Google announces Open Automotive Alliance with Audi, GM, others: pushing Android to cars

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Google is pushing Android to cars. The search giant unveiled the Open Automotive Alliance (OAA) at CES 2014 to make the connected cars of the future a reality.

Car giants Audi, GM, Honda, Hyundai and chip maker NVIDIA are first on board of this new "global alliance of technology and auto industry leaders committed to bringing the Android platform to cars starting in 2014." The OAA comes with one main task - to create a unified platform allowing for effortless integration of Android in the car. The alliance will also be tasked with developing the tools to allow developers to easily build Android apps for the connected car. The alliance hopes to get more car makers on board soon as well.

The OAA is already negotiating the use of the system in cars with the National Highways Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

Nonetheless, Google is not the first or the only partner of car makers in the effort to bring the connected car of the future. Apple has earlier unveiled its “iOS in the car” partnership with an impressively large list of car makers including Honda, Mercedes Benz, Nissan, Ferrari, Chevy, Infiniti, Kia, Hyundai, Volvo, Jaguar, and Acura, while others like Ford with its own Microsoft-based Sync system are working on different solutions. The Open Automotive Alliance, however, is still larger than initial rumors of a Google-Audi-only alliance.

The OAA expects to see the first Android smart connected cars arrive by the end of 2014, but there are no details on the exact make or model.


source: Open Automotive Alliance

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