Microsoft is taking its vision of being present on 'every device` literally. It showcased its new platform for the automotive industry - Car.NET - at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas this week.
Car.NET is designed to manage delivery of information, entertainment and communication services to a wide variety of in-vehicle information systems, be they portable or embedded in the dashboard.
With Car.NET, devices will be able to shuttle information between home, office and car and among several devices, from pagers to cellular phones to desktop computers. Drivers can use it to download information from the Internet, listen to e-mail or news, communicate with other motorists, make purchases and receive satellite broadcasts.
Car.NET uses speech-recognition technology that allows users to make cellular phone calls, change the music selection, or access information without taking their hands off the wheel or their eyes off the road. Distraction controls ensure that certain functions such as typing or reading text can be performed only while the car is stopped.
"The market for in-car computing is poised to embark on an amazing journey," says Bob McKenzie, general manager of the Automotive Business Unit at Microsoft. "Safety and security services are among the most important criteria to motorists. They want access to Internet-based information such as news, traffic updates, instant messaging, navigation assistance and other services. They also have a keen interest in back-seat entertainment systems."
The company`s Windows CE for Automotive 3.0 operating system will form an integral component of the Car.NET framework. Designed to avert problems or resolves them without user intervention, prevent system crashes and ensure that the system will detect and automatically recover from failure, it promises enhanced communications capabilities and enables system manufacturers to build a broad range of in-vehicle information systems.
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