In Geneva this week, Ferrari offered more insight into its recent collaboration with Apple. (No, not that apple, which is all Mercedes). The House of Enzo showed a Ferrari FF with two iPad Minis built into the front seat-backs for rear passengers' enjoyment. It's also got Siri smartphone integration.
According to Bloomberg, Ferrari's collabo with Apple on in-car entertainment systems will continue, and Ferrari Chairman Luca Cordero Di Montezemolo says he'll discuss the work in more detail later this year. Apple's and Ferrari's business ties are said to stem from Apple's Senior Vice President of Internet Software and Services, Eddie Cue joining Ferrari's board of directors in November 2012.
This is good news. High-end sports cars often lack the latest infotainment tech, whose sweet spot is luxury cars built by large automakers that can afford significant investments in in-car technology. Such technologies tend to "trickle up" to those companies' highest-end vehicles, like Volkswagen Group's Lamborghini and Bentley cars. Other big-ticket brands like Aston Martin are often left to cobble together their infotainment systems, and end up offering sub-par merchandise.
As for Ferrari, as long as Siri's been programmed to understand clipped, angry English spoken in exotic accents (like, say, Long Island- or Ukraine-inflected), and then fulfill demands submissively and without dignity, everyone should get along fine.