Are in-car apps the next platform for news media companies?
After online, then mobile, and now watches and other wearables, could cars be the next battleground for the publishing industry?
It’s a question I’ve been pondering for a while, and that came to mind again with the rumours that surfaced recently about Apple’s plans for a self-driving car.
With a self-driving car, of course, you wouldn’t actually need a dedicated in-car app for your favourite newspaper. Freed from the chore of actually steering the thing and only having to hit the brakes from time to time, you could simply sit back, fire up your tablet of choice, and catch up with the latest world events while the car moved you seamlessly from point A to B.
But while the self-driving car exists in prototype form and has proven to be far safer than anything with a human being at the wheel, it’s likely to be a good few years before it’s commonplace on the streets of London, New York, or anywhere else for that matter.
So what’s available now for car drivers eager for their news fix? As far as I can see, not a lot, if anything at all. Ford has been one of the prime movers in the in-car app market, and, a few years ago, became the first car maker to exhibit at the mobile industry’s annual jamboree, Mobile World Congress in Spain.
Yet, when you look at the top apps available for Ford’s Sync in-car app system, you see the likes of Spotify, Goal (live football scores), Aupeo! (personal radio), and Glimpse (location sharing). There is not a sign of an audio version of a newspaper app, though Audioteka, an audiobook app, is featured.
Source: INMA: Sharing Ideas, Inspiring Change
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