KPIT Cummins Blog

Getting to know Apps and their future - An ‘App’ gives us an introduction to the exciting new world of in-car infotainment. (This is an autobiography of an ‘App’. We will share various aspects and capabilities of an App specific to cars in a series of six blogs. This is the first of the series.)

Courtesy: Sean MacEntee

Hey there, nice to meet you. I’m Application, but you can call me App. There might be a few differences between us, but we’ve got our similarities too. After all, I’ve got a memory, I work, I rest, and I find and share information (I do pretty well with this last bit).

My beginning is programming and, if all goes well, I can live forever, just getting better. 

Sounds good so far, doesn’t it? I must give some credit to Developers, those hard working, inventive souls who make me what I am. And let’s not forget Support Personnel, the doctors who treat my aches and pains. 

Like you, I want to look good, and my testing stage is a kind of parlor. We can all benefit from a few adjustments and enhancements! Graphics and visual aids help me stand out, while my Testers make me time-proof and fail-proof - even fool-proof. 

Then again, looking and working like I do, I do need security. My Developer takes care of that. After all, I’m more than just a pretty face; I’ve got to protect my owner’s information. The architects responsible for me, care about that kind of thing.

Where can you find me? Right now I’m used in automobiles - for everything from technical diagnosis to infotainment. I can help reverse your car, guide your GPS - even play DJ and pick out your music. Thanks to me, cars are becoming carputers! Think about it, your automobile will soon be the place for everything from podcasts to internet radio, to games for kids, a place for you to work from… the options are endless.

I’m powered up in the mornings, when my user gets into his/her car and heads off to the office. That’s when I start my multi-tasking day. I can be a weather forecaster and a traffic cop, and can suggest the best route to take, which is especially helpful when we are headed someplace new. It feels good when my owner gets where they need to be safely and on time.

I work all day, constantly interacting with the car dealer to manage the vital features of the vehicle. That way we can be sure that things like tyre pressure and oil levels are where they should be. Just another way I make things easier for my user.

It’s great to see my owner in the evenings, approaching me for the trip back home. Thanks to their key, I can recognize them from 100 meters away - we share a ‘wink’ and we’re ready to go!

Incidentally, here’s some inside info - by 2013, every car built in Europe will be pre-equipped with an Internet connection. That means you’ll be seeing a whole lot of me. 

I’ve talked myself up quite a bit, but it’s true that I’m not always perfect. Those doctor visits are necessary. Sometimes my DNA is faulty. Other times my genes are blamed and I am completely re-created. I have self-contradictions too, and bugs try to paralyze me. I’m patched (via a USB or over-the-air upgrades) through patches, when my genes are erratic. I am fixed through fixes (sometimes a hot fix, otherwise a critical fix) when I am found broken. Sometimes I’m taken to the doctor just to re-dress me with a few new colors and shades.

We all keep improving, but this is where you come in, because, after all, the end-user is the reason I exist. I’d like to make life easier and more entertaining. I’d like a high level of interactivity, flexibility, and customization. I exist to deliver what my user wants. Remember what I said about getting better?

What do you want from in-car Apps? Let’s work together - the future looks bright!

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**This blog series is written by Johnson John along with technical inputs by Manish Narang from KPIT Cummins.**