Microsoft explains the one big reason car manufacturers are lining up to use its tech

Source: uk.businessinsider.com --- Tuesday, January 05, 2016
Judging from CES 2016 so far, everybody's getting in on connected car tech, from nerdy processor companies like Nvidia and Qualcomm, down to dark horse startups like Faraday Future , all the way up to titans like Microsoft .  But to hear Sanjay Ravi, Microsoft's car tech boss, tell it, there's one really big reason that auto manufacturers are picking the Redmond giant to power their efforts here. Unlike Google and probably Apple , Microsoft simply isn't in the car manufacturing market, and doesn't plan on ever entering. "We are not competing with any of the automotive brands," Ravi says. "That's a different business." The concern that a lot of automakers have, Ravi says, is that they'll use Google or Apple technology in their cars — and then turn around and use the data and insight they glean in their own, competitive offerings. Instead, Ravi says, Microsoft's whole existing business roadmap under CEO Satya Nadella slots right into the connected car business. And none of it involves making a car. To Microsoft, the new gameplan is to provide apps, tools, and services to anybody, wherever they want to use them. So far, that's meant stuff like Microsoft Office apps on iPhone and a more robust set of Microsoft Azure cloud services for app developers. All of which mean that to Microsoft, the connected car is just another device. As cars get smarter, they're going to need more software, both in terms of the intelligence needed to event ...

from Microsoft http://ift.tt/1IQ16Iw