Microsoft Connected Vehicle Platform

2016: Announcement

At CES 2017 (January 5-8; Las Vegas, USA) Microsoft has announced a cloud platform for cars. The Renault-Nissan alliance was the first to join it, Bloomberg news agency reports .

Called the Microsoft Connected Vehicle Platform, the solution is a suite of services built on Microsoft's Azure cloud infrastructure and used by automakers to create custom automotive features. The platform is not an operating system, but the basis for the implementation of key projects in the field of unmanned control, advanced navigation, diagnostic maintenance and increasing machine productivity.

Using the Cortana voice assistant in the car

Microsoft Connected Vehicle Platform will use data from various sensors and units in cars, as well as provide vehicles with direct access to Microsoft products such as Cortana, Dynamics, Office 365, Power BI and Skype for Business. For example, the voice assistant Cortana will remind the driver of the event, which was planned using a smartphone when the user was at home. Thanks to the Azure cloud, it will be possible to connect devices and cars using various operating systems, tools and programming languages, the Renault-Nissan alliance said.

The first cars under the Renault and Nissan brands will be connected to the Microsoft cloud platform. At CES 2017, some of the capabilities of the Microsoft Connected Vehicle Platform were demonstrated, including the work of Cortana. At the same time, the companies did not say when or how many models of alliance cars will begin to use the new Microsoft technology.

The Connected Vehicle Platform was announced three years after Ford stopped using Windows in its cars. Now Microsoft wants to become more flexible, offering automakers only the software components they need, not a fixed product line, said Peggy Johnson, Microsoft's executive vice president of business development.^[1]

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