Ford, Toyota Work Together on Industry Standard for In-Vehicle Apps

Ford and Toyota have formed an alliance with other automakers and suppliers to develop an industry standard for integrating smartphone apps with in-vehicle technology.

The members of the SmartDeviceLink consortium will adopt an open source platform that all app developers can use. As Bloomberg points out, the platform serves as an alternative to solutions from Google and Apple, and prevents the tech giants from gaining control over the in-vehicle app space.

With the open source platform, the group hopes to give consumers more choice in how they control their smartphone apps in their vehicles. SmartDeviceLink allows drivers to access smartphone apps with voice commands, steering wheel controls, and through the vehicle display screen. Another big goal is improving the security of in-vehicle connectivity, as participating companies will be able to control how much access apps will have to vehicle data.

“Consumers will win with new, innovative app experiences from increased collaboration and developer engagement,” Doug VanDagens, global director of Ford Connected Vehicle and Services, said in a statement.

Toyota is way behind the game in terms of introducing Apple CarPlay and Google Android Auto to its vehicles, and that may be no accident. According to Bloomberg, Toyota has been holding back over concerns about the security of those technologies. Although Ford is committed to SDL technology, it’s still offering Apple CarPlay and Android Auto integration on its entire 2017 lineup, giving consumers more options.

Toyota plans to commercialize a telematics system based on SmartDeviceLink around 2018, while Ford already has its own SDL technology available on more than 5 million vehicles globally.

So far, the consortium consists of Ford and Toyota as well as Mazda, PSA Group, Fuji Heavy Industries, and Suzuki. Elektrobit, Luxoft, and Xevo are the first supplier members to join the group. Harman, Panasonic, Pioneer, and QNX have expressed their intent to add their names to the list soon.

Source: Ford, Toyota, Bloomberg

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