Car Infotainment Systems- Get Information And Entertainment At The Same Time

Most people prefer a sleek flat panel screen fitted to the center of the dashboard, having buttons or complex switches in their car as a multi-media system. These have become very popular nowadays and are installed in almost all of the new cars that are bought. These systems have a lot of benefits therefore people prefer a vehicle that already has a multi-media system fitted into it.

In-car GPS Multimedia system:

An in-car GPS system consists of GPS navigation, Bluetooth hands-free, steering wheel control button, backup camera, Apps, and internet access. When going on long trips, GPS navigation comes in handy to find the location of places where you have not been before. The GPS system, built-in car supports both the offline and online navigation system. In an offline system, the navigation system will automatically read the location from your SD card. This is a very handy tool and you will never get lost again. The hands-free Bluetooth feature will keep you safe from any accidents on the road and will enable you to follow the local hands-free laws. You can easily switch to the steering wheel button control when you are not in the mood to take control of the steering, change song tracks anytime you want from your phone, and answer calls but still have eyes on the road.

Getting a backup camera installed is the new trend. It is very helpful whilst parking your car. Reverse parking a car is a difficult job and can often lead to accidents and scratching of the car. Therefore, most people install a back camera so that they can have eyes on the back as well. Whilst reversing, the back camera gives a wide view of the background and also warns if the car gets too close to any other object or if there is an obstacle in its way. A backup camera saves you from the worry of looking back every time whilst you’re parking and enables you to enjoy a safe, harm-free ride.

On your car’s multimedia system, you can install any apps of your choice. You can also install gaming apps for your children when going on a long road trip so that they do not get bored and remain busy throughout the journey. 

What are Infotainment Systems?

An infotainment system is installed in the dash system for both the driver and the passenger. Its main purpose is to give entertainment as well as information to the car passengers. It mostly controls the sound system such as radio, CD player, and any connected audio device but in some cases, it can also control the GPS navigation system. With the change in technology, infotainment systems will be used for a variety of other purposes.

Benefits of infotainment systems:

• They give notifications for when a car needs servicing or needs to be maintained. They also provide a digital copy of the vehicle owner’s manual. You won’t have to worry about carrying a hard copy of your owner’s manual.
• In some cars, they also control the heating and cooling system. If you have a hybrid or an electric car then the infotainment system will help you in managing your energy storage.
• If you have an entertainment screen in the back of your car, then this system will also manage what is being played in the back for the passengers.
• This system also gives modern assistance warnings, it will warn you of a blind spot or any forward collisions, etc.

Evolving Infotainment screens:

In the past, when the technology was not very much evolved, the infotainment screens had a lot of buttons through which it was navigated. But now with the advancement in technology, the infotainment screens have now become touch, and giving commands became relatively easy. However, giving commands to a touch screen whilst driving on 46 km/hr. was not an easy job.

Hence, now the infotainment systems come with voice commands. You just have to speak and the system will follow your verbal commands. This is very much convenient for the driver, as they do not have to take their eyes off the road resulting in minimizing the chances of accidents. But the problem arising was that it was not always effective. Many times, the infotainment system was unable to figure out what the driver was saying. To solve this problem, car manufactures like BMW, Mercedes decided to give an exclusive design to the infotainment controlling systems on the steering wheel. 

Apple CarPlay and Android Auto:

Nowadays many vehicles come with either Apple Car Play or Android Auto infotainment system but some vehicles have both of these infotainment systems installed. Both of these work, in the same way, the only difference is that if you have an iPhone, then integrating it with Apple Carplay will be very easy. The same is the case for Android Auto, if you have an android phone then you can easily connect it with your infotainment system. There is nothing complicated in it, it is just a way to use what you are already comfortable with.