Washington, September 14 (QNA) - In conjunction with the Detroit Auto Show, Google revealed a set of software updates to the Android Auto app.

The company explained that drivers can now join Cisco's Zoom and WebEx meetings, a feature previously announced at its developers conference this year, and it represents part of the company's approach to the automotive market via Android Auto and its applications integrated into car entertainment systems.

The apps allow for audio-only conference calls, which Google explains makes it easier for drivers to safely join scheduled meetings from the cars display to enhance productivity.

Google is also trying to expand its audio and video entertainment offerings by offering Prime Video via the Google Play app.

In addition to entertainment options beyond video. Already available in some cars as a standalone app, Vivaldi, a Chromium-based internet browser, is rolling out starting Thursday on Google Play.

While keeping drivers productive and entertained, the company is also expanding the display's functionality by making forecasts available via the Weather Channel app, a "follow-me" safety alert feature that allows third parties to track the vehicle, while "Trip View" radar, displays live maps of severe weather events.

This feature allows drivers to share digital keys wirelessly with family and friends and is available in several European countries.

The Android Automotive operating system (OS) runs built-in Google apps and integrates Google automotive services directly into cars. Android Automotive OS is modeled after Googles open-source mobile operating system, but instead of running smartphones, Google modified it so automakers could use it in their cars.

Google has offered an open source version of this OS to automakers for some time. But in recent years, automakers collaborated with Google to create an Android OS integrated with all Google apps and services, such as the Google Assistant, Google Maps and the Google Play Store.

Meanwhile, Android Auto is a secondary interface located on top of an OS, and it is essentially an app that runs on the users phone and wirelessly connects and displays features like navigation, media, and messaging from Android-based smartphone to the vehicle display, and by the end of the year, it is expected that the number of Android Auto users will reach 200 million. (QNA)