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Steve Ballmer and Akio Toyoda. Steve Ballmer (left), CEO of Microsoft, and Akio Toyoda, president of Toyota Motor Corp., at the signing ceremony for the strategic partnership between the two companies to build telematics services – the fusing of telecommunications and information technologies in vehicles – on the Windows Azure platform. Redmond, Wash., April 6, 2011.
Photo courtesy of Microsoft |
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Redmond, Wash., USA and Toyota City, Japan - April 6, 2011
Microsoft Corp. and
Toyota Motor Corp. (TMC) today announced that they have forged a
strategic partnership and plan to build a global platform for TMC’s next-generation telematics services using the Windows Azure platform.
Telematics is the fusing of
telecommunications and information technologies in vehicles; it can encompass
GPS systems, energy management and other
multimedia technologies.
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 TMC 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.
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Steve Ballmer Keynotes PDC10. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer addresses a sold-out crowd of developers at PDC10, detailing the company’s work on extending the Microsoft platform to the cloud via Microsoft Azure and enabling rich application experiences on a variety of computing devices. Redmond, Wash.
Photo courtesy of Microsoft |
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TMC’s goal is to establish a
complete global cloud platform by 2015 that will provide affordable and advanced telematics services to
Toyota automotive customers around the world.
As part of its
smart-grid activities, aimed at achieving a low-carbon society through efficient energy use,
TMC is conducting trials in Japan of its Toyota Smart Center pilot program, which plans to link people, automobiles and homes for integrated control of energy consumption.
TMC believes that, as
electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles become more popular, such systems will rely more on telematics services for achieving
efficient energy management.
Microsoft has a long history of delivering platforms and services to the automotive market, including in-car infotainment systems built on the
Windows Embedded Automotive platform, in-car mapping services with
Bing and the
Microsoft Tellme voice application, and many other consumer solutions.
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Bob Muglia at PDC10. During his keynote at PDC10, Bob Muglia, president of the Microsoft Server & Tools Business, outlined how developers can apply their existing skills to build new business applications, consumer Web applications and commercial ISV offerings through Windows Azure. Redmond, Wash.
Photo courtesy of Microsoft |
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“Today’s announcement of our partnership with TMC is a great example of how we continue to invest in the automotive industry and of our commitment to power the services that are important to consumers,” said
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.
“It further validates the power of the cloud, as the Windows Azure platform will provide the enterprise-grade, scalable platform that TMC needs to deliver telematics in its automobiles worldwide.”
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Mark Russinovich at PDC 10. Mark Russinovich, Microsoft Technical Fellow, demonstrates some of the new features of Windows Azure being used to manage the Channel 9 website during PDC 2010. Redmond, Wash.
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“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 TMC.
“To achieve this, it is important to develop a new link between vehicles, people and smart center energy-management systems.”
About Toyota
Founded in 1937, TMC (NYSE “TM”) is a global automotive company with
production in 27 countries and
sales in more than 170 countries.
Founded in 2000 as a wholly owned subsidiary of
TMC, Toyota Media Service is a consumer
IT service provider for
Toyota automotive customers that actualizes the connected, in-car experience.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the
worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.
Source: Microsoft
http://www.microsoft.com/Presspass/press/2011/apr11/04-06ToyotaPR.mspx
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/presskits/cloud/
ASTROMAN magazine