The 2018 Mazda 3 compact sedan and hatchback joined the ranks of compact cars available with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility. CarsDirect reported Wednesday that Mazda dealers were instructed to upgrade Mazda 3 Touring and Grand Touring trim levels with Apple and Android smartphone...Read More»
The long-servicing 2019 Nissan Sentra gets a few important updates and a slight price bump for the new model year, highlighted by Apple CarPlay and Android Auto on most trim levels. The 2019 Nissan Sentra S now starts at $18,685 including a mandatory $895 destination charge, and comes standard with...Read More»
Forgot to turn your smart thermostat down at home before leaving? No problem, Amazon said Thursday. Just ask your car to do it. The e-commerce giant released an Alexa Auto Software Development Kit for new vehicles as a way to incorporate key functions of the voice-activated software into vehicle...Read More»
And then there were three—or maybe four. With Mazda's announcement Tuesday that its 2018 Mazda 6 mid-size sedan will soon be Apple CarPlay- and Android Auto-compatible (and retrofittable), just a handful of major new car brands lack support for iOS and one more isn't on board with Google. The...Read More»
Mazda said last week that it will add Apple CarPlay and Android Auto capability to some of its new cars—but American drivers will have to wait. New and existing global Mazdas fitted with the MZD Connect system will gain compatibility both services as an option beginning next month, but as for...Read More»
If you find the infotainment system in your new car to be a bit of a distraction more often than it is useful, you’re not alone. As Automotive News reported, according to a study by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety and the University of Utah, smartphone-projection technologies like Apple...Read More»
Nearly two years ago, Toyota stunned much of the auto world when it revealed that it had no plans to offer Apple CarPlay or Android Auto on any of its vehicles. Instead, Toyota said that it was going to build an infotainment system of its own. New reports indicate that work on that system is...Read More»
Today, much of the auto world's attention is focused on the game of musical chairs taking place in Ford Motor Company's corner offices. In all the hubbub, though, you might've missed a truly interesting technology tidbit: the automaker has rolled out Android Auto and Apple CarPlay to late-model...Read More»
Today's cars are loaded with high-tech features--some great, some not so great. While a bit of that technology comes standard on new vehicles, much of it doesn't, which means consumers have to pay extra for it. And that presents a dilemma for many new-car shoppers: unless they're of unlimited...Read More»
So far, automakers have done a pretty terrible job of designing infotainment systems. Those systems are so bad, they're causing quality scores to plummet and inspiring unpleasant lawsuits. And yet, automakers stubbornly keep churning out wonky in-dash tech. Toyota went so far as to say that it...Read More»
Good news, Apple and Android fans: every 2017 Ford model in the U.S. will support Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. That's because Ford is rolling out its latest telematics platform, SYNC 3, to the full 2017 model-year lineup. As the automaker revealed back in January, SYNC 3 is what makes CarPlay...Read More»
In the not-too-distant past, buying a new car meant that you were able not only to flaunt the latest styling for a few years but also to relish the latest-and-best set of technology and entertainment features. Today it’s all on a much shorter timer, as vehicle dashes are far more influenced...Read More»
This week, Google held its annual I/O conference for developers. At least one of the company's announcements could have automakers shaking in their boots or jumping for joy, depending on their point of view. The announcement came by way of a beautifully tricked-out dashboard on a Maserati Ghibli...Read More»
Over the past decade and a half, much of the world has changed the way that it consumes media. We download music in seconds, rather than visiting record shops. We use gadgets like Roku and apps like Sling instead of keeping pricey cable TV subscriptions. And most of us emptied our gloveboxes of...Read More»
In recent years, there's been a growing overlap between the annual Consumer Electronic Show in Las Vegas and the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. In fact, some would argue that CES is more exciting than NAIAS because it features more concepts, more far-out, pie-in-the-sky...Read More»
If you love your smartphone as much as we do, and if you drive a new Ford, we've got some very exciting news: Ford has said that Apple CarPlay and Android Auto will both roll out to the SYNC 3 infotainment system this year, as will several other useful features. Over the past year, Ford SYNC has...Read More»
Android Auto first began making headlines in early 2014. Since then, fans of Google's mobile operating system have been patiently waiting for the software to roll out to cars. The bad news is, the wait isn't over for most folks. Chevrolet will be one of the first mass-market auto brands to offer...Read More»
Why wouldn’t new-car buyers want to take their familiar smartphone interface and apps into their vehicle? It’s an open question asked in the wake of results released this past week by J.D. Power, mentioning Apple CarPlay and Android Auto as among the 14 technology features that 20...Read More»
This week, J.D. Power released its 2015 Driver Interactive Vehicle Experience (DrIVE) Report, which reveals that motorists often don't use or appreciate the high-tech features in their new cars. The results should be a wake-up call to automakers around the globe. Heck, even Apple and Google should...Read More»
