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When the 2018 Toyota Camry comes out later this year, it will come with a new generation infotainment system in the dashboard that Toyota calls Entune 3.0. Behind the scenes, this new system relies on Automotive Grade Linux (AGL), an open-source operating system hosted by The Linux Foundation.
The Camry marks the first production win for AGL, and the Linux proponents behind it couldn't have asked for a more popular car to host its debut. Toyota sold an average of 396,000 Camrys in the US every year over the past decade.
Automotive infotainment systems, which usually combine navigation, digital audio, hands-free phone calling and third-party apps, have been developed by automakers and equipment suppliers alike, leading to fragmentation and disparate interfaces unique to each brand of vehicle. AGL attempts to make a unified dashboard operating system, freeing automotive software engineers from individual platform development.
The current-generation Entune system in Toyota vehicles works reasonably well, providing in-dash navigation, the ability to play music from connected smartphones and Toyota's own app integration system, which lets drivers search Yelp or perform more general online searches to find destinations. The adoption of AGL could give Toyota a more future-proof system, with software that can be updated as cars age.
Toyota, which had been a member of the AGL group, chose to use it as the basis for Entune 3.0, its newest in-dash infotainment system. The new Entune will use what Toyota calls App Suite Connect for app integration, although there is no word yet as to which apps it will support. Lower-trim Camrys will integrate the Scout app for navigation, using the driver's smartphone. Higher-trim cars will come with a new onboard navigation system with over-the-air map updates. Toyota also notes the Camry includes a Wi-Fi hotspot supported by a 4G/LTE data connection.
It comes with a steering wheel, but everything can also be controlled from the command prompt..."user@camry:~$ sudo service car start"
(Score: 2) by richtopia on Thursday June 01 2017, @03:33PM (3 children)
Actually the real reason for their disappearance is the steering wheel controls. Once you integrate the radio into the steering wheel, aftermarket radios cannot replicate the OEM functionality.
I absolutely wish we could return to the standard size, but we have moved even farther away now that backup cameras are standard. I rent a lot of cars for work, and while I can notice the performance difference between different makes, it is the infotainment system that you notice every time you start the car.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 01 2017, @03:49PM
iDatalink Maestro to the rescue
http://maestro.idatalink.com/ [idatalink.com]
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Thursday June 01 2017, @04:32PM (1 child)
Even back when they still had DIN-sized radios and the steering wheel controls were just coming out, there were companies making adapters for them.
Another thing that makes standard sizes more nonviable is the controls for the infotainment, which vary from car to car. On my Mazda, there's a "commander knob" in the console that I can use while driving to navigate the system purely by feel, plus a few buttons (music/home/nav/back/favorites). The commander knob can be turned, pushed in, or pushed to any direction, so there's effectively 7 different events there. On a recent Honda a family member owns, there's a (simpler, turn-and-push-only I think) knob and a bunch of buttons just below one of the two screens.
Honestly, I don't see the problem. If a car's infotainment is *that* bad, then don't buy the car. A lot of people made just that decision when Ford's system was running horrible Microsoft software, and it had a huge impact on Ford's sales, so they switched to a QNX-based system. With systems running on Linux, I do see a lot of opportunity for the aftermarket to customize them.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 02 2017, @07:40AM
I predict a lot of motorcycle sales the day people start listening to you. Nobody makes a good infotainment system, especially not one that will be compatible with USB 12 and digital subspace carrier streaming.