Despite Android Lollipop just beginning its gradual roll out, search giant Google is already laying the framework for Android M to be built directly into particular brands of cars in 2015.
This will mark the first dedicated Android software since Android Auto which launched earlier this year, but was considered rather clumsy given that it required the user to connect the phone through a USB cable in order to access the phone’s features.
However, the Android M software is expected to be used autonomously within the car and will more than likely allow the driver, and particularly Google, to harvest data from the car’s system.
However, according to Reuters, the move could prove contentious with car manufacturers, despite 24 manufacturers signed up to use Android Auto as part of the Open Automotive Alliance.
The source within Google who confirmed the future plan to Reuters declined to comment any further however and Google are refusing to comment on the news, but would be something of a no-brainer given Apple’s launch of CarPlay last March which has already established its own deals with car manufacturers.
The car – the next frontier
Having conquered people’s homes and even bodies, companies are looking to find new markets to connect to the internet.
Despite internet-capable cars being slowly rolled out, albeit in a limited capacity, for the last number of years, it is only in the last year that the technology has been considered commercially effective.
Speaking of the potential for the Android M car software as a data collection tool, the source within Google said, “You can get access to GPS location, where you stop, where you travel every day, your speed, your fuel level, where you stop for gas.”
However, the source continued that there needs to be major improvement in the software in terms of its performance and stability if it is to improve upon Android Auto which currently takes approximately 30 seconds for it to boot up following connection with the user’s phone.
