When the car loving VP of Apple, Eddie Cue, joined the board of directors of Ferrari back in November last year it was just the first step towards “more integration between the two companies.” The two firms will inally showcase their first collaboration in the form of Ferrair’s latest four seater FF coupe that will boast Apple’s Siri voice service and two iPad minis. According to Bloomberg Businessweek the 7.9-inch slates will be incorporated in the FF as infotainment system that will be accessible from the rear seats of the coupe.
As far as the software side is concerned Apple has included a new feature in the FF that is known as Eyes Free. The Verge reports that the new function “enables drivers to interact with Siri on their mobile devices without taking their eyes off the road.” The driver activates the feature by pressing a button incorporated on the steering wheel of the vehicle.
On this occasion Ferrari said in a statement that the new FF is “now seamlessly integrated with Apple technologies, thanks to direct access to the infotainment system via SIRI voice commands and the adoption of two iPad Minis as the entertainment system of choice for the rear seat passengers.”
Bloomberg has also reported that the Chairman of Ferrari, Luca Cordero Di Montezemolo has said his company is “in talks with Apple about broadening a partnership on in-car entertainment.” Luca Cordero Di Montezemolo made this statement at the famous Geneva Motor Show, where aside from the latest FF coupe Ferrari has also unveiled its brand new one million euro hybrid supercar, the LaFerrari.
Luca Cordero Di Montezemolo also said that, “Ferrari SpA, the luxury carmaker owned by Fiat SpA (F), will be “more precise” about its partnership with Apple (AAPL) Inc. in the next few months.” The association between the two companies developed after Luca di Montezemolo reportedly had a personal two hour long meeting with Apple’s CEO Tim Cook that was pretty successful.
Luca was impressed with the “availability and openness” of Cook and he said that both Ferrari and Apple are “connected by the same passion, the same love for the product, maniacal attention to technology, but also to design.” This clearly indicates that both Ferrari and Apple will only strengthen their partnership in the coming days, as both have inspired each other with their impressive work and their collaboration will bring more joy to their fans.
Photo: TheVerge