Apple's deal with Indian ride-hailing firm Ola hints at bigger connected car ambitions

Apple may have scrapped its plans to build self-driving cars, but if its recent deal with Indian ride-hailing firm Ola is anything to go by, the tech giant's auto industry ambitions are far from over. Ola, India's largest ride-hailing company, announced Tuesday that it is partnering with Apple to offer Apple Music as part of the in-car experience. The firm, which also announced partnerships with Sony, Qualcomm and Audio Compass, said the service will be made available in some of its vehicles as part of a platform called Ola Play. When passengers book an Ola ride, they will be able to interact with an in-car tablet to control the vehicle's air conditioning, music, watch videos and even read ebooks. "Cars were initially built for the driver," Ola Chief Executive Bhavish Agarwal said during a news conference reported on by India media outlet YourStory.