The rise of the automotive App Store
The success of smartphones has been driven by the thousands of applications available for them, delivered through a central App Store. This model offers the opportunity for developers to create and easily sell their applications, while consumers benefit from the ability to extend the capabilities of their smartphone, with quality and interoperability effectively guaranteed. This same approach is now spreading to in-car infotainment systems.
Rather than trying to second guess demand and loading hundreds of services (such as mapping, travel and weather) onto a vehicle, many of which are never used, it makes more sense to let consumers choose. Opening up the infotainment system to outside developers may seem daunting for many, but it will drive innovation and revenues for all sides, while still retaining control over safety and the customer relationship.
As a guest contribution to TechCrunch Europe, Altran Praxis CTO Chris Wild discusses what he sees as the challenges and potential of the automotive App Store in an article available here.