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Car companies are in a billion-dollar software war

insideevs.com

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Re: Car companies are in a billion-dollar software war

#181

Post by ericmay »

hiatus wrote: post #166
ericmay wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s interesting - what vehicles require you to do that? I know the usual suspect is the Tesla, which I have, but I never have to navigate through menus to change the temperature while driving. As an aside a lot of people like to levy criticism on the infotainment screens which I think is very well deserved, but then people text and drive, watch YouTube videos, and do all sorts of crazy things too. Instead of levyi…

> As an aside a lot of people like to levy criticism on the infotainment screens which I think is very well deserved, but then people text and drive, watch YouTube videos, and do all sorts of crazy things too. Instead of levying criticism on these distractions (let’s include billboard too) we should instead focus on just reducing car usage since we won’t stop people from being distracted. This argument to me reads li…

We can - but we don’t need to clutch our pearls about infotainment screens as if they are some sort of special moral insult relative to what’s very common in today’s driving communities.

Criminalization of texting and driving and such doesn’t matter unless you enforce, and we don’t enforce. So it’s de facto legal. Who cares about infotainment screens at that point?

Re: Car companies are in a billion-dollar software war

#182

Post by ncruces »

BobaFloutist wrote: post #57
gambiting wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Generally yes, but I would buy a car that has no screen at all, just give me a phone holder on the dash.

Yeah all I want is something that holds the phone and gives it a USB-C port that charges it, lets me play media through it, and lets buttons on the wheel control the phone (volume, next/previous, and programmable go forward/back x seconds buttons). USB-C is so powerful, it can do everything Bluetooth does while charging, but for some reason that's just not an option in a lot of cars? Make it make sense.

Then you want the Dacia Media Control.

It has a phone holder where other trim levels would place the screen, and USB power around there.

Other than that, the car is mostly Bluetooth a speaker.

They actually have an app that allows you to tune the FM radio, otherwise I don't think you can listen to radio broadcasts.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dacia.dngo

Re: Car companies are in a billion-dollar software war

#183

Post by mousethatroared »

XorNot wrote: post #173
mousethatroared wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of course it is. We're just told differently until a leaker proves differently. Twenty years too late to do anything about it

And naturally of course you don't carry a cellphone with you while you drive...you know, that device with accelerometers, GPS and an LTE chip that you leave powered on all the time on your person?

[flagged]

Re: Car companies are in a billion-dollar software war

#184

Post by [deleted] »

timewizard wrote: post #175
ericmay wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s interesting - what vehicles require you to do that? I know the usual suspect is the Tesla, which I have, but I never have to navigate through menus to change the temperature while driving. As an aside a lot of people like to levy criticism on the infotainment screens which I think is very well deserved, but then people text and drive, watch YouTube videos, and do all sorts of crazy things too. Instead of levyi…

Ford SYNC. https://pictures.dealer.com/s/surprisefordvtg/0292/10a2adba8... It's like a window into hell.

[deleted]

Re: Car companies are in a billion-dollar software war

#185

Post by mousethatroared »

rad_gruchalski wrote: post #162
mousethatroared wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of course it is. We're just told differently until a leaker proves differently. Twenty years too late to do anything about it

There are so many things in a modern car that track you. eCall is the smallest problem.

[flagged]

Re: Car companies are in a billion-dollar software war

#186

Post by bigfatkitten »

timewizard wrote: post #175
ericmay wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s interesting - what vehicles require you to do that? I know the usual suspect is the Tesla, which I have, but I never have to navigate through menus to change the temperature while driving. As an aside a lot of people like to levy criticism on the infotainment screens which I think is very well deserved, but then people text and drive, watch YouTube videos, and do all sorts of crazy things too. Instead of levyi…

Ford SYNC. https://pictures.dealer.com/s/surprisefordvtg/0292/10a2adba8... It's like a window into hell.

I've got a Ranger with SYNC 4. HVAC has its own set of buttons and dials below the display, but you can use the touchscreen widgets too if you want to.

https://www.ford.com.au/content/ford/au/en_au/home/owners/te...

Re: Car companies are in a billion-dollar software war

#187

Post by nicce »

sokoloff wrote: post #165
joezydeco wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you implement CarPlay now without the MFI chip?

Does anyone prefer wired CarPlay over Wireless CarPlay? I was annoyed enough that our used/new-to-us 2020 vehicle only supported wired that I bought a wired-to-wireless adapter and brought it with me on test drives to ensure that whatever I bought would work well in wireless mode [or else I was buying a different car]. I installed a wireless charger under one of the cubbies that was well sized to hold my phone on lon…

Someone was so annoyed that they built Raspberry dongle themselves, and based on the stars, someone else was too: https://github.com/45clouds/WirelessCarPlay

Re: Car companies are in a billion-dollar software war

#188

Post by barbazoo »

therein wrote: post #136
mschuster91 wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Remove the LTE chip You can't, it's required for eCall which is a mandatory feature in Europe. Unfortunately, it's fraught with issues, especially for the very first eCall modules where the hardware supported only 3G (HSPA)... which is being phased out across Europe together with GPRS (1G)/EDGE (2G), leaving these cars without a working eCall system - and no upgraded hardware modules in many cases.

Oops somehow a switch has attached itself to the fuse of the LTE module in my vehicle.

Nice. I wish mine had a dedicated fuse for that.

Re: Car companies are in a billion-dollar software war

#189

Post by bigfatkitten »

sokoloff wrote: post #165
joezydeco wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you implement CarPlay now without the MFI chip?

Does anyone prefer wired CarPlay over Wireless CarPlay? I was annoyed enough that our used/new-to-us 2020 vehicle only supported wired that I bought a wired-to-wireless adapter and brought it with me on test drives to ensure that whatever I bought would work well in wireless mode [or else I was buying a different car]. I installed a wireless charger under one of the cubbies that was well sized to hold my phone on lon…

> Does anyone prefer wired CarPlay over Wireless CarPlay?

Yes, for the main reason that I have a Starlink Mini on my roof rack.

My phone can connect to the vehicle via wifi, or it can connect to the internet over Starlink via wifi, but not both simultaneously. With wired CarPlay, that problem is solved.

Re: Car companies are in a billion-dollar software war

#190

Post by cameronh90 »

StopDisinfo910 wrote: post #168
Tagbert wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The window winders I can do without. Not sure that even saves a noticeable amount of money at this point with electric windows such as commodity.

I seem to remember Jeep saying manual window winders were actually more expensive once you factor in the costs of having them as an option given how cheap electric ones are when they dropped them for the new Wrangler. Might still be cheaper if you only manufacture with them and don’t offer electric but the price difference can’t be that high.

Is it about price or reliability?

I never had a manual window winder fail to work, but electric window buttons breaking or the motor getting stuck (e.g. in icy conditions) has happened at some point in every car I've owned.

The convenience factor hugely outweighs the rare failures for me, but I could see why someone buying a Wrangler for its intended purpose might actually prefer the manual option.

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