Microsoft for the Car Intends to Improve Driving Experience

We have been talking about Microsoft a lot recently and we had to applaud some of the company’s initiatives to show the world that it is still a powerful player, a trend-setter and a ground-breaker in the tech world. So after unveiling the MS Office Suite for iPad and unveiling and revealing all sorts of innovations, now Microsoft announced a new platform – Microsoft for the Car – a challenger for the already existing Apple CarPlay and Google Open Automotive Alliance. Just like the aforementioned platforms, Microsoft for the Car will integrate the company’s smartphones, apps and content with the driving experience, offering the driver easy and fast access to music libraries for instance, but, most importantly, voice calls, text messaging, searching options and driving directions with the help of Bing maps and Here.

Will Microsoft for the Car actually improve driving safety or become an extra distraction?

Somehow, with all this technology being available all around us, you can still see people talking over their cell phones while driving, a mistake that costs a tremendous number of lives every year. Therefore, a legitimate question is whether adding all sorts of gadgets, platforms, apps and software to the driving experience is truly safe or not. Apparently, Microsoft aims to offer car users not only a fun and entertaining driving experience, but also a safe one. Let’s not forget that until this year, Microsoft was the brains behind the Ford Sync — the company’s in-car informatics and telematics system that offered a selection of mirrored “car-safe” versions of smartphone apps and responded to voice commands.

The Microsoft for the Car won’t teach you to drive better, but at least it will allow you to entertain yourself and the passengers in the vehicle without taking your eyes from the road. The good news is that you won’t have to change the car to benefit from the future Microsoft in the Car platform, as many use the MirrorLink technology, which Microsoft also uses for its platform. The less good news is that we don’t know yet when this platform is going to become available.