Future of Music In Cars: Ford, Apple

Ford Opens In-Dash Technology For App Developers

Apps like Pandora are displayed on screen and display many of the app features customers use on their phones.

Ford has opened up its in-dash touch screen technology for app developers to help enhance the in-car user experience. This means that external app developers will have access to voice recognition, push notifications, access to vehicle information sensors.

There are more than a dozen design templates to help develop a look and feel for apps with the automaker’s new SYNC® 3 technology, which allows for phone apps to appear on the onboard system as they appear on the phone.

Since Ford rolled out the automotive industry’s first developer program in 2013, more than 13,000 developers have registered and more than 24,000 software development kits have been downloaded. There are more than 90 AppLink-compatible smartphone apps now running on iOS and Android devices around the world, including Pandora, Spotify and more.

Apple “Internally Commits” To Electric Car

The Wall Street Journal has revealed that Apple has accelerated the development of an electric car, applying its expertise in developing hardware (design, batteries, sensors) and software integration.

Targeting 2019, the paper notes the technology giant has spent more than a year weighing the project’s feasibility before internally committing to its codename: Titan. Rumors that the 600-person team will triple, including staffing experts in driverless cars. Though, the paper is quick to note that “the Cupertino, Calif., company doesn’t currently plan to make its first electric vehicle fully autonomous.”