Ford have surprised everyone by opening the doors to their dashboards and releasing an SDK to allow app developers build in-car features! This allows you to link to the car from your Android or iOS devices as a phone “accessory”. Interesting times on the road ahead…
“App developers are now joining the Ford Developer Program to allow vehicle owners to control some of their favorite apps for in-vehicle use with SYNC AppLink, using voice commands. With a diverse set of categories such as Music & Entertainment, News & Information to Navigation & Travel, Health and Wellness, Ford offers a great opportunity for developers to integrate their apps into the car.”
“The dashboard is becoming one of the most hotly pursued settings for apps because of its potential for advertising focused on a captive audience. On average people spend more than two hours a day in their cars. And of course, because people drive to stores, advertisers see them as particularly receptive to location-based advertising.”
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/08/c-e-s-2013-have-you-programmed-a-ford-lately/
awesome idea! Thanks for sharing pip 🙂
UPDATE: GM have also released an API for their cars: https://developer.gm.com/
Reviewed here are Tech Crunch:
http://techcrunch.com/2013/01/07/gm-announces-new-app-framework-sdk-and-store-for-in-vehicle-apps/