Open Automotive Alliance
openautoalliance.net
openautoalliance.net
That's my premise for saying the Open Automotive Alliance is just Google's attempt to dominate in-vehicle interfaces. I don't think Google's going for a proprietary connector like Apple -- I am glad this is Google we're talking about, so the result is likely just some Android APIs that use bluetooth on a select few car models.
This is definitely not a new era of open hardware in your car or something like that (which would actually be interesting).
[1] http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/10/googles-iron-grip-on-...
Having had the experience of working for one of the OHA companies during the development/launch of Android, the whole thing was less of an alliance/partnership and more of a "here's all the companies contracting or giving their stuff to Android to get the system in launch condition". We were subcontractors.
But then when I saw real companies were involved, I thought exactly what you said.
http://www.openhandsetalliance.com/
(last updated 2011)
The actual apps run on your phone and so your car gets updates when the software on the phone gets updates.
This mode is highly preferable to the end-user apps living in the dash computer as that will not get upgraded worth a damn over the life of the car no matter what.
This is exactly what I'd want to see in this situation and I can't wait to get an aftermarket replacement to cover the gap until I need my next car.
"The startup may not be Rubin’s next place of employment, but he is connected to it: after the rumor hit, and then he denied it on Twitter, he further clarified in a Google+ post that CloudCar “are a group of friends who I give free office space to in my incubator in Los Altos.”" [1]
[1] http://techcrunch.com/2012/06/22/cloudcar-the-stealthy-start...
There are a number of WebTV folks at Nest Labs and this is another connection to Google (no matter how much the Nest Labs folks claim then aren't part of Google).
So yes, CloudCar is well connected into Google.
There's lots of nice things to do around navigation, but they don't seem to matter a lot, especially if the audio integration is working well (because then just use the navigation on the phone).
Some of this, we're already seeing, but I think there is a huge opportunity here.
I think a built-in system doing this kind of thing would be really cool. The technology is obviously already there, but the software isn't, so having an app platform creates a lot of opportunity. I wonder how deep Google will be able to convince manufacturers to take the integration - modern cars expose a ton of data and functionality over the CAN bus, but it's all undocumented and proprietary and is often obfuscated as well.
http://openxcplatform.com/about/data-set.html http://openxcplatform.com/projects/index.html
I think they also provide the interface for free for interested developers... Could be mistaken.
Basically, the idea is to make it better documented and less proprietary... Then support a developer community for apps that can interface with the broader range of data than OBDII can provide.
That's a neat idea since it prevents every app from needing to handle CANbus and whatever other proprietary signaling each vehicle uses, but it doesn't really expand vehicle support because the CAN and other messages still need to be documented officially (as Ford have done) or reverse-engineered.
The current implementation of OpenXC actually makes the setup more expensive, as well - an OpenXC module, since it does more, requires more hardware than a simple CAN-to-UART/Bluetooth gateway like an ELM327 clone.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CarPlay#Manufacturers_and_bran...
In addition, the OAA was first announced in January.
But now that Android Auto is essentially the same thing, and should have pretty widespread availability, it takes away a reason for users to stay with iOS.