Microsoft says it will expand its automotive IT offerings beyond software to include services, while increasing its investment in the Automotive Business Unit by more than 30% this year.
The software giant has announces the immediate availability of Microsoft Live Search for Devices, which, it says, is the first of many new services for its automotive platforms.
Tom Phillips, the new ABU general manager, says that Live Search for Devices will improve Microsoft partners’ ability to develop applications, including local search services, for in-vehicle infotainment.
Microsoft ABU – best known for providing the software that powers Ford Sync in North America, Fiat Auto Group’s Blue&Me in Europe and South America, as well as Japanese navigation systems – is currently developing a platform targeted for release in 2009 that, it says, will further enhance its in-vehicle products.
Phillips says that as Microsoft accelerates its development of in-vehicle platforms and enters into a new era of growth with software-plus-services, ABU is transitioning from incubation to a maturing business, with expectations of volume growth.
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