At their WWDC developer’s conference, Apple announced that Siri, the robotic assistant currently available on the iPhone 4S, is expected to be built into automobiles in the future. The Senior Vice President of iOS at Apple, Scott Forstall, confirmed that they were in talks with car manufacturers regarding the integration of Siri into their systems.
The car manufacturers mainly include Mercedes, Land Rover, BMW, GM, Audi, Jaguar, Toyota and Honda. No further details on how exactly Siri will be a part of the car system was given out. This new feature is expected to be available in cars manufactured by BMW by 2013. BMW, which already boasts of having in-car voice command as well as the integration of the iPhone and other smartphones, is looking forward to the integration of Siri as well.
It will enable drivers to connect to their iPhones, make phone calls, play music, receive notifications, mark important dates on the calendar, go through events, send out texts and perform a whole lot of other tasks through the Eyes Free mode while driving on the road with the help of voice commands without having to take their eyes off the road, with Siri responding to queries. The iPhone’s screen will not light up, minimizing distractions.
Siri will also be integrated into A-Class cars manufactured by Mercedes, expected to be introduced later this year in Europe. Drivers, in this case, will be able to access their iPhones through the Command Infotainment System which includes technology being built into the dashboard of the car, allowing the driver to perform several tasks on their iPhones through Siri. Apple’s move could have drawn inspiration from their rival Microsoft, who along with Ford had earlier developed the My Ford Touch concept found on the dashboard of several Ford cars.
Apart from this, Apple also announced their new Maps applications which offers turn by turn mapping, which will be included in iOS 6. Apple’s Map application is expected to replace Google Maps which currently all iPhone users use. It promises to offer spoken driving directions to its users, instructing them on what turn to take next. The Fly Over feature of the app offers a 3D view of the city the user is navigating through, making it a more life-like experience.
