Car manufacturers are slowly adopting smartphone integration into their cars, driven by consumer demand. People are used to the power and flexibility that a smartphone offers and car owners want similar integration, creating a ‘connected car’ environment and bypassing often clunky proprietary in-car systems.
Sony Car Audio (USA) gets round this by connecting to a smartphone via MirrorLink. This allows the Smartphone’s display to be mirrored by the in-car system. Using App Remote on the smartphone allows you to control the navigation, music and video apps using voice commands. This also includes expanded text-read-out functions for incoming SMS/E-mail and Twitter/Facebook/Calendar notifications. Sounds like a neat idea, especially if it creates a safer driving environment.