According to the official announcement, CarPlay is intended to drivers, who are also iPhone users. The system is controlled mainly by giving commands to Siri, while it is hands-free and users are allowed to receive calls, dictate messages or control music playback. Voice control is triggered via special buttons on the steering wheel. Apple's mapping is also part of the system, and the operation will be supported only with iPhones that have the Lightning plug (5, 5S and 5C).

The first car manufacturers to support CarPlay are Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo. Later it is expected that Nissan, Peugeot, Jaguar, BMW and Ford will also join.

[Ed - Although we are sure that Apple will claim different, Apple now joins the ranks of Google, Microsoft, and many, many others that have provided this service to car owners. There are additional rumors that Blackberry might have played a part in getting this service running for Apple, but we do not have verification on that yet.]

Tell us what you think in our Forum