Despite an industrywide shakeout, Microsoft remains committed to creating a platform for automotive computers that connect to information and services. The latest version of the platform, Windows Automotive 4.2, adds support for Bluetooth short-range wireless technology and improved speech recognition, making it easier to support hands-free scenarios using customers' existing wireless devices. It also implements various .NET technologies, making it easier for developers to build connected telematics applications.

Limited Demand So Far

Although cars have had internal computers to monitor performance and other functions since the 1980s, automotive computing for drivers and passengers (sometimes called "telematics") first became mainstream in 1996 with OnStar, a safety and security system from General Motors. Since then, car manufacturers and IT companies have proposed and built automotive applications for a wide variety of functions, including the following:

• Navigation (e.g., mapping, traffic notification)
• Communications (e.g., hands-free telephony)
• Maintenance and dealer-related services (e.g., early notification of possible mechanical problems, "snapshots" of problems that mechanics can replay)
• Entertainment (e.g., games, videos).

Introduced in 1996, Microsoft's Windows Automotive platform (formerly Windows CE for Automotive) is a reference platform based on Windows CE, like Pocket PC for handheld devices and Smartphone for wireless phones. Windows Automotive adds car-specific features to Windows CE, such as driver distraction control (the ability to support scenarios such as "play DVDs only when the emergency brake is engaged," for example), a 3D graphics display for navigation systems, and the ability to read and display data from computerized diagnostic systems.

Microsoft hopes to make money by licensing Windows Automotive to auto makers and after-market electronics companies, such as Clarion, and by selling back-end software to service providers. Although Microsoft offers some services that could be used in automotive computing—notably MapPoint.NET (a fee-based mapping service for developers) and MSN Autos traffic alerts—it views services mainly as an opportunity for partners to build on Microsoft platforms and does not plan to build fee-based automotive services for consumers.

Today, eight car manufacturers ship models that use Windows Automotive in some way, and several electronics companies have also shipped devices that use the platform. However, Microsoft admits that it has only 10% of the automotive computing market—a small piece of a small pie. Despite bold predictions in the late 1990s, automotive computing has had a hard time finding customers, and the industry is suffering. Wingcast, a joint venture by Ford and Qualcomm, shut its doors in June 2002 without ever releasing a product; MobileAria, a joint venture by Delphi and Palm, has no customers among car manufacturers and hasn't made an announcement since Oct. 2002. Even OnStar, which comes standard on many GM cars and boasts more than 2.5 million subscribers, appears vulnerable: industry consultants estimate that fewer than half of its customers resubscribe once their free one-year trial is up, and its provider of speech-recognition technology, General Magic, declared bankruptcy in late 2002.

What's New in 4.2?

Despite the uncertain market, Microsoft believes in the long-term viability of automotive computing, and continues to employ about 100 engineers in the automotive business unit, which reports to Technology Development Vice President Dick Brass.

In Apr. 2003, this unit released Windows Automotive 4.2, which is based on Windows CE .NET 4.2 and includes several new technologies that could be useful in automotive computing:

Bluetooth. The most promising automotive applications (such as traffic updates) must constantly download information. However, consumers are reluctant to pay for a connection for their car if they already have a wireless phone or personal digital assistant (PDA). Windows Automotive 4.2 adds support for Bluetooth, a short-range wireless data transfer protocol, potentially allowing drivers to use existing wireless phones and PDAs to download data and transfer it to the car computer or to establish a hands-free voice call through the car's audio system.

SAPI 5.0. Drivers, unlike other mobile application users, cannot easily use their eyes and hands to interact with applications. Windows Automotive 4.2 offers built-in support for Microsoft's Speech API (SAPI) 5.0, providing improved speech recognition.

.NET technologies. Microsoft Windows Automotive 4.2 contains the .NET Compact Framework, allowing developers to use familiar tools and APIs to build both client and server applications. Developers can also use the Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) Toolkit included with Windows Automotive 4.2 to create applications that consume Web services. These advances could spur the creation of more network-connected automotive applications to supplement the offline-only ones that predominate today.

Resources

For more information about Windows Automotive 4.2, see www.microsoft.com/automotive/windowsautomotive/partners/faq/.

For more background on Windows CE .NET 4.2, see "Windows Embedded OS Roadmap".

For more information on MapPoint .NET, see "MapPoint .NET Shows Way to Commercial Web Services" on page 21 of the May 2002 Update and www.microsoft.com/mappoint/net.