LAS VEGAS – Automakers have a love-hate relationship with Microsoft and its booming Automotive Business Unit. Letting Microsoft into your dashboard is like the camel peeking its nose under the tent, they fear: Eventually it'll be more than the nose inside. Still, enough automakers see benefits in partnering, and 61 car models use Windows Automotive in the car.
An operating system in your car? Indeed. The navigation system and other telematics features run on microprocessors and need some kind of operating system. Wind River leads the market. QNX is also a strong player but its acquisition by Harman Group caused some unease among automakers who prefer buying nav systems, audio-video gear, and Bluetooth interfaces from Harman competitors. That helped Microsoft, whose earlier attempts were not well-received, such as in the BMW 7 Series that debuted in 2001. Most people recall the iDrive joystick controller and quirky design, but the OS early on also put a number of disabled 7 Series cars on flatbed tow trucks for rides back to the dealer. That was then, Microsoft says.
At CES, Microsoft showcased several cars using Windows Embedded technologies, including a tricked out all-gray Honda Odyssey with low-profile tires short enough to shake the fillings in most soccer moms, the Ridgeline pickup truck, and award-winning Civic. Acura, BMW, Mercedes, and Volvo also use Windows Automotive in some models. Alpine, Kenwood, and Pioneer enable it on some of their audio-video-navigation head units.
The head unit, as the upscale radio is now called, lets you connect to and control a Bluetooth phone (assuming the handset makers and carriers are faithful to the Bluetooth spec, which isn't always the case), manage AM/FM, CD or DVD audio, DVD video to the backseat or (when the car is stopped) front seat, and navigation functions. Some of the replacement, or aftermarket, head units also have USB connectors that let you plug in a USB key with MP3 or WMA music, an Apple iPod, or any Windows music Plays For Sure device and on the head unit display, you see artist, album, and song information, the player controls are duplicated by the head unit and/or steering wheel controls, and on most devices the music player is constantly recharged.
With that simple addition of a USB jack, the user is free of clunky FM modulators, doesn't have to buy a $150 to $500 (installed) iPod adapter, and isn't limited to just Apple iPod for in-dash music displays. Alpine wowed showgoers with products such as the IVA-W200. To most observers, that benefits the users as well as Microsoft and the automakers.
An even bigger splash for Microsoft comes in March at the Geneva Auto Show when Microsoft and Fiat take the wraps off a joint project that puts all this functionality, including GPS, in every Fiat, Alfa Romeo, and Lancia car for about $200. At this price the user gets not a big LCD display in the center of the dash displaying moving maps, but a smaller panel directly in front of the driver displaying icons. Instead of an optical drive for map data, the user gets it via Europe's ubiquitous GSM cellphone network, and uploads the route information to the car via Bluetooth.
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