Microsoft has announced its plans to build a new cloud-based platform to offer connected car services to customers. Dubbed as the Microsoft Connected Vehicle Platform, it is an integration of Microsoft’s popular services such as Azure, Cortana, Office 365, Skype, and more – to offer more in-car productivity to customers.
Once complete, Microsoft Connected Vehicle Platform is said to bring latest in-car technologies which automobile manufacturers can integrate with their car’s infotainment systems. Microsoft says that users can use services such as Bing, Maps, along with Office 365 and Skype to have more immersive connected car experiences. They can have an immersive conversation with Cortana, get in-car conferencing abilities, and be able to take advantage machine learning (ML) technologies. Powered by Azure, these ML technologies will work together to evaluate, analyze, measure, and predict a wide range of car-related metrics.
“Today, the car is more than just a ride between two places — it is a hub of activity for daily life. People are looking to have truly connected experiences in their cars so that they can get more done, save time and make life easier. While safety and security are baseline requirements, our services can help make a person’s work day more efficient,” said Peggy Johnson, Executive Vice President, Business Development at Microsoft.
Microsoft has already partnered with Renault-Nissan and BMW for its Connected Vehicle Platform. Besides, the Redmond giant has also announced that Microsoft Connected Vehicle Platform will be integrated with Nissan’s upcoming connected cars. Both companies have been working together on connected car technologies since 2015. Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn during the company’s CES 2017 keynote, gave a short demo of how Microsoft Connected Vehicle Platform can make driving experiences more seamless and productive. Check out Nissan’s vision of connected car technologies in the video below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKoC9k5b3uo
Ghosn also added that Microsoft and Nissan are rather keen on exploring how Cortana can enhance their connected cars initiative, which is a combination of Nissan Intelligent Driving and Nissan Intelligent Integration.
