The Venn diagram overlap between Toyota shoppers, Apple iOS users, and Amazon Prime members now includes the 2019 Toyota Camry mid-size sedan and 2019 Toyota Sienna minivan. According to Cars Direct, the 2019 Camry and 2019 Sienna will come with Apple CarPlay and Amazon Alexa compatibility when...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»
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»
"OK Volvo play me more songs by Siouxsie and the Banshees and find the nearest Natural Grocers." Volvo announced Monday that its next infotainment system will integrate more popular features from Google, including Google Maps, Play Store, and Google Assistant. Those apps are part of a larger...Read More»
In the next few weeks, Google will launch an update to its Android Auto service and make the popular Waze navigation service available directly through a compatible vehicle’s infotainment system. If you’re one of Waze’s many devotees, you’re probably doing a happy dance. And...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»
For most new car buyers, a functional touchscreen might be the second-most important input on a car—not far behind the steering wheel. (Gas and brake pedals? Meh.) An intuitive, smart infotainment system with all the controls we want—but none of the headache—should be a "gimme" by...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»
Remember MyFord Touch and MyLincoln touch, the infotainment systems that shoppers loved and loved to hate? Three years ago, owners sued Ford over the systems' glitchy, underwhelming performance. Now, many of those cases have been wrapped into a class-action lawsuit, which could mean a big payout...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»
You certainly wouldn't be an outlier to think that a vehicle dash that's cluttered with individual buttons looks so dated. It’s been nine years since Apple introduced the first iPhone, which replaced the typical cellphone’s suite of buttons and replaced it with a capacitive touch screen...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»
Apple fans have waited more than two years for the CarPlay infotainment system to arrive. Now that the roll-out has finally begun, we can ask: has it been worth the wait? According to some dealers, the answer is a resounding "yes". In fact, reports from the field suggest that CarPlay may be a big...Read More»
In hard-boiled detective films, someone usually utters the line, "Ain't nothing free in this world, kid". But a new upgrade to Ford Sync could prove that tough talk wrong. Sync and the MyFord Touch infotainment system have a mixed record with consumers. On the one hand, shoppers like the idea of...Read More»
The auto world seems hyper-sensitive to hacking these days -- and rightly so. Good-guy hackers have exposed numerous vulnerabilities in today's telematics systems, which could be exploited to frustrate drivers, pilfer personal information about owners, or worse. But are these worries just growing...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»
Yesterday, we told you about Audi, BMW, and Daimler, who have banded together to keep Google from dominating the mapping industry and, thus, the autonomous car industry. Now, Toyota has done something similar, but in many ways, dumber. Far dumber. The automaker has decided not to offer Apple's...Read More»
Unless you live a very isolated, disconnected existence, you’re probably leaving quite the trail for Google. Are you ready to leave more of a trail about how you stay connected in your car? Of course we already do drive around with GPS-tagging, server-connecting smartphones in our vehicles...Read More»
Car companies aren't known for creating awesome infotainment systems. In fact, though today's vehicles are mechanically very good, quality scores have plummeted because of terrible in-dash software. That's why many shoppers are excited about the long-overdue arrival of Google's Android Auto and...Read More»
