Toyota Motor Corporation, a Japanese automotive manufacturer, has recently announced a partnership with Microsoft Corporation– the technology collaboration is considered unique of its kind for connected cars market.
The partnership called as ‘Toyota Connected‘ will take infotainment system in their cars to altogether new levels. Zack Hicks, the chief information officer of Toyota Motor, North America, and the CEO of Toyota Connected, speaking about the impact of the partnership asserted, Toyota Connected “will help free our customers from the tyranny of technology. It will make lives easier and help us to return to our humanity”.
Till recently, drivers needed to look for the infotainment system in their cars for different restaurant recommendations; however the application was limited as many locations required that vehicle driver to turn around. Toyota Connected is different from earlier car connected technology, the system can be modified so that it only offer information on the restaurants on the highway ahead —just the kinds of food preferred by drivers. In addition, various artificial-intelligence features under this technology are incorporated to cars enable the drivers to know as to where the car is going and to offer customized services to drivers all along the way. The connected car technology may be automated to detect the usual route taken by driver normally that may offer suggestions for pre-game lunch.
Drivers have access to various road information through this technology and it is based on driving patterns that includes the routes they usually take. These will have many benefits to other market players: auto insurance pricing can be made more accurate since the system keeps track of actual kilometers traversed along with the type of route taken. Medical-related sensors are some key technological enhancements that can be connected in the connected car using Toyota Connected, such as sensors monitoring different health parameters like heartbeat of the driver. Many such services that are offered though this technology can be beamed wirelessly into their cars; however, according to participating companies, privacy is a major concern and confidential data would not be compromised.
The products are scheduled to be available by 2017, as revealed by Toyota. As per a statement by the company that outlines the genuine motives of the partnership, the ultimate objective is to:
“help to humanise the driving experience while pushing the technology into the background.”
Many such technological advancements are brought about by key automotive manufacturers and car makers that would unlock ample opportunities in the connected cars market.
Recently, Big Market Research has added a report titled “Global Connected Car Market”. As per the report, the connected car shipments market would reach around 59.86 Million units and attain a value of $98.42 Billion by 2018.