Ford Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Co. said that they have formed the ‘SmartDeviceLink Consortium’, a nonprofit organisation working to manage an open source software platform for smartphone app development for vehicles.
The first automaker members of the consortium includes Mazda Motor Corp., PSA Group, Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. and Suzuki Motor Corp.
SmartDeviceLink is the open-source software on which the Ford SYNC AppLink platform is built. It provides consumers an easy way to access their favorite smartphone apps using voice commands. Automotive suppliers QNX Software Systems and UIEvolution also are adopting the technology, with plans to integrate it into their products.
“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, in a statement. “Consumers will win with new, innovative app experiences from increased collaboration and developer engagement.”
Shigeki Tomoyama, President of Toyota’s Connected Company 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.”
SmartDeviceLink enables smartphone app developers to seamlessly integrate their app functions with in-vehicle technology such as the vehicle display screen, steering wheel controls and voice recognition. With this new level of integration, drivers enjoy their favorite apps on the road in an enhanced, user-friendly way.
Consumers also benefit because developers and automakers working together will contribute improvements to the open source code – increasing the quality and security of the software.
Industry-wide adoption of SmartDeviceLink is expected to give app developers broad scale as their innovations could be applied to millions of vehicles worldwide.
SmartDeviceLink technology is based on Ford’s contribution of its AppLink software to the open source community in 2013. Ford AppLink software is currently available on more than 5 million vehicles globally.
Toyota plans to commercialize a telematics system using SDL around 2018.
Livio a software company acquired earlier by Ford, will manage the open source project and provide guidance to the SmartDeviceLink Consortium and its members.
Image Credit: Ford