Pioneer Demos Latest CarPlay-Enabled Aftermarket Receiver at Paris Auto Show

Earlier today, Pioneer kicked off the Paris Motor Show with the announcement it was making CarPlay available to select existing car audio receivers. The manufacturer also was present at the event showcasing CarPlay on its just-announced AppRadio 4 smartphone receiver in an exhibit that was recorded by French blog Mac4Ever.

At a suggested retail price of $600, the new AppRadio 4 (SPH-DA120) is positioned as the lowest-cost CarPlay system from Pioneer and ships with built-in support for CarPlay and Siri Eyes Free to provide on-dash and hands-free navigation, messaging and more. The AppRadio 4 CarPlay demo is only a minute long, but it shows decent responsiveness of the Apple-driven interface on the receiver’s touchscreen display.

Pioneer is among the first car audio manufacturers to add CarPlay support to aftermarket car receivers, allowing users to install the Apple technology into their existing cars. CarPlay also will debut in new automobile models from a variety of automobile makers such as Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, BMW, Ford, Hyundai, GM, Honda and others.

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Apple Expands Employee Benefit Programs in Health and Wellness, Education, and Philanthropy

Apple today has announced revisions to a number of components of its employee benefits packages in order to retain existing workers and attract new ones to the Cupertino company, reports Forbes. The changes, which target both full-time and part-time employees, were initiated by Human Resources vice president Denise Young Smith and detailed in an employee-wide memo shared with the publication.

“I don’t think these [benefits] would be immediately thought of,” Young Smith told Fortune. “But for the first time we’ve probably got four generations in the workplace at the same time, and we need a plethora of programs.”

New and updated benefits include perks such as educational reimbursements, expanded donation matching, and more. One major change is in the parental leave policy following the birth of a child. With the new policy, expectant mothers can take up to four weeks before a delivery and up to 14 weeks after a birth, while fathers and other non-birth parents are eligible for up to six weeks of parental leave.

The report also profiles Apple’s new “wellness center” at its Cupertino headquarters designed to meet the medical needs of its employees. Employees can seek treatment while at work with appointment wait times as short as five minutes.

The head of HR says 43,000 employees have already visited the center, which opened about a year ago and employs seven doctors plus a large team of chiropractors, physical therapists and dieticians. […] Doctors work out of a central “pod” in the middle of the building, surrounded by a circle of examination rooms, which they enter through a different door than their patients. Inside, the paperless, minimalistic exam rooms hold a small table with an iPad and Apple monitor (what else?).

Many of these changes have been spearheaded by Young Smith, who took over the lead human resources position earlier this year. Young Smith’s emphasis on the company’s employees is part of Tim Cook’s overall focus on people as well as the products that make Apple successful.

Besides these expanded employee benefits, Apple also has been working to improve working conditions overseas, requiring factory manufacturers to provide safe working conditions as part of the company’s Supplier Responsibility initiative.

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Steve Dowling Takes Over as Interim PR Chief at Apple [Mac Blog]

Longtime Apple public relations veteran Steve Dowling has stepped into the role of interim head of public relations, reports Re/code. Dowling was offered the position by Tim Cook last week, after Apple spent six months searching for a replacement for Katie Cotton.

Following Cotton’s departure from the company, Apple was said to be looking for a “friendlier, more approachable face” to take over. While Apple was said to have considered outside candidates like former White House press secretary Jay Carney, rumors in June suggested the position could go to either Steve Dowling or Nat Kerris, another veteran PR employee.

According to Re/code, Dowling’s position is temporary, and Apple has plans to continue to look for other possible high-profile external candidates.

Dowling’s appointment has been framed to employees as an interim one and I’m told Apple will continue to evaluate worthy outside candidates if one should pop up. That said, the fact that Cook has officially put Dowling at the top of Apple’s PR organization suggests he could remain there. Given that, what will Nat Kerris — who has headed up Apple product PR for years, recently overseeing the company’s massive Watch and iPhone 6 event — do now? Reached for comment, Apple confirmed Dowling’s new role, but declined to confirm his title or provide comment.

Dowling has worked for Apple for eleven years and before taking over Cotton’s former role, he served as the senior director of corporate public relations at the company. Before that he worked at CNBC’s Washington Bureau for eight years.

The search for a “friendlier” PR chief to replace Cotton follows Apple’s efforts to be more open under Tim Cook’s leadership. The company has thus far loosened non-disclosure restrictions on developers, made WWDC session materials available to the public, and invited a range of new publications to its iPhone 6 event, including sites that had previously been shunned.

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