Microsoft and Toyota introduced on April 6 a partnership through which Toyota’s next-generation telematics platform will be built using Microsoft Windows Azure and SQL Azure.,
Microsoft Office Professional 2010
The pair are comitting to invest $12 million in Toyota Media Service Co.,
Microsoft Office Professional 2010, the Toyota subsidiary that provides digital information systems to Toyota automotive. The New telematics platform will encompass GPS,
Windows 7 Professional, energy management and multimedia technologies,
Office 2007 Download, according to Microsoft’s press release.
The first cars to take advantage of the new platform will be Toyota’s electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles in 2012. Toyota’s longer-term goal is to establish a complete global cloud platform by 2015 that will provide telematics services to their customers globally.
Microsoft is positioning this deal as more than a simple Azure customer win. CEO Steve Ballmer is participating in an hour-long Webcast today at 4 p.m. ET to go over terms of the deal.
I’m wondering how Microsoft’s decision to refocus its Hohm energy-management application from a home-energy-monitoring app to one that will manage electrical-vehicle charging at home plays into this. I’ve asked Microsoft for comment and will update if/when I hear back.
Update: During the Webcast,
Microsoft Office 2007 Product Key, Ballmer emphasized power-management and remote administration of cars from cell phones as examples of the kinds of telematics services that Azure will enable.