Hyundai adopts Baidu CarLife for its connected cars in China

Asian web services company Baidu has revealed plans to compete with Apple’s CarPlay and Google’s Android Auto in China with CarLife.

Hyundai has announced that it will be one of the first manufacturers to use the service after the two companies signed a memorandum of understanding and it is planning to embed the software in a Sonata sedan.

The ongoing wrangling between the Chinese government, Google and Apple over their systems is what led Hyundai to investigate Baidu’s carlife, according to a statement made by the manufacturer.

"The Chinese government has yet to officially announce whether to support Apple's CarPlay and Google's Android Auto. So, Hyundai Motor signed a memorandum of understanding with Baidu to forge a collaboration to cope with the Chinese market for connected cars," it said.

Baidu not released a huge amount of details about CarLife. However it is understood that, in addition to third-party software, CarLife will incorporate Baidu Maps, which offers navigation and traffic alerts along with a database of restaurants, stores and other points of interest.

Baidu has also signed up General Motors and Volkswagen as manufacturer partners for CarLife, with Harman, Huawei and Pioneer having some input into its technology.

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