Automotive

Apple adds Tesla engineer to growing Project Titan team

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 30, 2018

Apple has hired a senior engineer from electric car maker Tesla Motors, according to a new report from Reuters. The outlet points to the LinkedIn profile of former Tesla Autopilot Firmware Manager Jamie Carlson, who now works at Apple on "Special Projects."

Carlson's profile doesn't go into details regarding his previous position, but the fact that he worked in the autonomous firmware division of one of the industry's most technologically advanced companies, is fueling speculation that Apple is building an electric car.

‘Different types’ of cooperation possible with Apple, says Mercedes-Benz maker

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 21, 2015

Mercedes-Benz maker is not ruling out the possibility of vaguely outlined “different types” of cooperation with Apple, which is rumored to be building an electric car of its own code- named Project Titan. “Many things are conceivable,” Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche said in an interview with quarterly magazine Deutsche Unternehmerboerse published on Friday.

Daimler AG, a German multinational automotive corporation, owns a number of car brands such as the Mercedes-Benz and Smart Automobile, and was an important launch partner for Apple's CarPlay in-car software.

Chevrolet bringing CarPlay to 14 new vehicles

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 27, 2015

Chevrolet, a General Motors-owned brand, today announced bringing both CarPlay and Android Auto platforms to as many as fourteen new vehicles for the 2016 model year.

Offering CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility in more models than any automotive brand, General Motors said its all-new 2016 Cruze compact car is among the fourteen new vehicles getting CarPlay compatibility. Cruze, which will debut on June 24, is Chevrolet’s best-selling passenger car, with more than three million units sold since launch.

Apple adds virtually whole vehicle industry to its corporate description

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 2, 2015

Apple has added a number of activities related to automotive industry to its corporate description, as discovered by Swiss blog ApfelBlog.ch. The Cupertino company's law firm Baker & McKenzie has expanded Apple's corporate description in a set of documents filed recently in Zurich, Switzerland.

Virtually the whole vehicles industry is now included in Apple's activities, including vehicles, electronic car hardware, anti-theft devices, theft alarms, aftermarket parts and accessories for vehicles.

Rumors intensify that Apple indeed is building a car

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated May 16, 2016

Reviving an old ‘iCar’ rumor, Business Insider on Monday ran a story citing an Apple employee as saying that the Cupertino company has been in fact working on something in “vehicle development“ that will “give Tesla a run for its money.”

“Apple's latest project is too exciting to pass up,” the source said. “I think it will change the landscape and give Tesla a run for its money.”

The following day, Bryan Chaffin, co-founder of The Mac Observer, wrote he was “certain” that Apple's building a car after talking to sources who estimated there's an “80 percent chance” of it working on an actual car rather than some car-related tech.

Could Apple be really building an automobile? What's going on here?

Porsche reveals its latest car, the Cayman GT4, right within Real Racing 3

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 6, 2015

German automobile manufacturer Porsche has become the first car maker to reveal a premium vehicle in a video game.

As reported by AppAdvice, an update to Electronic Arts' Real Racing 3 contains the worldwide reveal of the Porsche Cayman GT4, a sports car with the distinctive mid-engine layout, marking the first time a real car has been unveiled through a mobile game.

Apple patent details advanced wireless car control

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 3, 2015

Apple's patent filings are usually more indicative of the company's aspirations in terms of the technologies they seek to protect rather than possible future products.

With that in mind, The United States Patent & Trademark Office on Tuesday granted Apple an interesting patent on advanced automotive control by linking your iPhone to your vehicle through Bluetooth.

Smart driving assistant Automatic now connects your car and home with Nest

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated May 11, 2017

First preview at CES 2015 a week ago, Automatic, makers of the popular connected car adapter, today officially announced a new feature to connect your car and home with Nest, the smart thermostat from Google.

The integration enables communication between your car and home through intelligently chosen rules that give the Nest thermostat a more timely understanding of when heating or cooling is needed and more importantly, when it's not.

CES 2015: Harman builds CarPlay solution based on steering wheel-mounted touchpad

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 8, 2015

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.

CES 2015: Pioneer unveils new CarPlay receivers with Sirius radio, advanced Bluetooth and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated November 9, 2016

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.

Hyundai confirms bringing CarPlay-enabled Display Audio infotainment system to 2016 models

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 30, 2017

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.

Alpine launches its first aftermarket CarPlay in-dash receiver

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 27, 2014

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.