Support AppRadioWorld by shopping via these links...
***Shop Amazon.com*** or ***Shop eBay.com***

Thursday, August 21, 2014

Pioneer NEX Owners May Have To Wait Until Apple iPhone Event For CarPlay [Opinion]


Today is the first day of the last month of summer and with two months of the season gone, Pioneer's CarPlay firmware update for its NEX receivers is no where in sight.

The circus of anticipation began with the big announcement that Pioneer would be one of two aftermarket companies (Alpine Electronics the other) to offer CarPlay. They held press events showing off Apple's latest technology on their NEX receivers. From the demos, it looked like CarPlay was ready for primetime. So much so that Pioneer themselves promised an 'early summer' release.

Early summer came and went. And so has 'mid-summer.' As we enter 'late summer' it looks inevitable that the updates will arrive anytime within the next 30 days or so. But don't be so sure.

Apple is believed to be the sole reason behind the delay. Apparently, CarPlay is still 'under development', meaning Apple doesn't think it's quite ready yet. And if history is anything to go by, Apple plays with their cards close to their chest. You can guess all you want, but you won't know until they want you to know.

What we do know, however, albeit from rumors, is that Apple will hold its next generation iPhone event on September 9. Multiple sources that have had early knowledge of Apple's calendar of events in the past have mentioned that date. September 9 seems like a good bet, especially since Apple's 'Back to School' discounts for students purchasing one of its existing devices (all Macs, iPhones, and iPads), expire on that day too.

Although new iPhone(s) will be announced on September 9, they won't be available for purchase until this Fall. That is when iOS 8 is also promised. New iPhones will most likely coincide with the release of iOS 8. There are rumors that Apple wants CarPlay to work wirelessly over Bluetooth or Wifi. Maybe that is what's causing the delay.

So, here's another prediction. CarPlay updates get the green light from Apple on September 9 (or later)! If you own a Pioneer NEX receiver, one can only imagine the agony of waiting. But the wait may soon be over.

Pioneer continues to maintain that Apple controls CarPlay and the firmware update requires the go ahead from the Cupertino company. So don't expect any answers from them. Their website now says CarPlay update coming 'this summer.' If that changes to 'this Fall', make sure you know who to blame for the delay.

6 comments :

  1. Exactly as I predicted in an earlier comment which others were quick to poo poo. Score one for me.

    ReplyDelete
  2. How do we even know that it'll be released at the iPhone event? At this point CarPlay is MIA and no one--certainly not Pioneer--is giving a good reason why. This thing could go on until 2015 for all we know.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I think it'll be highly unlikely to come out at the event, it'll probably get mentioned but nothing until iOS8 has officially come out so then you're looking towards the end of Sept. But realistically, if it does come out then, I expect lots of bugs... probably wouldn't fully functional until about iOS8.1 so then you're looking at least a month later.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Considering that every other partner has delayed it another YEAR, it's safe to say it's not happening. Probably ever.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I want my $900 dollars back that I spent.

    ReplyDelete
  6. You should never trust a tech company. They make money by bricking working products, promising features that will never be delivered and spying on you.

    ReplyDelete

All comments will be screened for spam. Allow up to 24 hours for comments to show up.

NO SPAM PLEASE!