Ford and Toyota Motors Give Tough Time To Apple and Google

Ford and Toyota Motors Give Tough Time To Apple and Google

The Michigan based enterprise, Ford and Toyota Motors Corporation would be adopting the same app to connect dashboard screens of vehicles to smartphone applications. In addition, they have invited other automotive organizations to join them for countering tech companies, Google and Apple’s efforts to control cars in the future.

Toyota, the largest vehicle maker by automobiles sales, and Ford said they would adopt an application made by Ford known as SDL or Smart Device Link, as the standard for linking dashboard screens of vehicles to smartphone applications.

The US carmaker has claimed that Mazda, Subaru, PSA Peugeot Citroën are also making efforts to investigate the application standards. SDL technology is able to integrate smartphone applications with automobiles through voice recognition technology, display screens, and dashboard buttons.

Using it as a standard for music streaming applications or navigation from the smartphone of a driver can help Toyota and Ford to lower down the levels of dependence on Alphabet’s Google or Apple, Ford officials stated. It is also capable of keeping tightly controlling the brand-describing look, customer information, and the feel of dashboard infotainment technologies, they added.

Adoption of a connectivity standard is not linked to Google or Apple. It might help automotive organizations in the biggest automotive market, China, where local corporations such as Alibaba are important players as far as mobile services and satellite mapping is concerned.

Google has a limited presence in China, although it has indicated an expansion there. Ford said Japanese automotive organizations Mazda Motor Corporation, Subaru and Honda are also making efforts to investigate the adoption of SDL as a standard. Automotive connectivity technology developers UIE Evolution and QNX Software Systems are adopting SDL.

Blackberry unit ‘QNX’ is a designer of infotainment system application utilized by 40 vehicle makers. The tie up between the two automakers follows the purchase later in 2015 by a consortium of German vehicle makers, HERE (mobile mapping business), which was previously owned by Nokia. Audi brand of Volkswagen AG, BMW AG and Diamler AG stated they would employ HERE as a foundation for new features and connectivity services.

Mapping is essential for autonomous driving technologies, which the German companies plan to launch in the nearby future. Google and Apple introduce formidable weaponries to the war for controlling connected vehicles that are evolving rapidly. The competition is fierce ahead and companies are advancing hastily to beat others in the game. This is consequently fueling the competition furthermore.