Wednesday May 17, 2017

Audi's next-gen infotainment system premieres at Google I/O Conference with fully-integrated Android OS.

German carmaker Audi joins the Google I/O developer conference happening May 17 - 19 to show off their new infotainment system featuring Android Auto as an integrated solution for in-car applications being developed by the Android Open Source Community. 

Taking place at Google's headquarters in Mountain View California, the three-day conference is thought to be one of the most important developer conference in the software industry showing the best and brightest in software development.

Audi will be presenting their Audi Q8 Sport concept with Android on board. New functions of Android Auto will include Spotify, Google Play Music and Google Assistant. It will all be run on the sizable MMI touch display found in the center console of the vehicle. This information will also be visible in the driver's direct line of vision thanks to the Audi virtual cockpit.

This is a hallmark event for Audi as this is the first time the Android brand has ever been integrated into Audi's brand-specific infotainment center. Although the navigation map will continue to use the Audi-typical HERE database, drivers can choose to navigate with Google maps as well. A message center for incoming messages and calls are the finishing touches of the services offered with this system.

What really makes the Android Auto integration interesting is that it will be taking over the car's entire infotainment system, not just operating on top of the one the manufacturer created. Google has reportedly been working to turn Android Auto into a system for controlling a car's system without a smartphone since 2014.

The integration of Android Auto into Audi's infotainment system opens a world of potential. Android is the most popular mobile platform in the world with more than 1.4 billion active users. With Android's Open Source Community leading the charge, this group's expertise and creativity will speed up new application development significantly. New applications will soon find their way into vehicles as additional connected services.

Android Vice President of Engineering Patrick Brady told Bloomberg News that Apple's CarPlay will still be able to run on top of the embedded Android system. This means that Audi vehicles will now be accessible to both Apple and Android users.

Audi has made an inclusive step forward with an integrated Android system. This move is just another example of how the brand lives up to their slogan of 'advancement through technology'.