Volvo Releases Video of CarPlay Integration in XC90 SUV [WATCH]

Volvo has officially announced its partnership with Apple for bringing iOS into the car through its CarPlay, a feature announced by the iPhone maker late last night. Although we have seen a handful of leaked screenshots of CarPlay, Volvo has today released an official video detailing how iOS in the car works in its forthcoming XC90 SUV.

“Apple’s clean and intuitive user interface is a perfect match with Volvo’s Scandinavian Design approach and our focus on fluid functionality,” says Håkan Samuelsson, President and CEO of Volvo Cars.

As the Volvo press release notes (via MacStories), the CarPlay service will bring the familiar Apple icons to the dashboard of the car manufacturer’s best-selling car, but it will also feature third-party audio apps such as Spotify.

Also, the Volvo’s portrait screen gives users the benefit of having both Volvo Cars and Apple content co-existing simultaneously, eliminating the need to switch between the iPhone’s screen and the in-dash screen.

Apple CarPlay allows connection of the device to the car through a Lightning cable – with Wi-Fi coming in the near future. The connection is based on a streaming H.264 video feed that returns user input from the touchscreen. Apple CarPlay will be available in forthcoming Volvo models based on the new Scalable Product Architecture (SPA), starting with the all-new Volvo XC90 later in 2014.

The press release also reveals a few technical tidbits of CarPlay integration: currently, the feature is limited to Lightning-connected iPhones, but Volvo has plans for Wi-Fi connectivity in the near future, which could enable the iOS feature for older iPhones as well, notes TechCrunch.