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Mercedes-Benz previews its operating system MB.OS

media.mbusa.com

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Re: Mercedes-Benz previews its operating system MB.OS

#101

Post by SoftTalker »

lh7777 wrote: post #72
qrohlf wrote: post #5

I was recently an owner of a Merced-Benz commercial van, and the software was by far the worst part of that whole experience. It had obvious race-condition type bugs when it came to the user interface layer, but most frustrating was its tendency to succumb to some kind of memory leak on long drives where the entire head unit would just lock up and crash to a black screen after 6-7 hours of being turned on. Because th…

> if the system fails to detect any other vehicles for a period of more than about 90 minutes, it assumes that there is a sensor fault, and refuses to operate I have a current model Sprinter and this behavior is frustrating (thanks for the explanation, by the way, I thought it was a random bug). Cruise will also disengage in heavy rain or snow, with the system saying the sensor is dirty. It wouldn’t be so bad if trad…

> Cruise will also disengage in heavy rain or snow

That’s what it should do, honestly. It’s not safe to drive with cruise control in low traction conditions.

Re: Mercedes-Benz previews its operating system MB.OS

#102

Post by nicbou »

babypuncher wrote: post #32
qrohlf wrote: post #5

I was recently an owner of a Merced-Benz commercial van, and the software was by far the worst part of that whole experience. It had obvious race-condition type bugs when it came to the user interface layer, but most frustrating was its tendency to succumb to some kind of memory leak on long drives where the entire head unit would just lock up and crash to a black screen after 6-7 hours of being turned on. Because th…

I don't think I've ever used software provided by an automaker that I would classify as "good". Just varying degrees from "functional, but barebones and clunky" down to "so buggy and useless it's a legitimate safety hazard". As a result, I'm firmly on team "make every infotainment system a dumb terminal for your phone" and refuse to buy any car that doesn't support both Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.

I can't find that comic where the head unit is just a rectangle with a 3.5mm jack. That's all we need, really.

My old car has a cheap phone clip screwed into the dashboard, and the phone connects to the speakers for music. I can't imagine anything improving upon that.

Re: Mercedes-Benz previews its operating system MB.OS

#103

Post by Zetice »

maldev wrote: post #33

Everyones talking about alot of negatives. But I have a E53 AMG 4matic+ coup. It looks amazing, like constant compliments, i've even had people compliment it and give me their number in a wendy's drive through. But the OS(MBUX 2) is actually really good, at first I was a bit negative on it. But the way they have everything integrated that isn't really possible with apple play is nice. The dash is customizable, I have…

I'm blown away you think "[women] give me their number" is like... something we ought to know about using the home grown Merc infotainment system? Like that's a feature I look for in my vehicle onboard computer, a "propensity for women to want to date me while I order fast food" metric.

So many questions. So many.

Re: Mercedes-Benz previews its operating system MB.OS

#104

Post by jandrewrogers »

qrohlf wrote: post #5

I was recently an owner of a Merced-Benz commercial van, and the software was by far the worst part of that whole experience. It had obvious race-condition type bugs when it came to the user interface layer, but most frustrating was its tendency to succumb to some kind of memory leak on long drives where the entire head unit would just lock up and crash to a black screen after 6-7 hours of being turned on. Because th…

Some Mercedes also have the bug where the sign classifiers somewhat regularly mis-read 80 as 60 for speed limits, causing cruise control to arbitrarily slam on the brakes in some parts of the country. You would think that they would catch these things with rudimentary quality control.

The automotive code for many of these systems is incomprehensibly awful but the entire process of how it is made virtually guarantees this outcome.

Re: Mercedes-Benz previews its operating system MB.OS

#105

Post by ra7 »

antipaul wrote: post #55
haliskerbas wrote: post #29

The best car OS so far (even better than Tesla IMO) has been Apple CarPlay. Just be dumb and let my phone handle it, and make the touch screen decent. Bonus points if you implement the multi screen CarPlay concept! Just give up!

