Volvo to Use Google Assistant, Play Store and Maps in Next-Gen Infotainment • Hacker News Board

Re: Volvo to Use Google Assistant, Play Store and Maps in Next-Gen Infotainment

#11

Post by Theodores » Mon, May 07, 2018, 6:34 PM UTC

Interesting considering that Volvo are Chinese owned. Since their parent company are at the front of EV development and since the 5 year plan of China is 80% of the global EV market it looks to me like we will have lots of Waymo cars in due course. Maybe they have decided to go with mere Carplay for now with a view to future Waymo tech being what the real deal is to be.

In car tech is set on autopilot features which stymies development of anything that does not share that future. You can't invest $$$ in the next dashboard gizmos if you know that autopilot is going to 'change everything'. So it makes sense to just hnd it all over to Google now.

Re: Volvo to Use Google Assistant, Play Store and Maps in Next-Gen Infotainment

#12

Post by jacquesm » Mon, May 07, 2018, 6:42 PM UTC

pavel_lishin wrote: post #7

leowoo91 wrote: post #5

I was thinking about getting a volvo, not a google car, so this is a deal breaker for me.

Can you follow up on that? What if the Volvo, other than Google's involvement, was otherwise the best vehicle for you? Would you get an otherwise worse car, just because of the G stamp on it?

Probably yes. I don't think cars need 'bundled' software any more than computers do.

Open standards such as the DIN dash mounts for in car entertainment systems do just fine. I've never seen an integrated audio system that I like, usually they're junk to begin with and they are obsolete long before the car is and hard - or sometimes even impossible - to get rid of.

Re: Volvo to Use Google Assistant, Play Store and Maps in Next-Gen Infotainment

#13

Post by nimish » Mon, May 07, 2018, 6:44 PM UTC

Finally a car manufacturer realizes it can't out-compete a software company at making good software.

The reason infotainment sucks so hard is that car companies want to "own the experience" and also want to cut costs, so they underinvest and create poor experiences.

Re: Volvo to Use Google Assistant, Play Store and Maps in Next-Gen Infotainment

#14

Post by mrep » Mon, May 07, 2018, 6:46 PM UTC

leowoo91 wrote: post #5

I was thinking about getting a volvo, not a google car, so this is a deal breaker for me.

This is the opposite for me. I'm switching from an iphone to an android mainly so I can use android auto with google maps support in my new car. Google assistant is the cherry on top. This would be nice though since I would not have to switch phones just to get around apple carplay forcing their garbage maps on me.

Re: Volvo to Use Google Assistant, Play Store and Maps in Next-Gen Infotainment

#15

Post by kuwze » Mon, May 07, 2018, 7:03 PM UTC

Man I was really hoping they would bootstrap something awesome. Since they were acquired by Geely I was thinking that they would go there own path and pave a way for AI cars in China’s future.

Maybe they are just evaluating it to get an idea of what to copy in the future?

Re: Volvo to Use Google Assistant, Play Store and Maps in Next-Gen Infotainment

#16

Post by chicob » Mon, May 07, 2018, 7:04 PM UTC

leowoo91 wrote: post #5

I was thinking about getting a volvo, not a google car, so this is a deal breaker for me.

Anyone with concerns about privacy and thinking about buying a car in Europe should have eCall in mind.

An European citizen unwilling to have an embedded system that tracks location, accesses mic and transmit GPS data has three options: burn the SIM card module, buy a pre-April-2018 car or something outside the EU.

Re: Volvo to Use Google Assistant, Play Store and Maps in Next-Gen Infotainment

#17

Post by Lio » Mon, May 07, 2018, 7:05 PM UTC

mrep wrote: post #14

leowoo91 wrote: post #5

I was thinking about getting a volvo, not a google car, so this is a deal breaker for me.

This is the opposite for me. I'm switching from an iphone to an android mainly so I can use android auto with google maps support in my new car. Google assistant is the cherry on top. This would be nice though since I would not have to switch phones just to get around apple carplay forcing their garbage maps on me.

You’ll have to excuse me as I don’t have a car with Apple CarPlay but can’t you just use Google Maps with an iPhone in preference to Apple Maps?

At least that’s the case for normal iOS use.

Re: Volvo to Use Google Assistant, Play Store and Maps in Next-Gen Infotainment

#18

Post by wr909 » Mon, May 07, 2018, 7:06 PM UTC

hansjorg wrote: post #4

mistrial9 wrote: post #2

Why can I trust a multi-national company to track movements and locations over time of a personal vehicle ?

They already have your location, and based on how fast you're moving they know if you're in a vehicle. Based on how you leave that vehicle in a certain spot and come back to it, they already know that's your vehicle.

Who is they? Google or Volvo?

Re: Volvo to Use Google Assistant, Play Store and Maps in Next-Gen Infotainment

#19

Post by ocdtrekkie » Mon, May 07, 2018, 7:10 PM UTC

hansjorg wrote: post #4

mistrial9 wrote: post #2

Why can I trust a multi-national company to track movements and locations over time of a personal vehicle ?

They already have your location, and based on how fast you're moving they know if you're in a vehicle. Based on how you leave that vehicle in a certain spot and come back to it, they already know that's your vehicle.

You are assuming I carry any device Google is capable of tracking on my person. If a car comes with Google Maps built in, it is no longer a car I can consider for purchase.

Re: Volvo to Use Google Assistant, Play Store and Maps in Next-Gen Infotainment

#20

Post by leowoo91 » Mon, May 07, 2018, 7:13 PM UTC

pavel_lishin wrote: post #7

leowoo91 wrote: post #5

I was thinking about getting a volvo, not a google car, so this is a deal breaker for me.

Can you follow up on that? What if the Volvo, other than Google's involvement, was otherwise the best vehicle for you? Would you get an otherwise worse car, just because of the G stamp on it?

Well, I like how they are not hard on design and their kept focus on the safety since. That fits to my character. Of course I could still get a volvo, but a year earlier / non-android version.