From the related Ars article[1]:
> Rather than relying on a built-in infotainment system, you'll use your phone plugged into a USB outlet or a dedicated tablet inside the cabin for your entertainment and navigation needs.
How is a "dedicated tablet" different than an infotainment system, other than not having vehicle telematics and controls? Also, a regular tablet UX would be dangerous while driving, and typically they don't have their own mobile data connections.
1. https://arstechnica.com/cars/2025/04/amazon-backed-startup-w...
It's exactly what I think a lot of techies want.
Highly technical people tend to come in two varieties when it comes to electronics in their personal life:
1. Absolutely nothing smart that's not under their direct (or highly configurable) control.
2. Sure just take all my data I don't care. I'll pay subscriptions fees too.
Modern cars mostly do #2... to the point we potentially faced a subscription being required to enable seat warmers [0]. There's basically no cars on the market that do #1 anymore.
And with #2, you're bound by what the vehicle manufacturer decides. They are ending up like forced cable boxes - minimum viable product quality. They can be slow to change pages/views and finicky in touch responses... which I think are actually more dangerous... but this is our only option if this is the car we pick... and almost no one decides on a car for it's infotainment, so it's not a feature that gets much love or attention.
Additionally, technology moves too fast. My first car had a tape deck. The next one had a CD Player.. then I had to get an mp3-player-to-radio dongle, then I replaced my infotainment system with a bluetooth supporting one... and so on.. Even Android Auto (early versions) integrated directly into the infotainment system and needed potentially proprietary cables (USB-to-proprietary connector), and the systems did not look designed to be upgraded/replaced.
This model here allows you to upgrade your infotainment system every time you upgrade your phone (or dedicated tablet)... or simply by changing apps.
Also, Android Auto has mostly solved that UX issue (It's the same UX on a tablet as on an equivalent built-in infotainment system).. Though iPads probably (?) don't have a similar feature.
So I think the 'bring your own infotainment' idea is awesome.
It's not clear what they mean by "dedicated tablet". If it's an integrated add-on provided by the company that just does Android-Auto/CarPlay, then that seems OK. If it's just a holster for a tablet, not so much.
> It's exactly what I think a lot of techies want.
> Highly technical people tend to come in two varieties when it comes to electronics in their personal life:
I get it, I'm one of them. But using a tablet while driving is fundamentally dangerous to other people on the road, drivers or pedestrians. Android Auto and CarPlay are barely constrained enough to allow for distraction free driving.
I've lost hope that we're going back to days of people actually paying attention to the task of driving (even I take phone calls and play media while driving), but normalizing distraction by encouraging use of a tablet or phone seems like a public safety mistake, even if it appeals to the techie crowd.
option 3 might be go to cartoys and put whatever you want.
which would suit me just fine.
Not being built-in is significant. Infotainment systems tend to get outdated, and are also a common point of failure that can be expensive to fix, so not having the tablet hardwired in allows for people to choose their own setup and is also more future-proof.
> Infotainment systems tend to get outdated, and are also a common point of failure that can be expensive to fix
Android Auto and CarPlay solve that problem for navigation/communication/entertainment. The automakers aren't going to provide an open API to the vehicle control systems, for both competitive and safety reasons.
What would be nice is the old fashioned DIN interface, where you could install an aftermarket AA/CarPlay unit like this:
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/pioneer-10-1-hd-screen-luminous...
> Android Auto and CarPlay solve that problem for navigation/communication/entertainment.
I can definitely see a day where Apple or Google decide to discontinue support on vehicles older than 201x that lack some new hardware specification.
> Also, a regular tablet UX would be dangerous while driving, and typically they don't have their own mobile data connections.
I think it's still possible to run the Android Auto app (with its purpose-built interface) on a regular tablet.
Android Auto for Phones has been dead for a few years. That would be the app you'd use on an Android tablet.
https://www.autoevolution.com/news/android-auto-for-phones-i...
Also, these days AA can connect to the car's systems to do range estimations for its route suggestions and suggest charging on the routes. I'd hope whatever connectivity they do here includes sharing that data with the device in the cabin.
> Also, a regular tablet UX would be dangerous while driving
A passenger could operate it.
A passenger can do that today with just a tablet in their lap. Why attach it to the dashboard?
Oh, I maybe misread it - thought it meant you could plug your own tablet into the speaker system.
You can do that in any car today. Nor is there a lack of devices available for physically attaching a regular tablet to your dashboard.
The question is whether a car maker should be encouraging or enabling a generic touch screen tablet to be installed on the dashboard versus an infotainment device with constrained functionality like AA/CP designed to minimize driver distraction.
I would be happy with a built-in screen that did nothing but AA/CP while the car was driving, and then reverted to a normal tablet interface when the car is parked.
Climate control, etc should be physical knobs and buttons. Anything critical to driving should be on or near the steering wheel.