Mobile conferencing is turning into car conferencing as Google works with Zoom, Cisco WebEx, and Microsoft Teams to provide Android Auto and Android Automotive with these related services.
The news was announced during the Google I/O developer conference: Android cars will receive an upgrade in the communications department. Zoom, WebEx (Cisco), and Teams (Microsoft) will soon be part of Android Auto and Android Automotive.
Vehicle connections
Don’t worry, Google doesn’t condone video conferencing while driving. You can only make voice calls and there’s always a simplified interface for the car’s infotainment system.
It’s not about specific apps; Calls are made via a classic API as with normal phone calls via a smartphone or communication apps like WhatsApp. It is not yet known when these updates will take effect.
Other updates
In addition to being able to join the meeting from any parking lot on the highway, there was plenty of other news to pick up in terms of Android expansions and upgrades for the road. For example, there are a number of new categories in the Android car app library. For example for weather, games and video.
Drivers of vehicles that have Google built in will soon be able to find Waze in their vehicles Google Play Store. This means that the navigation system is now also available outside of Android Auto and is therefore no longer only available for Volvo and Polestar. In addition, Google now allows developers to integrate Android vehicle tools into their navigation apps. This way, drivers not only have a better view – literally – of live directions for commuting, but also easier access to data such as consumption, speed or distance.
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For those who’d rather not look outside so much and want to know if it’s worth driving to the sea on that or that day, the Weather Channel app is an important addition. It can, of course, be found in the new Weather category, along with programs like Radar of Weather.
Expansion into video and games focus more on passengers or when the car is neatly parked. Not completely irrational. YouTube is now available to all brands that have Google integrated as standard. According to Google, a number of car manufacturers have already committed to simply letting the app through over-the-air updates.
Google is convinced that nearly two hundred million cars will get Android Auto by the end of this year. This deadline is also set to double the number of vehicles (with Google included as standard) whose infotainment system runs entirely on Android Automotive OS.
