Mercedes brings Google on board

Mercedes becomes a rental company. The German automaker introduced its new operating system, which it will introduce with the new E-Class this summer. Mercedes experts liken the MB.OS system to a house belonging to the Mercedes brand, but integrated apartments can only be rented instead of purchased.

Mercedes takes a different approach than, for example, Polestar, Renault and Volvo. They basically sold the house to Google. The smartphone operating system Android also serves as the operating system for the multimedia system in the car. With MB.OS, Mercedes programmed its “Android”, so to speak. On the one hand, it is also based on the open-source operating system Linux, on the other hand, it is open for other developers to develop applications for it.

mercedes android

Mercedes is also bringing Google on board. Since various Android applications run on MB.OS, it is likely that the tech giant is also behind the Mercedes system. The result: Mercedes E-Class like Polestar, Renault and Volvo will have Google Maps – but without mirroring the smartphone. Mercedes development board member Markus Schäfer explains that Mercedes’ goal is to “make MB.OS so good that our customers no longer have to mirror their phones.” How much money flows from Stuttgart (Germany) to Mountain View (USA) remains a mystery. One thing is for sure, Mercedes will not take the Google partnership in vain. Experts are speculating that the annual license fee is in the tens of millions of dollars. Mercedes speaks of a “win-win situation”.

A pinch of Tesla

Technically, Mercedes has drastically reduced the number of control units. Now there are four left – like Tesla. Accordingly, the new operating system must also control the vehicle’s assistance and security systems. This also spoke for a Linux-based operating system. Mercedes is open to Nvidia working on the robo car. Because with MB.OS, autonomous driving should be possible up to 130 km/h at level 3. Until now, the S-Class and EQS could drive completely independently at speeds up to 60 km/h under optimal conditions, while the driver was replying to emails or watching TV.

The new operating system on the back should be able to play YouTube, TV shows or streaming services without any issues. The classic Angry Birds game is also on MB.OS. Countless games should be playable on later Mercedes models. To that end, Mercedes will install a supercomputer in every model in the future, starting with the new E-Class this summer.

New source of income

Thanks to the open platform, the infotainment system can be tailored to the region: Google for North America, but something else for Korea. Continuous updates (via internet connection without visiting the workshop) aim to ensure the security of the system, as in a smartphone. “Thanks to constant updates, the car never gets old,” says Schäfer.

As a side note, Mercedes could make even more money with simpler and optional features. The product range extends from hardware details that can be activated later (MB Connect) to autonomous driving level 3 (MB Drive). Of course, there will also be special charging offers such as flat rates or battery and software updates for electric models covered by MB Charge.

However, due to programming errors in smartphones or tablets, Mercedes sometimes cannot afford to fix updates as quickly as necessary. In a car, such operations in the open IT heart do not continue, so every improvement must be in place. The E-Class will not launch with the final version, though. Customers will have to wait about 20 months for version 1.0 of MB.OS.

Source: Blick