Ford and Toyota Establish SmartDeviceLink Consortium to Accelerate Industry-Driven Standard for In-Vehicle Apps
January 04 2017 - 12:01AM
Business Wire
- Ford and Toyota are establishing
SmartDeviceLink Consortium, a nonprofit to manage open source
software for smartphone app development for vehicles
- Members include automakers Mazda Motor
Corporation, PSA Group, Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. (FHI) and Suzuki
Motor Corporation, as well as suppliers Elektrobit, Luxoft, and
Xevo
- Consortium focused on significantly
increasing choice for consumers in how they connect and control
their smartphone apps on the road
Ford Motor Company and Toyota Motor Company are forming
SmartDeviceLink Consortium, a nonprofit organization working to
manage an open source software platform with the goal of giving
consumers more choice in how they connect and control their
smartphone apps on the road.
Mazda Motor Corporation, PSA Group, Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd.
(FHI) and Suzuki Motor Corporation are the first automaker members
of the consortium. Elektrobit, Luxoft, and Xevo join as the first
supplier members. Harman, Panasonic, Pioneer and QNX have signed
Letters of Intent to join.
SmartDeviceLink provides consumers easy access to smartphone
apps using voice commands and in-vehicle displays. Adopting the
open source platform gives automakers and suppliers a uniform
standard with which to integrate apps. Developers benefit because
they can focus on creating the best experience for customers by
integrating one linking solution for use by all participating
automakers.
“Encouraging innovation is at the center of Ford’s decision to
create SmartDeviceLink, and this consortium is a major step toward
that goal,” said Doug VanDagens, global director, Ford Connected
Vehicle and Services, and a board member of the consortium.
“Consumers will win with new, innovative app experiences from
increased collaboration and developer engagement.”
Shigeki Tomoyama, president of Toyota’s Connected Company said,
“Connectivity between smartphones and the vehicle interface is one
of the most important connected services. Using SmartDeviceLink, we
can provide this service to our customers in a safe and secure
manner. We are excited to collaborate with many auto manufacturers
and suppliers who share our view.”
SmartDeviceLink enables smartphone app developers to seamlessly
integrate their app functions with in-vehicle technology such as
the vehicle display screen, steering wheel controls and voice
recognition. With this new level of integration, drivers enjoy
their favorite apps on the road in an enhanced, user-friendly
way.
Consumers also benefit because developers and automakers working
together will contribute improvements to the open source code –
increasing the quality and security of the software.
Industry-wide adoption of SmartDeviceLink is expected to give
app developers broad scale as their innovations could be applied to
millions of vehicles worldwide.
Participating companies and suppliers will be able to deliver
user experiences that meet their individual standards while
retaining control over how much access apps have to vehicle
data.
SmartDeviceLink technology is based on Ford’s contribution of
its AppLink™ software to the open source community in 2013. Ford
AppLink software is currently available on more than 5 million
vehicles globally.
Toyota plans to commercialize a telematics system using SDL
around 2018.
Popular apps such as Pandora, Spotify, iHeartRadio, AccuWeather
and others are already available to Ford AppLink users.
Livio will manage the open source project and provide guidance
to the SmartDeviceLink Consortium and its members. Visit SDL for
more information or to apply to the consortium.
About Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is a global automotive and mobility company
based in Dearborn, Michigan. With about 203,000 employees and 62
plants worldwide, the company’s core business includes designing,
manufacturing, marketing and servicing a full line of Ford cars,
trucks and SUVs, as well as Lincoln luxury vehicles. To expand its
business model, Ford is aggressively pursuing emerging
opportunities with investments in electrification, autonomy and
mobility. Ford provides financial services through Ford Motor
Credit Company. For more information regarding Ford and its
products and services, please visit www.corporate.ford.com.
About Toyota
Toyota (NYSE:TM), the world’s top automaker and creator of the
Prius and the Mirai fuel cell vehicle, is committed to advancing
mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands. Over the past 50
years, we’ve produced more than 30 million cars and trucks in North
America, where we operate 14 manufacturing plants (10 in the U.S.)
and directly employ more than 44,000 people (more than 34,000 in
the U.S.). Our 1,800 North American dealerships (1,500 in the U.S.)
sold more than 2.8 million cars and trucks (nearly 2.5 million in
the U.S.) in 2015 – and about 80 percent of all Toyota vehicles
sold over the past 20 years are still on the road today.
Toyota partners with community, civic, academic, and
governmental organizations to address our society’s most pressing
mobility challenges. We share company resources and extensive
know-how to support non-profits to help expand their ability to
assist more people move more places.
For more information about Toyota, visit
www.toyotanewsroom.com.
For more information, visit
www.smartdevicelink.com
For news releases, related materials and
high-resolution photos and video, visit www.media.ford.com.
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Ford Motor CompanyAlan Hall734.845.4410ahall32@ford.comorToyota
Motor CompanyBrian R. Lyons310.418.8819Brian.Lyons@Toyota.com
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