Apple has announced CarPlay, the rebranded name for its iOS in the Car. CarPlay will premiere at the Geneva International Motor Show, which runs from March 6-16.
Vehicles from Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz, and Volvo will premiere CarPlay this week. According to Apple, BMW, Ford, GM, Honda, Hyundai, Jaguar Land Rover, Kia, Mitsubishi, Nissan, PSA Peugeot Citroën, Subaru, Suzuki, and Toyota will also add CarPlay to vehicles in the future.
The company calls CarPlay “the smarter, safer and more fun way to use iPhone in the car.”
CarPlay lets iPhone users make calls, use maps, listen to music, and access messages from the car’s native interface or a voice control steering wheel button that will activate Siri. Available as an update to iOS 7, CarPlay will initially work only with Lightning-enabled iPhones — the iPhone 5, 5c, and 5s—though the CarPlay name appears to hint at an eventual wireless interface akin to AirPlay.