Apple’s Siri Eyes Free feature is now beginning to make its way into car brands all over the US. Chevy’s Spark and Sonic models will be the first cars to get Siri Eyes Free integration after the company promised late last year that it would be included. The feature is also slated to be included in other car brands such as Hyundai, which added support for the feature earlier this year.

The Siri Eyes Free feature was introduced alongside iOS 6 and is slowly becoming standard with car manufacturers. Other companies to include the feature are BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Land Rover, Jaguar, Audi, Toyota, Chrysler, and Honda.

With Siri Eyes Free, Chevy’s Spark and Sonic will allow drivers to perform a number of tasks via Siri, including make calls directly through their phones, listen to texts, and play music without having to go through a layer of software from the car manufacturer.

In the 2013 Spark and Sonic vehicles equipped with MyLink, owners can use Siri in Eyes Free mode to:

– Make voice-activated, hands-free calls to Contacts on their iPhone
– Play songs in their iTunes libraries, and even switch music sources automatically from AM/FM/XM radio to iPod mode
– Listen to, and compose and send an iMessage or text message to a phone number or anyone in saved Contacts
– Access Calendar and add appointments
– Minimize distraction even more by keeping the screen of the iPhone from lighting up even when Siri answers simple questions such as game scores or the dates of national holidays

The feature, which will be available to drivers of the 2013 Chevy models requires an iPad, iPhone or iPod running iOS 6. Owners of a 2013 Spark and Sonic that do not currently have the feature will be allowed to upgrade their MyLink radios for Siri integration in March. Honda’s Accord, Acura RDX and ILX cars will also receive Siri Eyes Free integration later this year.

Apple’s Siri Eyes Free feature will likely become standard in all cars in the next several years as the company continues to make improvements to the voice assistant. If Apple’s Maps application gets more stabilized in the future, car manufacturers could look into tuning that into their systems alongside Siri Eyes Free.

{Via MacRumors}

The annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas always brings to light the newest and most advanced technology related to the mobile devices industry. Often during this event, many company’s unveil iPhone cases and other technology for Apple’s iOS devices. During the first official day of CES 2013, Hyundai, a leading South Korean car manufacturer, announced that it will now support Apple’s “Siri Eyes Free” feature in some its newer cars. The company has synchronized Siri’s commands with its infotainment systems inside of the car.

As a result, users can seamlessly make calls directly through their phones, listen to texts, and play music without having to go through a layer of software from Hyundai. The system does, however, require an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch running iOS 6.

The Siri Eyes Free feature was introduced alongside iOS 6 and is slowly becoming standard with car manufacturers, with Hyundai being the tenth auto maker to adopt the new feature. Other companies include, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Land Rover, Jaguar, Audi, Toyota, Chrysler, Honda, and GM. GM only supports two models, the Chevy Sonic and Spark.

With Siri Eyes Free, drivers now have Siri as a universal technology on their mobile devices, computers, and now their cars as well. Hyundai has also added other technology to help make the experience with voice navigation and Siri much better for drivers:

Dragon Drive: Developed by Nuance, this automotive-grade voice services platform enables drivers to speak naturally and conversationally with in-car systems for tasks such as dictating messages, searching for music, finding real-time weather and asking for directions.

Mobile High-Definition Link: Delivers 1080p60 uncompressed video with up to eight channels of digital audio from a mobile device to a dashboard display, all while charging the device.

Next-Generation Hardware: Hyundai’s new vehicles will feature the latest hardware with high-resolution multi-touch displays, Bluetooth 3.0, and Wi-Fi/3G connectivity options.

{Via AppleInsider}

The theme was available from Cydia since February, but wasn’t famous until it was picked up by news websites yesterday. It seems Apple only got wind of the Scion theme after the news broke, and contacted Toyota to request that it removes the theme and ends the advertising campaign.

Velti, the advertising agency used by Toyota, contacted Kyle Matthews – founder of ModMyI – and asked him to take the theme down:

I received a call from our contact at Velti this evening as well as an email asking me to please take the theme out of Cydia. On the phone, he explained Apple had contacted Toyota and requested they remove the theme and stop the advertising campaign. They (Velti) in turn contacted me relaying the message. The reason Velti listed for the removal request of the theme emailed through our dev portal was “Toyota’s making us take it down…” Toyota had agreed to do so to “maintain their good relationship with Apple,” our Velti contact told me on the phone.

Despite a federal ruling that made jailbreaking legal last year, Apple obviously doesn’t approve of the process and is clearly determined to try and control it, rather than accept the huge community of people that enjoy hacking its devices.

Needless to say, if you didn’t grab Toyota Scion theme yesterday, you’ve missed out!