a consumer to do something himself, there is that group that would rather have it done by someone else.) Once there, of course, the opportunity to create add-on sales abounds.
Down With Distraction Upon first look, it would be too easy to describe
CarPlay as a larger version of an iPhone in the car. More accurately, you could call it a way to experience the core functions of the iPhone—and a currently small selection of apps—safely. To that end, you won’t find a flashy interface with tons of icons and scrolling information. Instead, the screen show- cases five Apple-related icons that are big enough to press easily with a thumb on the screen of the AVIC-6000NEX. The NEX series already utilizes a simplified interface, and the flat, familiar icons play well with the design. As new apps are vetted and introduced, they will appear on the screen alongside Pioneer’s apps, and consumers will be able to scroll left and right to access them. On the entertainment side, the experience is sim- ilarly simplified. Music that is playing shows up as text on a black screen with finger-sized icons—with no album art. Aside from the main icons, there are subcom- mands for functions such as viewing contacts and showing or changing text messages. But in keeping with the simple, safe user interface, minimal text gives you a list of previous names or numbers of people who have texted you, and pressing further activates Siri to allow the user to initiate a call or message.
» Ted Cardenas, vice president of marketing for Pioneer’s car electronics division, said that CarPlay will de- but this summer, and already-sold NEX-line re- ceivers can be upgraded via a free download.
Siri on a Pedestal “Siri, tell me a joke,” I said to the AVIC-6000NEX, to the surprise of my demonstrator. Siri responded, “What did one iPhone say to another iPhone?” showing that, despite the new interface, the voice-powered Apple companion is very much at home—and in control. “Apple has really built CarPlay around voice,” said
Jaed Arzadon, Pioneer’s corporate communications manager, as he performed the demonstration. Anyone who’s been in the car stereo industry knows that this is a bold statement: a company pred- icating its primary interface on the spoken word. For
» Jaed Arzadon, communications manager for Pioneer, shows the functionality of CarPlay on the company’s AVIC-6000NEX receiver.
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