The age of the smart car is here. In-car controls are about to get even easier to use as Android finds its way into a dashboard near you. At CES next week Google and Audi are expected to announced the first appearance of Android in-car.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Android should be powering the in-car entertainment systems in the Audis that will be unveiled at CES 2014. Rather than using your smartphone’s OS, the Android controller will be built into the hardware of the vehicle - spreading Android to everyone, even those with iOS and Windows Phone. Clever move, Google.

READ: Hyundai and Kia vehicles to gain Android-based navigation systems by end of 2013

Since this is a hardware build as well as software, Nvidia got involved too. This should make the visual experience of navigation, entertainment and communication smooth. And with Audi recently announcing LTE on selected models the level of connectivity should be as good as, or better than, any mobile.

While this is still at the rumour stage smart cars have been coming for a while. And with Apple near to having iOS in many cars already it seems inevitable that Google couldn’t be far behind. Plus we’ve already heard about Hyundai and Kia’s plans to unveil Android in-car by the end of 2013. Check back next week for our coverage at CES.

READ: iOS in-car mirroring to be unveiled by Honda in December for 2014 range