Microsoft has entered into a partnership with Indian automotive giant Tata Motors, which the company says will "redefine connected and personalized driving experiences for Indian customers".
In recent months, Microsoft has expanded its automotive efforts through a series of collaborations with car-makers, including Volvo, Nissan and BMW. Its new agreement with Tata will see the company use Microsoft's artificial intelligence, machine learning, and Internet of Things technologies, powered by the Azure cloud platform.
Microsoft India said that its technologies will allow Tata "to provide connectivity features on mainstream, mass-market vehicles at affordable prices." Tata said it plans to develop new connected services and apps to help its customers "stay connected to work, entertainment and social networks" in their cars.
Microsoft outlined four potential "driving scenarios" that are being explored as part of the new collaboration with Tata:
- Based on their profile and location data, vehicle owners can receive proactive point-of-interest, shopping and route assist recommendations enabling them to achieve more on the go.
- Pre-emptive service alerts based on vehicle health data will enable owners to avoid costly down time en-route on planned road trips.
- Using industry-leading firmware over the air (FOTA) and software over the air (SOTA) updates protocols, key vehicle settings can be updated remotely, over the cloud. These will help cloud based diagnostics and the ability to use insights from vehicle data to prevent warranty and recall issues, and offer new services that improve user experience.
- By capturing, analyzing and acting on live road conditions, vehicle owners will be able to increase safety, optimize vehicle performance by avoiding roadblocks and rough terrain. By unifying navigation, data elements like maps, weather, traffic, and parking the solution can deliver optimized routing and location based services to vehicle owners.
Tata will further detail its vision by revealing the first vehicle to incorporate its new connected driving experience at the Geneva International Motor Show on March 7.