This is the saving grace. And luckily, the next generation CarPlay will span the entire dashboard, including in front of the driver [1] I can’t wait to abandon my native “infotainment” cluster** [1] https://www.macrumors.com/2022/12/28/next-generation-carplay...

Given CarPlay history, either very few OEMs will actually adopt this or it's going to take a long time for your favorite car to get it. Sadly, no one wants to give up control to Apple and Google.

Re: Mercedes-Benz previews its operating system MB.OS

#106

Post by tcbawo »

dsr_ wrote: post #54

A friend just bought a Mustang and showed it off. The driver's dashboard is a somewhat configurable screen. All I could think of was that a 1970 Mustang, treated moderately well and maintained regularly, is still a useful car fifty years later. In fact, if it's survived, the asking price is within spitting distance of a new Mustang. Is there any chance that a 2023 Mustang will be a useful vehicle in 2073? Will any 20…

I agree with your general point regarding the durability of older cars. But any 1970 Mustang still running and in good shape has required a lot of maintenance and work. Part of me wonders whether the move to electric vehicles from ICE will resemble the move from CRT to LCD televisions. Less robust and initially more expensive, but high consumer satisfaction and eventually economies of scale will make it cheaper.

Re: Mercedes-Benz previews its operating system MB.OS

#107

Post by jeromegv »

nicbou wrote: post #102
babypuncher wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think I've ever used software provided by an automaker that I would classify as "good". Just varying degrees from "functional, but barebones and clunky" down to "so buggy and useless it's a legitimate safety hazard". As a result, I'm firmly on team "make every infotainment system a dumb terminal for your phone" and refuse to buy any car that doesn't support both Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.

I can't find that comic where the head unit is just a rectangle with a 3.5mm jack. That's all we need, really. My old car has a cheap phone clip screwed into the dashboard, and the phone connects to the speakers for music. I can't imagine anything improving upon that.

CarPlay is definitely a huge improvement on that.

Re: Mercedes-Benz previews its operating system MB.OS

#108

Post by tormeh »

HellDunkel wrote: post #37
ElijahLynn wrote: post #6

Yuck: > MB.OS is designed and developed in-house to retain full control You better have some world class software engineers to pull this off, a LOT of them. And retain them. If not, you better go open source. You can still retain full control with open source. Good software is the KEY to good cars, especially electric ones. Why are we inventing 100 different models of cars every year? What a waste of human potential.

The name MB.OS is misleading. It is not a new operating system but a linux or android based hmi sytem.

My bet is that the name is due to internal empire building or hype to shareholders. Being in charge of "MB.OS" sounds better than "another attempt at a good infotainment system". Add in trendy "digital" offices and you've got yourself an aesthetic.

Re: Mercedes-Benz previews its operating system MB.OS

#109

Post by adolph »

It might actually be nice and useful if automakers operated portals that received telemetry from all their vehicles and offered owners statistics on error codes etc. It would improve the automaker processes too since the supply chains for parts could be need based, the part waiting at the dealer for the malfunctioning car to arrive rather than sending parts in response to orders.

I'm aware that there is a lot of economic alignment to facilitate this but I'd like to think the future of car software could actually be helpful to people rather than renting heated seating.

Re: Mercedes-Benz previews its operating system MB.OS

#110

Post by layer8 »

Zetice wrote: post #103
maldev wrote: post #33

Everyones talking about alot of negatives. But I have a E53 AMG 4matic+ coup. It looks amazing, like constant compliments, i've even had people compliment it and give me their number in a wendy's drive through. But the OS(MBUX 2) is actually really good, at first I was a bit negative on it. But the way they have everything integrated that isn't really possible with apple play is nice. The dash is customizable, I have…

I'm blown away you think "[women] give me their number" is like... something we ought to know about using the home grown Merc infotainment system? Like that's a feature I look for in my vehicle onboard computer, a "propensity for women to want to date me while I order fast food" metric. So many questions. So many.

If it works consistently, it would sure be a major selling point. ;)
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