Apple is chomping at the bit to stake a claim in your car. And with the release of the latest iOS 7 beta, and a just-approved patent filing, Cupertino's plans are beginning to take shape.
A patent filed by Apple in 2009, wonderfully entitled 'Programmable tactile touch screen displays and man-machine interfaces for improved vehicle instrumentation and telematics' was granted Tuesday.
U.S. Patent 8,482,535 is the in-car display of Apple's dreams and more. It's a capacitive touchscreen with tactile feedback that's above and beyond the subtle vibrations we're used to when interacting with a slab of glass. And it's not just limited to audio and navigation controls.
Embedded tactile controls that act as knobs and sliders would control everything from heating and air conditioning to windshield wipers and defrosters. There's also the inclusion of indents and raised portions of the screen that would act as virtual knobs, glowing when they're ready to be used and fading out once the action is complete. This has the potential to solve the muscle-memory problem most drivers experience when interacting with an in-car touchscreen. And since these combine both the physical and the virtual, a knob or slider could be the volume in one mode and the climate control in another.
Other items outlined in the patent include a head-up display (confusingly embedded in the armrest) and cameras that can detect the position of the driver's head.
But while an iDash probably isn't making it to a dealer near you in the near-term, Apple has something else in the cards for 2014.
The iOS in the Car announcement at WWDC last month wasn't chock-full of details about how Apple plans to bring a scaled, auto-friendly version of it mobile operating system to your dashboard. But Hamza Sood showed off a new screen on Twitter (NDA's be damned!), and buried in the accessories settings of the third iOS 7 beta release shows two ways of merging dash and iPhone.
The first is a tethered solution that involves the standard Lightning (or, possibly, 30-pin) to USB connection compatible with most new vehicles. The other is an option to connect to the car's head unit over WiFi, similar to how Airplay currently works with the Apple TV and other Airplay-approved streaming music devices.
The system would beam Maps, the Music Player, Messages and other approved apps onto the in-dash screen, and similar to Siri Eyes Free, iOS in the Car will allow users to control all of the functions over voice commands. Just as importantly, it means you could leave your phone in your pocket or center console and never have to pick it up while out and about.
But the WiFi/Airplay solution will prove to be a problem right now, as most vehicles aren't equipped with WiFi outside of a handful of Ford, Cadillac, and higher-end European models. However, Apple promised that Acura, Chevrolet, Ferrari, Honda, Hyundai, Infiniti, Jaguar/Land Rover, Kia, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Opel and Volvo have all signed on to have iOS available in their products come 2014, likely for the 2015 model year.
Images: USPTO
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