IN-CAR DASHBOARD SOFTWARES

Since the last decade, many car manufacturers have been designing cars with a built-in dashboard and entertainment system. But these built-in dashboards have been posing one disturbing problem. That is, when you switch from one car to another you have to get used to a completely new and different dashboard. Each car had its own specially designed dashboard which used different interface and menus. There wasn’t a universally designed dashboard that you could just get used to. Although this problem was ignored by the customers for a while, it has now got to a point that has made it intolerable.

Need for the introduction of the in-car dashboard software

This caused the car manufacturers to approach the big guns of the tech industry like Microsoft, Apple and Google. To help these car manufacturers to solve this problem, the three industry giants started working on a way to solve this problem. Each company came up with their own version of a dashboard based operating system that can provide an universal interface irrespective of the car. The first one to launch this type of dashboard software was Apple with its CarPlay followed by Google with its Auto Link. It has been speculated that Microsoft has also come up with its own in-car dashboard software that it is set to release later this year.

Features of this software

All of these in-car dashboard OS allows the users to plug-in their corresponding smartphones to the dashboard via a USB cable. Once plugged in, the dashboard takes control of your phone and allows to give voice based commands to it. They use their corresponding maps to give you directions for reaching your destination. They also have contextual awareness which enables them to upgrade the information that they provide to you according to the environment. Also you can use a variety of apps that you use on your smartphone like Spotify and a variety of driving related apps. The dashboard software also allows you to access the music library on your phone and play songs. It is possible to do all of the above mentioned tasks through voice-based commands. This means that you don’t have to look into your dashboard when you are driving, thereby avoiding any unnecessary distractions.

Such innovative products have always taken user experience to another level. This dashboard software has made driving easier and safer.