Apple Car Play Finally Opening Up

Do you have a preferred map navigation program?

I admit I became completely hooked on Waze when you could select Elvis Presley for your navigation voice.

<Elvis Voice> Uhh Right hand turn comin up baby.<End Elvis Voice>

Not so much since it was acquired by Google, lost the Elvis voice, and the real-time traffic data began showing up on Google Maps.

My new car, a 2017 I bought last summer, has Apple CarPlay in it that I never use.  Why?  It works great if you stay within the walled garden of Apple programs.  Want a map program other than Apple's?  Nope.  Music? Just play from your iPhone (Apple Music) and it works great but Sat Radio?  No, not going to be friendly with that.

Finally some of that will change with the new version of iOS coming soon.

Here is the full story:

https://www.zdnet.com/article/apple-carplay-ios-12-will-finally-let-you-use-google-maps-waze/

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

**UPDATE** The big iOS update has quite a bit more to it.  Read on: iOS UPDATE DETAILS at CNET

Amazon, Krispy Kreme, Waze and State Driver's Licenses in the News

Some very interesting and cool news has come out the last couple of days and I've decided to capture a few of those here.

First up are a couple posts about Amazon.

This one is mobile gift cards through Facebook via Amazon, a very exciting space to follow:

http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/amazon-joins-growing-number-of-brands-leveraging-mgift-cards

This details that Amazon's app has been pulled from Google Play due to it enabling the ability to download apps from Amazon's own app store:

http://mobilemarketingmagazine.com/google-amazon-app-store-non-compete-play

Now we move over to Krispy Kreme's jump in to mobile payments ala Dunkin' Brands and Starbucks with two article worth your time.  Both mobile payments and loyalty are covered:

http://www.pymnts.com/news/2014/krispy-kreme-launches-into-mobile-payments/#.VIr0EtLF_9Y

http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/krispy-kreme-swirls-up-donut-rewards-with-new-loyalty-app

Here is a little piece on the impact the crowd-sourced traffic navigation app Waze is having on communities around Los Angeles:

http://www.cnbc.com/id/102261534

Finally is news about the State of Iowa working on a mobile app version of its driver's license.  First I've heard of this from a State.

http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/iowa-will-let-drivers-use-smartphone-drivers-license/

Tons of great stories there.  Hope you enjoy them before starting a great weekend.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Waze, Wal-Mart, Capitol One Apple Pay, and iPhones in China

Several pieces of news today.

First is news that seems to me to be overdue.  Waze is going to begin providing its crowd-sourced traffic data to municipalities and government entities.  Seems like a no-brainer to me.

http://www.cnet.com/news/waze-to-share-traffic-data-with-governments/

Next is big news from Wal-Mart.  They are enabling online ordering and same-day pickup of grocery items.

http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/walmart-tests-mobile-driven-click-and-collect-grocery-service

Apple Pay continues to influence the traditional issuers.  Capitol One is out with a new app that integrates closely with Apple Pay, coming later in October.

http://mobilemarketingmagazine.com/capitol-one-apple-pay-mobile-wallet

Finally is news that indicates what I think is the single biggest reason Apple added NFC chips to its iPhones.  Sales of iPhones in China have hit the millions of online pre-orders.  NFC payments is huge in Asian markets so if Apple wanted their phones to sell there they had to include it.  2 million pre-orders in just 6 hours is proof of the success of this approach.

http://appadvice.com/appnn/2014/10/new-iphones-are-a-big-hit-in-china-as-preorders-top-2-million-units-after-just-6-hours

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant