Toyota Picks Microsoft for Next Gen Telematics

Toyota Motor Corp. has formed a strategic alliance with Microsoft o build a global platform for next-generation telematics services using the Windows Azure platform.



As part of the partnership, the two companies plan to participate in a 1 billion yen (approximately $12 million) investment in Toyota Media Service Co., a Toyota subsidiary that offers digital information services to Toyota automotive customers. The two companies aim to help develop and deploy telematics applications on the Windows Azure platform, which includes Windows Azure and Microsoft SQL Azure, starting with TMC's electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles in 2012.



"This new partnership between Microsoft and Toyota is an important step in developing greater future mobility and energy management for consumers around the world. Creating these more efficient, more environmentally advanced products will be our contribution to society," said Akio Toyoda, president of Toyota Motor Corp. "To achieve this, it is important to develop a new link between vehicles, people and smart center energy-management systems."http://www.microsoft.com http://www.toyota.com