Ford Making An App Store for Cars?

Wouldn’t that be nice – an app store for cars?  Ford isn’t there yet, but they could be.  I read earlier this week that Ford is pushing out a new SDK for software developers to create applications for For Motor cars.

A simple example of an app would be syncing your smartphone with the car [via USB] and run Pandora music or Stitcher internet radio.The new SDK from Ford includes access to the voice recognition utilities to help developers integrate voice command applications.  An example here would be syncing the voice command functions of your phone through the speaker system of your car stereo.  Developers could also design apps where you ask the car questions about oil changes, maintenance, closest dealer and much more.  This type of approach would actually help a driver build a relationship with it’s car.

Ford has not opened the SDK to anyone and it did not say which companies it has released the SDK to. “Our first approach will be evaluating existing apps that fit into categories that we think are appropriate for safe in-car use,” said Derrick Kuzak, group vice president of global product development at Ford, during a keynote presentation at the CTIA conference in San Francisco on Friday.

The main areas Ford would like to see development are the categories include personalized entertainment, information and news, location-based services, notifications and alerts, financial apps and scheduling.

You must admit, it will be interesting to see where this could take the car industry.

Have you heard of the Google car which drives itself?  It’s real and it’s running – check it out here.