Remember how the heads of Volkswagen and Daimler were urging their fellow automakers not to drink so much Google Kool-Aid? General Motors thinks the punch isn’t spiked at all, pressing forward with a plan to bring Android into its brand portfolio by late 2016.
Automotive News reports supplier Harman International will be the one to supply the new connected-vehicle system to GM, having won a $900 million contract in 2012 for the right to do so. CEO Dinesh Paliwal explains what’s in store for consumers when they sit behind the wheel of an Android-powered vehicle:
As you would expect, this next-generation infotainment solution will enable an app store, which allows this infotainment system to stay technologically relevant over the life cycle of the vehicle. Apps will be developed by General Motors, Harman and a bunch of other third parties, not just Google and Apple.
Harman, a member of the Open Automotive Alliance, will also make their system available to other automakers, so long as they don’t mind being “one life cycle behind” GM, who would be the first to use the system.
As for where in the lineup the first Harman/Android units will turn up, Paliwal didn’t say. At present, though, it may be a while before full assimilation occurs; within Chevrolet alone, QNX, Linux and Microsoft rule the day in vehicles like the Malibu, Impala and Sonic.
Meanwhile, GM hasn’t commented on Paliwal’s announcement. The automaker had planned to roll-out a service called AppShop, announced during this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, only to bail this summer when the service failed to meet consumer expectations.
That dash looks uncomfortably claustrophobic, and the corvette like windshield rake makes it 10x worse.
It is. Beside that, the Equinox and Terrain have very cheap plastic, both in relation to other GM products and to competitors (like the Escape). Yet GM has the nerve to charge ridiculous prices for them. I can’t stand the Equinox or Terrain, and I cannot wait until they are redesigned.
Meanwhile Tesla owns their stack, spends more on higher-spec hardware for it, and views it as a competitive advantage.
And who will be bearing the extra costs due to the collisions caused by these idiots in the left lane? It is already barely bearable. I usually can guess from behind that a person is staring at his/her phone or other electronic doo-da. We used to call these driving patterns “drunk driving”.
I know, I know, the stats do not support what I say. But I have direct road experience, not the stats. Watch this space in 10 years – you will see class action suits no different than the ignition recall.
Doesn’t Harman = Samsumg?
Why not just state Samsung?
Nothing to do Samsung?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harman_International_Industries
johnsha,
I had a set of Harman Kardon speakers and it had manufactured by Samsung on the manufacturers label.
Somehow I do think Samsung is tied up somewhere with this company.
I don’t think so.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/mh?s=HAR+Major+Holders
Of course they can still OEM speakers from another company.
th009,
Back in 2004 I bought a Dell computer and also bought a set of speakers through Dell.
The speakers were Harman Kardon’s. The guys at work were surprised. I noticed they were manufactured by Samsung, I told them they disbelieved me so I showed them.
My wife had a set of speakers from Dell around that time. The speakers were Harman Kardon and the subwoofer was made by Samsung. I think that’s just a Dell thing.
Harman Kardon licenses their name, and it ends up many different products. Harman Kardon Logic 7 sound on a Mercedes has Panasonic speakers. The only thing that’s manufactured by Harman is the amp. It’s the same as the “Beat’s Audio” sound system in my HP laptop. Dr. Dre wasn’t building laptop speakers.
American components, Russian components, all made in Taiwan.
Harman just contracts out the crap stuff to Samsung to get it made for 29 cents a unit in one of their Chinese lean-to shed operations, and sells it on at great profit. It’s the American way.
I look forward to Chevy’s getting rooted and flashed with Cyanogenmod. Hell, if the hardware runs Android and is decently fast, maybe we can even throw Ubuntu Touch on them instead.
*drools at the programming/hacking opportunities*
I’m in!