Mercedes-Benz is looking for software engineers to help them integrate “Google Projected Mode” into their cars in the near future. The feature will allow you to project your Android device into the car’s infotainment system.
Sometimes, job listings are the best place to hear news about up and coming technology. This is the case with the German website for Daimler, parent company of Mercedes-Benz. Among their new job listings is an ad for a software engineer to help them integrate Google’s new in-car mode, called “Google Projected Mode”. The feature is described as being able to seamlessly project a simplified Android UI into the car’s dashboard head unit (this is the center console where you usually find A/C controls, radio and so forth). Presumably, Mercedes will handle this projection through some form of large screen in the head unit. Since many car manufacturers today are opting to replace the traditional analogue instrument panel with a digital screen, perhaps we will also see android integration find its way nestled between your speedometer and tachometer.
There is, as of yet, no mention of how your device will connect with the car, but one might guess that a docking port or Bluetooth connection is involved. The ad did mention however, that Google Projected Mode will enable media playback, messaging, calls and navigation through the car’s head unit. It was also mentioned that using these features would be handled safely through the car’s on board controls. We can thus probably expect to use the mode through buttons on the steering wheel and voice commands. All of this adds up to something that sounds a lot like Apple’s new “iOS in the car” system, which similarly offers integration of entertainment, navigation and messaging to a number of cars, including Ferrari. There is no word on when we might see Google Projected Mode.
That’s a nice big screen begging for Android integration
Perhaps most interesting is that the ad states the new feature will be coming to “all Mercedes-Benz vehicles in all markets worldwide.” In other words, Mercedes is putting money into this feature and they’ve probably committed to doing it right. Curiously, despite this development, Mercedes-Benz is not part of Google’s new “Open Automotive Alliance”, a collaborative effort between Google and Audi, GM, Hyundai, Honda and NVIDIA to bring Android to cars.
Source: Engadget, Daimler (German)
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