Apple is the latest player in the fight to take over the in-car market with CarPlay. Between them, Google, and Microsoft, it might get a little tricky to place bets over who might win (at least between Apple and Google) – but this will be fun to watch.

Perhaps I should point out that Apple is (obviously) not new to car connectivity. Users were previously able to pull music from their iPods and iPhones and enjoy on their car stereos using a dock connector. The new CarPlay uses a Lightning Connector, which allows much greater connectivity. In addition to music, users can now place calls, read messages, use Siri to command the car and the iPhone, and last but not least – power the navigation system of the car. Many car manufacturers signed up to adopt the new technology, including Mercedes-Benz, Ferrari, Land Rover, BMW and about a dozen more.

Apple’s lineup of manufacturers is way more impressive than that of Google with their Open Automotive Alliance (OAA.) As you can expect, OAA is all about adding the Android platform to the in-car experience. That may also mean more differentiation than their competitors. Meanwhile, Microsoft has actually been in the game since 1998 (yes really.) However, they only power Ford, Fiat, and Kia. Well, you can scratch out Kia because they recently switched to Google… so um yea. Microsoft may have been in the space for nearly 2 decades, but Apple inked deals with way more manufacturers in comparison before they even hit the ground running.

I’m curious to see how the CarPlay will tackle advertising. The goal is clearly to get drivers to become accustomed to logging onto their devices in the car. When you couple that with having access to connected living features such as social networks and radio apps, one can only wonder how many ways they’ll take on advertising without causing too much of a distraction for the driver.

Have a look at this demo of CarPlay in the 2014 Mercedes-Benz C-Class at the Geneva car show.  If you don’t want to sit through the 8-min demo, check out the 43-sec CarPlay vid posted by Volvo. Both do a great job capturing the features. Reactions have been mixed. My advice to you is that you shouldn’t be quick to judge. It’s still very new and there will be many tweaks along the way.

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