CES 2017: Microsoft announces Connected Vehicle Platform

At CES 2017 in Las Vegas, Microsoft announced the Microsoft Connected Vehicle Platform, a set of services built on the Microsoft Azure cloud and designed to empower auto manufacturers to create custom connected driving experiences. This platform aims to address five priority scenarios for automotive companies: predictive maintenance, improving in-car productivity, advanced navigation, customer insights, and helping build autonomous driving capabilities.

At the event, Microsoft highlighted its collaboration with key automotive partners. On the heels of a global, multi-year agreement announced in September 2016, Renault-Nissan Alliance announced during its CES keynote that the Microsoft Connected Vehicle Platform will power its next-generation, connected vehicles with advanced navigation, predictive maintenance, remote monitoring of car features and more.

Microsoft has partnered with BMW on BMW Connected to develop a scalable platform based on Microsoft Azure technologies to deliver in-car productivity services. BMW presented at CES 2017 a vision for the in-car application of Microsoft’s Cortana. This means that the voice-controlled capabilities already offered by Microsoft Cortana on a home PC or smartphone could in the future also be available on board a BMW vehicle.

Last week, Volvo Cars announced that it will introduce Skype for Business to its new 90 Series cars. Volvo will showcase a demo of Skype for Business in a new XC90 inside the Ericsson booth at CES.