Apple has once again upped the ante, unveiling plans to trump Google in the connected car arena.

Announced at the Geneva International Motor Show, Apple has rebranded its iOS in the Car initiative as “CarPlay”, and it’s got Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo on board as some of the first car manufacturers to incorporate the platform in their vehicles.

CarPlay is touted as the vehicle equivalent of Apple’s AirPlay for living rooms, but what makes it different is that the interface is designed to be much less distracting for drivers.

The platform features Siri, Maps and digital music plus seamless integration with the driver’s iOS device. With Siri, everything a person needs is just a voice command away – for example, drivers can ask Siri for directions, to make or answer phone calls, read messages read out loud, provide spoken turn-by-turn directions, and much more.

As for the digital music, CarPlay will be able to enjoy listening to their own tunes from their iTunes account, as well other services including Spotify and iHeartRadio, which are just some of the third party apps that work with the platform.

CarPlay is designed with safety in mind, which means the interface has been optimized for voice commands – this means that drivers won’t have to take their eyes off the road to interact with their onboard infotainment.

“iPhone users always want their content at their fingertips and CarPlay lets drivers use their iPhone in the car with minimised distraction,” said vice president of iPhone and iOS product marketing Greg Joswiak.

Aside from Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz, and Volvo, Apple is also working on deals with other car manufacturers. The likes of BMW Group, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai Motor Company, Jaguar Land Rover, Kia Motors, Mitsubishi Motors, Nissan Motor Company, PSA Peugeot Citroën, Subaru, Suzuki and Toyota Motor Corp., could all feature CarPlay in the future.

In January, Google launched the Android-based Open Automotive Alliance, which will focus on bringing a successful mobile operating system to in-car entertainment systems “in a way that is purpose built for cars.” Supporters of the alliance include General Motors, Honda, Audi, Hyundai, and chipmaker Nvidia, and it is expected that the first cars running Android will be released later this year.

With Apple and Google both looking to dominate the connected car market, one has to ask, how can either of them get ahead?

Patrick Salyer, CEO of Gigya, says that Apple could get ahead of the game by making its Apple ID usable outside its own products and services. As everyone attempts to enter the Internet of Things, Apple can gain an edge by becoming the identity provider across devices and platforms.

“Apple has a huge cache of credit card, behavior and even social graph information, and it could own a huge part of consumer identity – from payments, to website registration and login – but the company is being held back by its stubborn ‘walled garden’ ideology,” said Salyer.

“Having Apple ID in our cars is a great initial step, but the Internet of Things will continue to be a throng of siloed devices until these gadgets can talk to one another through identity. For Apple, there’s a much broader, and more lucrative market to address in identity.”