Siri coming to cars

FUTURE models from some of the world’s biggest car-makers will use Apple’s Siri voice recognition software within the next twelve months.

The technology giant announced at the Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco overnight that it had reached agreements with Toyota, Honda, General Motors, Chrysler, Mercedes-Benz, Audi, BMW and Jaguar/Land Rover to use Siri in place of their own voice control systems.

Vehicles compatible with the Siri service should allow drivers to make calls, dictate text messages, find directions and control music with just their voice once they have plugged their iPhone into the car’s USB point.

Portable devices such as smartphones and tablets are widely seen as being the connectivity ‘hub’ for future generations of cars, controlling functions including music and navigation.

Apple’s ‘Eyes Free’ system will be totally integrated into the car, meaning the existing steering wheel-mounted buttons for controlling the voice recognition system would instead be configured to open Siri.

It is expected that each manufacturer will also retain their original voice control systems for drivers who do not use the Apple phone.

According to the latest data from market analyst comScore, the iPhone currently has a 29.6 per cent share of the US smartphone market, behind Google’s Android system on 47.3 per cent.

The Siri system for cars was premiered at the Geneva motor show in March this year in the all-new Mercedes-Benz A-Class small hatch, which is slated to go on sale in Europe within months and Australia during the first quarter of next year.

No other car-makers have confirmed timing for introducing Siri, but Apple senior vice-president of iOS software Scott Forstall was quoted by US publication Automotive News as saying that “a number” of manufacturers had committed to delivering ‘Eyes Free’ inside twelve months.

Notable absentees from the list of companies associated with Apple are Ford and Hyundai/Kia, both of which use voice control systems linked to arch-rival Microsoft.

Apple announced at the conference that its second-generation Siri software would also incorporate a wider range of dialects, with new additions including Canadian French, Italian, Spanish, Mandarin and Cantonese.