At the same time, an announcement comes from Audi that it is adopting CarPlay, Apple’s digital-dashboard operating system. Specific car models are not identified, but at least some 2015 models will have CarPlay.
Audi was a founding member of Google’s competing Open Automotive Alliance, which seeks to power digital dashboards with Google’s Android operating system, or a derivative of it. Audi is not the only car company cooperating with both Google and Apple, which makes sense. Just as consumers are divided between Google/Android and Apple/iOS in their choice of smartphones and tablets, it is easy to imagine a car-buying scenario in which drivers choose from Google and Apple infotainment systems in cars.