The 2016 Chevrolet Volt is the first production car from General Motors that features Apple CarPlay built right into the dash, The Verge observed at Detroit's North American International Auto Show.
Chevrolet presented the new Volt on Monday, which offers greater range and a slightly sleeker look than the previous model, along with the new technology from Apple. The 2016 Volt is the second version of the hybrid vehicle, which has seen mixed reviews from automobile critics and customers alike.
Jeremy Horwitz of 9to5Mac had a chance to play with Harman's novel CarPlay solution at CES 2015 which ditches touchscreen-based interactions in favor of a steering wheel-mounted touchpad.
Harman, which designs and sells audio and infotainment equipment, says its Integrated Essentials Cockpit is noteworthy as it doesn’t render UI on an in-car display like other CarPlay systems, but rather puts it in the dashboard directly behind the steering wheel.
Such an approach could be viewed as better compared to touchscreen-based CarPlay systems for a number of reasons, yet isn't without its pitfalls.
Shortly after Kenwood went head to head with Pioneer with its own aftermarket receivers with CarPlay integration, the company responded by announcing a second-generation Networked Entertainment eXperience (NEX) in-dash receivers with CarPlay support.
Building on the features introduced in the previous NEX series (the $1400 AVIC-8000NEX, $1200 AVIC-7000NEX, $900 AVIC-6000NEX, $750 AVIC-5000NEX and $700 AVH-4000NEX), the updated receivers offer better displays, support for Bluetooth connectivity and are Sirius XM-Ready.
Kenwood is the next car accessory-maker to jump on the Apple CarPlay bandwagon, announcing at CES 2015 on Tuesday its new DDX9902S receiver.
The DDX9902S will support both CarPlay for iPhone users and Android Auto for Android Phone users - a pretty common theme we've been seeing at CES 2015. It features a touchscreen, with the ability to add a rear-view camera and maneuver safely with on-screen parking guide lines, and compatibility with factory steering wheel audio controls.
Volkswagen has finally announced it will rollout Apple's CarPlay software in its vehicles sometime in 2015, a year late to the party when it was noticeably absent from the list of initial CarPlay supporters. The European automaker made the announcement at the Consumer Electronics Show on Monday, saying CarPlay will be alongside its rivals.
Parrot has announced a rather slick car infotainment system at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Sunday, packing a 7-inch 720p "IPS Pro" touchscreen that supports Apple CarPlay.
CarPlay Activator, a tweak that we reviewed in depth a few weeks ago, is now available for download on Cydia as Ignition. The tweak, which is remarkably free of charge, is from well-respected developer Adam Bell. If you're not interested in dropping north of $500 on a CarPlay head unit with a terrible resistive touch screen, then Ignition may be the answer to your CarPlay desires.
South Korean car maker Hyundai on Thursday confirmed that its new Display Audio in-dash system featuring a color touchscreen and CarPlay compatibility will be built into select 2016 models which will debut in late-2015 before being rolled out to the manufacturer's entire car lineup.
In addition to CarPlay, Hyundai said that Display Audio will support Google's Android Auto platform out of the box as well. The company will show off Display Audio with CarPlay and Android Auto integration at the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show.
I've had the privilege of going hands-on with Adam Bell's upcoming CarPlay Activator tweak for standalone iOS devices like the iPad and the iPhone. As we reported a few week's ago, Bell, known for his work in the jailbreak community with tweaks like Stride, posted a video of an in-progress CarPlay port for the iPad. The thoughts of such a release immediately got my wheels turning, as I'm sure it has for many others. Watch our full 9 minute video walkthrough for a deeper look into what makes this upcoming CarPlay tweak so promising.
Eager to see how the CarPlay interface looks on your iOS device? If so, you can use a new jailbreak tweak to preview the look of the CarPlay interface right on your iPhone or iPad.
CarPlay iOS is a new jailbreak tweak, available free on the BigBoss repo, that makes the CarPlay head unit interface accessible without the need of an external display.
Renowned jailbreak developer Adam Bell is working on an interesting project that makes it possible to use CarPlay without the normal external display requirements. The tweak, which is currently a work in progress, will make it so that users can reap the benefits of the simplified CarPlay interface, without the need of buying an expensive CarPlay enabled head unit.
The possibilities for such a tweak are extremely interesting. For example, you could, in theory, mount an iPad in your car and use it instead of using your stock head unit. The benefits of using an iPad are multifaceted, with one of the main benefit being the better responsiveness of the iPad's capacitive touchscreen over the resistive touchscreens found in many head units.
Bell has created a video to showcase his work thus far and it looks very promising. Step inside to see the preview, and find more details about this ambitious project.
Alpine, which specializes in car audio and navigation systems, is an Apple-endorsed aftermarket solutions provider for CarPlay. On Monday, the company announced its first aftermarket in-dash receiver designed to work with Apple's CarPlay, the iLX-007.
The $800 accessory features a seven-inch capacitive touch screen and supports the full range of CarPlay functionality like making and receiving phone calls and messages, listening to music, navigating with Apple Maps, conversing with Siri and more.