Microsoft"s Sync system for in-vehicle computing has been available for a number of years now, but recently there"s been some questions on which car companies might use Sync in the future. This week during BUILD 2014, Microsoft showed off a next-generation in-car technology concept that"s clearly based on the Modern UI used in Windows 8 and Windows Phone.
The demo of the next-gen Windows car concept was part of the BUILD 2014 panel called "Windows and the Internet of Things". As posted in video form on the Channel 9 website, Microsoft"s Steve Teixeira starts discussing their connected car plans around the 25:33 minute mark.
During his talk, Teixeira started a live demo of the new Windows car concept UI, which as you can see from the screenshots uses the Modern design. Users could pin specific apps and task to the car"s Start screen, much like they can on a Windows 8 tablet or a Windows Phone smartphone.
The demo also showed an app marketplace for the Windows car UI, which means software creators could port their Windows apps to work in the vehicle as well. Those apps could be modified so that when a person is driving, they won"t be as distracted to view or use them. Teixeria stated that studies have shown that if a driver takes his or her eyes off the road while driving for more than just a couple of seconds, the chances of a major accident happening increase massively.
This concept is actually being tested in real cars on a local Seattle race track by Microsoft at the moment, but at the moment there"s no word on when this Modern UI-based vehicle computing experience will be released to the public.