Ford and Toyota together in developing SmartDeviceLink

Ford Motor Company together with Toyota Motor Company announced the formation of a non-profit organization “SmartDeviceLink Consortium”, which controls the open source software. With this they offer consumers more choices on how they will control or connect their smartphone apps while on the road. This is a huge step that is eco-friendly and also more user-driven.

The first automaker members of this consortium are Suzuki Motor Corporation, Mazda Motor Corporation, PSA Group, Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. The first supplier members who will join this consortium are Elektrobit, Luxoft, and Xevo. Panasonic, Pioneer, Harman and QNX signed Letters of Intent to join.

By using SmartdeviceLink (SDL) consumers will be able to have easy access to smartphone apps through voice commands and in-vehicle displays. SmartDeviceLink’s goal is to help the consumers by giving them control over how they connect their smartphone apps no matter if they are on the move. All of the automakers can integrate this kind of technology in their vehicles, because the whole integration is using an average platform.

“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.”

The president of Toyota’s Connected Company, Shigeki Tomoyama, 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.”

Developers will also benefit from this because it is the best linking solution to be used by all automakers. With this new step in integration, drivers enjoy their preferred apps while they are on the road. It doesn’t matter whether it would be on the display screen of the vehicle, steering wheel controls or through voice recognition.

Industry’s acceptance of SmartDeviceLink is expected to give app developers broad scale because their innovations will be used in millions of vehicles all around the world.

Suppliers and participating companies will be in the position to meet consumer expectations. Ford already has AppLink software, which is now available in 5 million vehicles globally. Ford already supports Spotify AccuWeather, Pandora and iHeartRadio.

Toyota has plans of commercializing a telematics system utilizing SDL in 2018. Livio will manage the open source project and give guidance to the SmartDeviceLink Consortium and to its members.