Quote:
Originally Posted by arpad_m
Nah, IMO the best solution is to build the infotainment platform on an existing phone OS, turning it into a special "tablet-like" device integrated with the rest of the car (HUD, DIC and all other hardware) that is fully supported by phone OS providers, which is what's happening.
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As a software developer, I disagree. If you ship a vehicle with something like that, where it actually has to do more legwork to render and display stuff, you're at the mercy of the manufacturer to keep it updated.
The "best" solution, IMHO, is to provide a ubiquitous API that allows EITHER Android Auto or Apple Car Play to interface with it, that is REGULARLY updated OTA. That way it's simple for either system to: broadcast information to the HUD/DIC, interface with the car's controls, etc. It also offloads the actual processing power and rendering to your phone which is - how convenient! - frequently regularly updated, as most phones now have a 3+ year update commitment from manufacturers, as well as people's own ravenous need to upgrade their phones on a 1-2 year basis.
Put the need to process and render data onto the phone, and simply have the infotainment system be a gateway for the phone to display said data onto it.
Another option to preserve what you describe? Standardize an interface, and make swappable modules that allow you to upgrade your car's infotainment system relatively easily, like upgrading the RAM or HD in your laptop. The problem manufacturers have with this is that it simply lessens your desire to upgrade to the latest and greatest car. They have no desire for you to KEEP your car any longer, so they purposefully make it such that you want to upgrade.