Actually, Apple is doing much more than that. The same company that brought us the iPod, iPad and MacBook is moving to bring its iOS operating system and mobile technology into car interiors.
Last week, Apple filed a patent for a vehicle-interior system that remembers individuals’ preferred car settings – including the driver’s seat, steering wheel and mirrors. It’s even tied to your iPhone.
Autoblog explains:
While many higher-end vehicles and trims already offer packages that include memory for seats and other functions, this iPhone app could be a good solution for those of us who don’t spring for such luxuries. What’s more, it very well could provide drivers with memory control over a greater range of functions.
Better yet, since the settings stay with your phone, you could theoretically use them in other vehicles that you drive. As explained by the patent abstract, “…when the user visits another similar environment, such as a rented automobile, those configuration preferences can be imported into the visited environment and used to automatically configure the environment according to the imported preferences.” [more]
The jury’s out on what this means for car interiors – likely just more complications for us when we strip down and reassemble them. However, it is interesting to see Apple taking its cue from aftermarket shops (upholstery, restyling and other) who’ve been incorporating Apple technology into car interiors for years.
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