Volkswagen announced Monday at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas that its vehicles will receive support for CarPlay and Android Auto later this year.
The two platforms will be available in the German automaker's cars in the U.S. and Europe, and the U.S. vehicles will also receive the smartphone agnostic MirrorLink app, according to PCWorld.
Providing Android Auto, which delivers important information through an interface similar to Google Now, and Apple's CarPlay, which only works with iOS devices, gives Volkswagen a chance to exceed limits with smartphone integration. The popularity of both platforms in the U.S. will also help the car company in its connected car push.
Android Auto and CarPlay will be launched along with Volkswagen's second-generation "modular infotainment platform" called MIB II, ZDNet reported.
Automakers that have already moved to add CarPlay to their vehicles include Mercedes-Benz, Volvo and Ferrari, and fellow German carmaker Audi has promised to release models with CarPlay later this year.
The integration with Android Auto and CarPlay wasn't the only announcement Volkswagen made for its cars at CES, PCWorld reported. The company unveiled its Golf R Touch concept vehicle that features Kinect-style gesture control and said it is improving its parking assist technology so that drivers will eventually be able to use their smartphones to keep track of their car's semi-autonomous parking operation from the sidewalk.
