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Microsoft!? Apple!? BMW!? Fiat!?

m.r.m. said:
ferrari belongs to fiat. maserati belongs to ferrari. things are not always as they seem. ;)
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Fiat (the company, not Fiat Motors) spun off Ferrari into a public company -- they still hold about 50+%.

Fiat has been selling chunks of the car company to GM, which options to buy the rest. :rolleyes:

Unless things have changed again. :confused:

Sort of confusing when you have the conglomerate called Fiat, and a car company owned by the conglomerate with basically the same name.
 
fiats build quality is still pretty iffy to this day so it kinda suits microsoft doesn't it. the computer can crash and the car can fall apart! a match made in heaven!! :D
 
don't get me wrong, i love my iPod AND my BMW, so i was excited to hear about the integration, but this partnership is obviously more than listening to some music on the stereo.

it frustrates me that Windows can do whatever the hell they want, they just throw some money at it. if they see someone innovate in a particular area, they either buy them or throw enough $$ against the company to kill them off.

that being said, this could create some interesting integration btw personal devices & your car: imagine pulling up someone's address on your Palm (i know it's Windows Mobile, but i don't use WM!) and transfer it via bluetooth to your car's GPS mapping software. or calling someone on your phone and talking, via bluetooth through the car's stereo.

Fiat or not, Apple will never have this kind of integration b/c they just don't have their hands in every little cookie jar like M$. which is good in one respect, i like them focusing on computers, but at the same time, how many of us haven't wished for a iPhone or iPDA that would connect w/ each other (and our cars)??!?
 
Can you imagine? You are driving down the road and all of the sudden you get this:

Fatal Exception 0E has occurred in DEVICE_ENGINE

Please restart the car and try again.
 
sinisterdesign said:
imagine pulling up someone's address on your Palm (i know it's Windows Mobile, but i don't use WM!) and transfer it via bluetooth to your car's GPS mapping software. or calling someone on your phone and talking, via bluetooth through the car's stereo.
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The part about the phone already exists in the 2004 Acura TL. It's called "handsfree link." You have to "pair" the phone with the car and you can answer calls from the steering wheel and just start talking. It also shows the incoming call's phone number on the dash.
 
xgsrpg said:
The part about the phone already exists in the 2004 Acura TL. It's called "handsfree link." You have to "pair" the phone with the car and you can answer calls from the steering wheel and just start talking. It also shows the incoming call's phone number on the dash.
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yeah, a similar thing was an option on my '04 BMW. i just didn't like their phone!

but you get the idea. there are lots of (sometimes interesting) ways that M$ will weasel their way into cars in the next few years that Apple just won't be able to compete w/ because they aren't the huge conglomerate that M$ is and they don't have an "Automotive Business Unit". also, i think it's interesting that they paired w/ a European car maker to begin with.

i'm in the bragging chair right now to my M$ friends b/c my iPod can play music through my BMW's stereo, but it won't be long before they're going, "yeah, that's great, but i just synced my iPaq with my Thinkpad that's in the back seat and uploaded that info to the car and it's now reading my email to me on the way home while warning me of upcoming traffic." :^{
 
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