BigBoy11

Hmmm. So what's with the new disclaimer on 2018 Audi models:

Online services

Online services are subject to change. Google Earth™ and Google Street View™ services may not be available after December 2017.

Looks like a derfA8L question to me.

Jack88

Sounds like they are either in contract negotiation or there is no plan to renew it.

SloopJohnB@mac.com

subject to aftermarket capabilities. BMW screwed its customers, so did GM when they cancelled analog OnStar.

Caveat Emptor

derfA8L

IIRC, Audi, BMW and Mercedes partnered up a while ago and invested in a Google competitor. Perhaps they are ready to go online with a new mapping capability for 2018. I'll check in with my contacts during the week and see if any info has come down the line.

MP4.2+6.0

The three of them bought the mapping assets of Nokia, aka Navteq and now Here. Formerly known as the underlying supplier of Nav disks when they were physical like in the D3. https://here.com/en Probably way overpaid ($3.1BB) for a technology that may not be precise enough for autonomous--and probably doesn't even have right data sourcing approach--but that's another discussion. Nokia had paid $8BB for it before them...

Meantime, you might be on to something there with the hunch. Likely fits into D5 too--both Nav cosmetically and that autonomous aspect deeper down. Given the car biz is increasingly about the data (and the dash/user interface), likely another clash of the titans--Uber 3 on one hand, and Google, Apple, etc. on other.

the_duke

I had the now useless OnStar analog system in my 2005 D3.

BigBoy11

I am just really starting to question the wisdom of having certain types of technology built into an automobile that is readily available on my iPhone or Android devices. My Verizon hotspot performs better than the imbedded wifi of my A8L so we use it much more than the Audi wifi. The iPhone has several mapping and GPS apps installed vs. one in the Audi. Love the massage seats, performance, comfort, overall build quality but builtin tech that is rapidly obsolete is something I could do without.

Ritz

I'm totally with you. Car companies have typically lagged in technology and have absolutely sucked on dealing with updates as far as NAV goes. I go out of my way to order my vehicles without any NAV specifically because I know that it will be years behind whatever is available on Android/iPhone the day it rolls off the showroom floor. It boggles my mind that people pay extra for that and then subject themselves to the cost and hassle of the occasional and very late updates. Since it's unlikely that I'll be able to find a NAV-less A8/S8, I'm resigning myself to the fact that there's pounds of crap behind the dash that I'll never use and I'll continue using the latest and most updated info on whatever mobile device I am carrying at the time.

In short: All I want from the car company is a decent audio system with a bluetooth interface. I'll supply the brains AND the content (skip the radio, the CD player, the lame cell phone radio, etc...). I can fit about 25-30 THOUSAND songs on a 128gb flash card the size of my pinky nail. And if I get bored with that, there's plenty of content available over my mobile connection on the internet. Focus on the car.

Best,

MP4.2+6.0

CarPlay and the Auto Android equivalent threaten to shoot these in the head if they are moderately opened up. But the bigger car co's and Google/Apple, etc. are really battling behind the scenes for who controls the "user interface" and the data. Plus disruptive Tesla with its own play book.

The user interface of course conventionally was the steering wheel, pedals, etc., but increasingly it is looking like it will be the screen and those controls. Think autonomous. Layer the design obsolescence/industrial complex theory on top of this all the way back to the Eisenhower years and it is an interesting struggle to watch. Won't play out on D4's, but Audi will launch its like Uber hier control think stereotype with D5 and presumably try to lock customers to their interface and the service and update razor blades.

Since VW and then Audi already let CarPlay/Auto in to others--currently in recently shipped C7's, new Q7 and I think anything basically in the virtual dash era new intros--seems like the camel's nose is jamming its way under the Deutsche tent despite the car companies' fairly obstinate efforts to ignore it earlier. That not so little pesty nose will probably be in D5 too. Next battleground are the maps and related data, where the Uber 3 (including VW/Audi) coughed up $3BB to buy the Navteq mapping assets from Nokia. Something tells me crowd sourced is going to prevail over old drive around mapmobile centralized update data collection think for car Nav, but time will tell.

Ritz

The car companies have zero hope to compete. How on earth do they hope to compete with devices that literally can update on a daily or even hourly basis and can offer real time traffic telemetry for free?

The car companies need to focus on their core business...the car.