Ola, India’s largest ride-hailing firm, has revealed that, in partnership with Apple, the streaming service Apple Music will be offered as part of the in-car experience with the Ola Play platform.
As the Los Angeles Times explains, with some of Ola’s vehicles, passengers booking them for a ride will get access to an in-car tablet with which they will be able to watch videos, read ebooks and – yes – listen to music, with the option of doing so through Apple Music.
Speaking to the Los Angeles Times, Grayson Brulte, president of tech consulting firm Brulte & Co., said that Apple already had access to Didi’s data through its $1 billion investment in that Chinese ride-hailing company – and that Ola’s Apple Music data will also land in Apple’s hands.
He added: “So you start to put the pieces together. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Apple try to gather all the data in the food chain.” Nonetheless, it is unclear what Apple might actually do with this data.
Brulte said that he could see Apple working less on autonomous cars and more on the services and interfaces which drivers and passengers interact with. This shift could culminate in what the Los Angeles Times has summarized as: “The sleek and simple design of iOS, for cars.”