Microsoft and Toyota declared on April 6 a partnership via which Toyota’s next-generation telematics platform will be built using Microsoft Windows Azure and SQL Azure.,
Office 2007 Serial
The pair are comitting to invest $12 million in Toyota Media Service Co.,
Office 2010 Key, the Toyota subsidiary that provides digital information systems to Toyota automotive. The New telematics platform will encompass GPS,
Office Professional 2010, energy management and multimedia technologies,
Office Professional Plus 2010, 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 2010 Professional Plus, Ballmer emphasized power-management and remote administration of cars from cell phones as examples of the kinds of telematics services that Azure will enable.