no problem powering a small computer in addition to the normal stuff it already powers 24/7.

Draining isn't a problem unless it's been a long time since you started your engine.
Failing is an issue if you're outside your warranty, but most people understand that anyways and just treat it as another maintenance expense.
And most people don't just go disconnecting their battery routinely. And if they did, then reconnecting it should then boot the computer back up. Same as with your car's clock.

And if your battery doesn't have enough juice to keep your radio running, the least of your worries is that it takes 30 seconds or however long to boot your radio after you get your car boosted.