谷歌和苹果打响联网汽车之战

    下一场平台之争已然打响，这次的主战场是在汽车内部。

    通用汽车公司的雪佛兰汽车和现代汽车公司上周宣布，他们计划采用新型技术，让新款车型的仪表盘实现智能手机的功能。雪佛兰在上周三表示，它的14款车型将同时兼容苹果 CarPlay和Android Auto，其中就包括将于6月24日上市的2016款紧凑型轿车科鲁兹。一天前，2015款现代索纳塔成为第一款配置谷歌新型声控车载软件Android Auto的车型。

    苹果和谷歌的平台肩负着同样的使命：整合智能手机与汽车仪表盘。Android Auto可以与安卓手机相连，而CarPlay则兼容iPhone。它们的工作方式也十分相似。用户一旦把智能手机插入汽车的USB接口，手机的地图和导航、音乐和选定的应用就会进入汽车中间的屏幕。两个平台还有类似的特色，以及一些显著的不同，比如CarPlay的用户只能使用苹果地图。

    苹果和谷歌平台上的应用都可以通过声音、方向盘和触摸屏控制，它们还会提供第三方的音频应用，包括iHeartRadio和Spotify。两家公司甚至连合作的汽车制造商都有许多重合，其中包括奥迪、通用、起亚和福特。

    苹果和谷歌在联网汽车上的竞争已经酝酿了好几年。早在2013年的苹果全球研发者大会上，苹果就推出了适合汽车的iOS系统，这款车载标准系统最终改名为CarPlay。

    而在2014年1月，谷歌与合作伙伴奥迪、通用、本田、现代和英伟达组成了旨在让安卓平台进入汽车的开放汽车联盟。几个月后，谷歌在一年一度的I/O开发者大会上展示了他们的Android Auto系统。

    无论是对谷歌，还是对苹果而言，这场车载平台主导权之争都是一大挑战。两家公司都希望进一步地走进消费者的生活，通过与汽车制造商的独家合作，他们有机会达成这一目标。不过从汽车制造商的角度看，为消费者提供两种平台最符合他们的利益。

    除去特斯拉等少数几家汽车制造商的产品外，与智能手机的功能和外型相比，司机用来控制空调、音乐和导航的数字控制台看起来十分过时。许多汽车的触控屏过于繁琐，难以使用，很多司机不得不用手机来导航或播放音乐。

    CarPlay和Android Auto可以取代大多数汽车上的仪表盘——随着共享汽车的发展，这一点变得越来越重要。司机只要接入Android Auto或CarPlay平台，就能立刻在不熟悉的汽车内获取自己的音乐和导航设定。

    这种平台还能帮助司机留心路况，或至少是让他们不要分神。根据美国国家公路交通安全局的最新数据，美国每时每刻都有约66万名司机在开车时使用手机或操作电子产品。

    不过至少在初期，联网汽车领域的统治者会是MirrorLink。汽车专业调查公司IHS Automotive上月发布的报告显示，今年将会有110万辆汽车安装该系统。相比之下，安装苹果CarPlay的汽车数是86.1万，而安装谷歌Android Auto的只有64.3万辆。不过这两家公司会迅速赶超MirrorLink，预计到2020年，使用苹果和谷歌系统的汽车会达到3700万辆和3100万辆。（财富中文网）

    译者：严匡正

    审校：任文科

    The next platform battle has begun and it’s being waged inside the car.

    This week, GM’s Chevrolet and Hyundai announced plans to add technologies that will deliver smartphone functionality to the dashboard of new cars. On Wednesday, Chevrolet said it would offer both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility in 14 models, including the 2016 Cruze compact car that will debut June 24. A day earlier, the 2015 Hyundai Sonata became the first car to include Google’s new in-car voice-enabled softwareAndroid Auto.

    Both platforms have the same mission to integrate the smartphone with the vehicle’s dashboard. Android Auto connects to Android smartphones, while CarPlay works with the iPhone. And they work about the same way. Once users plug their smartphone into the car’s USB port, the phone’s maps and navigation, music and selected apps are integrated onto the central screen. Both have similar features with a few notable differences—CarPlay users can only use Apple maps.

    Applications in both platforms can be controlled by voice, steering wheel controls, and touchscreen and they’ll also will offer third-party audio apps, including iHeartRadio and Spotify. Google and Apple have even partnered with many of the same automakers, including Audi, GM , Kia and Ford .

    Apple and Google’s battle over the connected car has been building up for a couple of years now. Apple introduced iOS in the Car—the in-car standard that would eventually be renamed CarPlay—during the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference in 2013.

    In January 2014, Google along with partners Audi, GM, Honda, Hyundai and Nvidia, formed the Open Automotive Alliance, a coalition aimed at bringing the Android platform to the car. Several months later, Google unveiled Android Auto at its annual I/O developer conference.

    The fight to become the dominant in-car platform presents a challenge for Google and Apple. Both companies want to further entrench themselves in consumers’ lives, possibly through exclusive partnerships with automakers. But it’s in the best interest of automakers to offer both platforms to its customers.

    With the exception of a few automakers such as Tesla Motors , the digital console of the car where drivers control A/C, music, and navigation can have a decidedly old-school feel when compared to the functionality and look of a smartphone. The touchscreen in many cars can be finicky and hard to use, forcing many drivers to use their smartphone for navigation or music.

    CarPlay and Android Auto allow drivers to bypass the dashboards found in most cars—a capability that will become increasingly important as car-sharing grows. Drivers can instantly access their own music and navigational settings in a strange car by connecting to the Android Auto or CarPlay platforms.

    The platforms can also help keep drivers eyes on the road—or at least out of their laps. Some 660,000 drivers, at any given daylight moment across America, are using cell phones or manipulating electronic devices while driving, according to the latest figures from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

    At least initially, the connected car field will be dominated by MirrorLink, appearing in 1.1 million cars this year, according to an IHS Automotive report released last month. Apple CarPlay will be in 861,000 new cars and Google’s Android Auto will be in 643,000 new cars this year. Apple and Google will quickly surpass MirrorLink, appearing in 37 million and 31 million cars by 2020, respectively.