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Toyota Teams With Microsoft On Connected Cars (usatoday.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the way-of-the-future dept.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from USA TODAY: Toyota announced an enhanced relationship with Microsoft on Monday aimed at delivering "connected car" services to drivers in ways they probably never could have imagined. Already, drivers ask the infotainment system in their cars for restaurant recommendations, but many locations often would require that a driver turn around. But with Toyota Connected, the system might be modified to only recommend restaurants on the highway ahead -- and then only the kinds of food that the driver usually prefers. Road information can be delivered to drivers based on driving patterns -- knowing the routes they usually take. Auto insurance could be priced more accurately because the system could report on a driver's actual miles and routes traveled. Medical-related sensors could also be built into the car, like heartbeat monitors or sensors on the steering wheel. Some of the services could be offered to customers wirelessly by being beamed directly into their cars, but Lobenstein said that customer privacy considerations will be paramount. Toyota Connected hopes to have its first products within a year. Toyota Connected, as it's called, is built on Microsoft's Azure cloud computing platform. Toyota plans to invest $5.5 million in the new venture, even though much of the technology will be based on their current research and development for smart automobiles.

4 of 116 comments (clear)

  1. Unfortunate by tripleevenfall · · Score: 4, Funny

    I wonder if the car will automatically order a new version of itself for you when MSFT decides the one you've got is too old, and you need the latest and greatest.

    1. Re:Unfortunate by NoNonAlphaCharsHere · · Score: 5, Funny

      I was thinking more old school:

      You have successfully changed your radio station.
      You must restart your car for the new changes to take effect.
      Would you like to restart your car now?

  2. Toyota/Microsoft Happy Fun Car Tales by Freshly+Exhumed · · Score: 3, Funny

    Driver: "Okay car, phone home."

    Toyota/MS Connected Voice: "I phone home hundreds of times per second. Is that what you meant?"

    Driver: "No, I need to talk to my wife. Phone home."

    T/MS: "Dialing Microsoft Support..."

    Driver: "No, Car, stop! NO NO NO, I mean stop calling, not stop the car in this busy lane!!!"

    T/MS: "Hitler did nothing wrong."

    --
    I deny that I have not avoided attaining the opposite of that which I do not want.
  3. Re:How do I turn it off? by WaffleMonster · · Score: 3, Funny

    Dear Toyota, don't you realize that distracted driving is illegal in most countries? Please remove your "infotainment" systems from all vehicles.

    To turn it off you need only wait a year until the car is no longer supported and nothing but the tracking device works.