spacecadet
spacecadet GRM+ Memberand Reader
11/21/18 1:41 p.m.

Mazda Announced this morning that they will be offering a $200+labor cost upgrade for Mazda's with the Mazda Connect System which were not originally available with Android Auto. 

Includes 2.1A USB port to support running the device to operate the connection. 

More info in the Link

 

mazdeuce - Seth
mazdeuce - Seth Mod Squad
11/21/18 1:45 p.m.

100% going to do this to Rufus. I installed a radio with Apple Car Play in Mrs. Deuce's truck and she loves it. This is great news. 

spacecadet
spacecadet GRM+ Memberand Reader
11/21/18 1:49 p.m.

I'm REEEALLY excited about this. 

customers asked about it all the time back in 2016 because Honda was rolling it out and we were not. I have been hoping and expecting an announcement like this for the better part of 2 years. 

Also my parents have my 2016 mazda 6 lease and I'd like to install this on it. 

dherr
dherr GRM+ Memberand HalfDork
11/21/18 2:24 p.m.

I put a pioneer nav radio in my MX5 with CarPlay and have to admit it is pretty useful. Especially now that they have added Waze as a supported CarPlay app. Almost like having a radar detector like the old days :-)

Nice to see that Mazda is willing to backdate their software to support the newer technologies, not too many companies willing to do that!

Keith Tanner
Keith Tanner GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
11/21/18 2:29 p.m.

It's that 2.1A charge port that's the real news, honestly. The ones in the car are about 0.01A and the 12v "cigarette lighter" outlet is hidden on the ND.

This has been coming for a while. They've had the tech for at least a few months, but no stock of retrofit parts because they were all going to 2018/19 models still in showrooms.

Tom_Spangler
Tom_Spangler GRM+ Memberand PowerDork
11/21/18 5:08 p.m.

Great move by Mazda. Infotainment systems are changing so fast you can have a car that's just a couple of years old and still be a generation or two behind. For instance, both our 14 and 15 Fords have MyFordTouch, so no possibility of ever getting Carplay/AA.

Personally, I think the sooner the carmakers realize they suck at making user interfaces and leave it to the pros at Apple and Google, the better off we'll all be.

John Welsh
John Welsh Mod Squad
11/21/18 5:15 p.m.

Sadly, nothing for Mazdas in my driveway including '10 Mazda5 and '90 Miata.  Ha.   

Keith Tanner
Keith Tanner GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
11/21/18 5:19 p.m.
Tom_Spangler said:

Great move by Mazda. Infotainment systems are changing so fast you can have a car that's just a couple of years old and still be a generation or two behind. For instance, both our 14 and 15 Fords have MyFordTouch, so no possibility of ever getting Carplay/AA.

Personally, I think the sooner the carmakers realize they suck at making user interfaces and leave it to the pros at Apple and Google, the better off we'll all be.

But that wasn't a possibility a few years ago. Tying a big purchase to a short-lived and rapidly evolving consumer toy is a bad idea in my mind. My 2010 Ram has an iPod jack in it that's been obsolete for years. I keep an iPod classic on hand so I've got my road music, but in 20 years it'll be a laughable anachronism. Carplay/AA might be awesome now, but what do we do in 5 years when both Apple and Android have abandoned their old interfaces and moved on to the next big thing? Then you're complaining about your outdated infotainment system again. The automakers can't win. They're having to build cars that will, on average, still be on the road in 11 years and somehow still be relevant for distracted 18-year-olds.

rslifkin
rslifkin UltraDork
11/21/18 5:51 p.m.

Ideally, they do what Honda has done with the infotainment system in their newer stuff.  Just make the infotainment run Android with some custom apps on top of it and then it's theoretically upgradeable until the hardware is too old to run the newer OS. 

Tom_Spangler
Tom_Spangler GRM+ Memberand PowerDork
11/21/18 7:20 p.m.
Keith Tanner said:
Tom_Spangler said:

Great move by Mazda. Infotainment systems are changing so fast you can have a car that's just a couple of years old and still be a generation or two behind. For instance, both our 14 and 15 Fords have MyFordTouch, so no possibility of ever getting Carplay/AA.

Personally, I think the sooner the carmakers realize they suck at making user interfaces and leave it to the pros at Apple and Google, the better off we'll all be.

But that wasn't a possibility a few years ago. Tying a big purchase to a short-lived and rapidly evolving consumer toy is a bad idea in my mind. My 2010 Ram has an iPod jack in it that's been obsolete for years. I keep an iPod classic on hand so I've got my road music, but in 20 years it'll be a laughable anachronism. Carplay/AA might be awesome now, but what do we do in 5 years when both Apple and Android have abandoned their old interfaces and moved on to the next big thing? Then you're complaining about your outdated infotainment system again. The automakers can't win. They're having to build cars that will, on average, still be on the road in 11 years and somehow still be relevant for distracted 18-year-olds.

My understanding is that AA and Carplay basically use the car's screen as a display device, the phone is doing the computing work. So, in theory, as long as there is iOS and Android, it should be able to be kept up to date as you buy new phones down the road. Nothing is ever truly future-proof, but this setup is about as close as you can get right now.

Advan046
Advan046 UltraDork
11/22/18 10:35 a.m.

The last I heard from inside the auto industry is that the primary issue for automakers is the security of the apple and Google software. Apple and Google don't want to share all of their code so Mazda in particular basically held their ground that they can't install and then be held liable for software that they have no way to vet. I understood that was a big part of the Microsoft and Ford partnership. MS owns the software and hold liability and a chunk of the warranty costs. 

Mazda is too small to afford a major privacy breach of Apple software. 

Who would blame Google for their car being hacked (through the Google code) and turned on the car while in the attached garage? Would Google be held liable for the family that died from exhaust fumes? Or would all news and legal action hit Mazda?

Mazda took their time and from what I can tell from reading articles, the got legal assurance that apple and Android owns some of the hacking risk. 

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