Microsoft demos Apple CarPlay rival

The battle between Microsoft and Apple is being fought on the desktop, on the smartphone and now in the car.

At its Build 2014 developer conference, held earlier this month in San Francisco, Microsoft demoed an early version of Windows In The Car, its response to Apple's CarPlay system we saw at the Geneva Show back in March.

As you'd expect, In The Car's design follows the look of Microsoft's latest Windows and Window Phone operating system pretty closely. The default Start screen features customizable tiles for common functions, but as well as supporting the calls, texts, maps and music your phone provides, In The Car also allows control of climate functions, giving an extra step in integration between car and mobile device than the CarPlay system.

Other concessions to its automotive installation include an integrated speed limit display, although this sits way outside the driver's eyeline for now, and audible feedback for swiping gestures.

Microsoft will also offer the ability for third-party app developers to build two forms of their in-car apps – a more comprehensive version for when the car is in Park, and a stripped-back, less distracting version for when Drive is selected.

The presentation was given by Microsoft's director of program management, Steve Teixeira, who confirmed In The Car is currently being developed on road, and in a lab that features a wraparound screen, where the driver's eye movements can be tracked.

He added “[In The Car] is a concept, but a concept that we're working very, very seriously on so that we can bring the best of these two world – the IVI and brought-in Windows device together.”

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By Tom Phillips