LAGUNA BEACH, Calif., Oct. 20 (UPI) — Apple CEO Tim Cook said the automobile industry is due for big changes, with software becoming an important part of the design, as well as “autonomous driving.”
“I do think that the industry is at an inflection point for massive change,” Cook said.
Speaking Sunday at the Wall Street Journal’s WSJDLive technology conference, Cook did not address reports that Apple is working on developing a car.
He did say that engineers who worked on the Ford Model T would be baffled by the present-day shift from internal combustion engine to electric motors. He also said software is “an increasingly important” component of automobile design and that “autonomous driving” is becoming just as vital.
Cook pointed to CarPlay, a system that would connect iPhones to car interfaces and consolidate the two experiences, as a short-term innovation. Users would be able to access their iTunes music library and get driving directions from Apple mapping apps without interacting with their mobile devices.
Meanwhile, Google is testing self-driving cars and other automakers are developing them, too.
