In the age of technology today, it's hard to see people walk around without their smartphones in hand. Even in the automobile industry, manufacturers are looking into making smartphone integration with their vehicles.
Car Manufacturer Toyota is looking into adopting a smartphone integration into their vehicles. The company partnered up with Ford, who is the first company to look into this feature. SmartDeviceLink is a software feature that allows drivers to use their smartphones without letting go of the steering wheel.
SmartDeviceLink allows them to control some mobile applications to be controlled using the steering wheel. It is very similar with Ford's Sync AppLink that also allows users to control their smartphones while driving. Aside from the steering wheel, with this application, it also allows voice commands to function as a way of accessing smartphones.
In the middle of 2015, Toyota and Ford started their discussions for this partnership and announced in back in the 2016 CES. Both companies urge mobile developers to develop apps that sport controls from vehicles to make it into a reality. The SmartDeviceLink provides developers access to certain features of a vehicle such as the embedded GPS and the powertrain information. Once fully fleshed out and implemented, it will give drivers an easier time to drive and to use their smartphones without tearing their attention away from the road.
However, the SmartDeviceLink will have its competition in the form of Apple and Google. The two companies released their own version of the SmartDeviceLink, CarPlay and Android Auto. Despite the competition, SmartDeviceLink will still push through.
Aside from Toyota, there are a lot of companies that are looking into this kind of platform. Peugeot Citroën, Honda, Subaru, and Mazda are also expressing their interest in this software to implement in their vehicles. QNX, a subsidiary of Blackberry have already started developing the said software. Once the SmartDeviceLink software is out, it will change the way the driving experience for car users. The target release for the software is on 2018.
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