If you somehow don't have enough Apple in your life already from your phone, tablet and computer (assuming you use Apple products for those things), you might be able to get it in your car soon as well. Maybe. Someone guessed.
Apple rumormill 9to5Mac reports that the company wants to "move aggressively" into the car integration market later this year. They want you to be able to plug your iPhone (or iPad, presumably) into the car and then use the car's existing display screen as an interface for the device.
They're supposedly working with carmakers to create updated center consoles the iOS devices would plug into, replacing the proprietary GPS maps on a car's touch screen with an optimized version Apple Maps. (I'll leave Apple Maps jokes out of this for now.) The Siri voice control system would be used to control maps and other iOS features.
If this sounds like the Volkswagen iBeetle that was recently unveiled at the Shanghai Auto Show, it's not. That concept merely had a special docking station and devoted app for the iPhone — this would put iOS directly into your car.
This really shouldn't come as too much of a surprise. Apple has been trending this way for some time. Last year, they announced that they were working with several automakers to put "Eyes Free" Siri integration into cars.
While we're not huge fans of over-intrusion of this kind of technology into cars, I don't think it's potentially a bad idea. One of the better things about Apple products tends to be their ease of use. Most of the newer car-based infotainment systems I've used are clunky, slow and unintuitive, and replacing that with an iPad-like interface for my maps — and hopefully music — sounds like a godsend.
Assuming this isn't a ridiculous rumor, which it very well could be, 9to5Mac warns that it could be a ways off.
Roadblocks that Apple will need to overcome before the feature launches to the public include more extensive car-based testing, improvements to Apple Maps and Siri infrastructures, and deals with car makers. It is uncertain if Apple plans to debut this new in-car integration at WWDC or at its iPhone hardware event later this year. Because of the processing power that such integration could require, it is likely that the feature will be exclusive to recent iOS hardware.
How do you feel about iOS in your car?