Move over Apple, Microsoft is expanding its role in the car industry.
The automotive landscape is changing rapidly, the advent of in-car technology and the race to make the first autonomous vehicle has changed the way car companies invest and look to differentiate from other brands.
The Nissan-Renault alliance has announced that it will team up with computing giant Microsoft to use its Azure cloud-based system to help drive its future connected vehicle technologies.
The new technology will help incorporate and assist in the development of autonomous driving and how that in turn will affect how drivers/passengers will interact with the car. And with Nissan and Renault planning to roll out 10 vehicles with driverless function by 2020 the new tie-up comes at an important time to support their future development.,
Renault-Nissan and Microsoft hope to develop connected functions that will enable over-the-air updates that allow customers to update to the latest software for the driverless car and safety functions.
Increased protection functions are also on the agenda, which will provide tracking software and create notifications for when the vehicle exits its pre-defined area.
Another feature will help with car maintenance and development by getting access to vehicle diagnostics that can deliver better servicing methods and help the manufacturer improve its engineering and quality.
But perhaps its purpose is to increase the user experience inside the car by better integrating infotainment, social media and payment functions to allow the user to streamline their time between home and work and other destinations increasing productivity while the car does the driving.
However, the increase in connected car technology has brought the risk of cyber crime into the vehicle by opening it up to hacking. Last year Jeep recalled 1.4 million vehicles in the US after a demonstration showed how easy it was to hack into its infotainment system.
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