Besides Elon Mask-owned Tesla, Google is undoubtedly the most popular tech major in the Silicon Valley to have shown keen interest in driverless smart car technology. Now, Microsoft has announced plans to foray into the automobile sector.
The Redmond-based company has joined hands with top carmaker Nissan to make vehicles smarter with Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based Cortana digital assistance, which has already made a big name in the smartphone segment.
Nissan Motors, which is scheduled to host a keynote presentation at CES 2017 on January 5, has released a teaser showcasing Cortana's note-taking features. In the teaser video, a Nissan executive is heard asking queries on the CES 2017 event and the company's participation in Las Vegas. It is widely reported that Nissan will integrate Microsoft's digital assistant into its future vehicles.
Last month, Microsoft had released Cortana Devices SDK (Software Development Kit) and skill-set tools to encourage programmers and OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) integrate Cortana directly into their devices, providing unique and intelligent experiences for consumers.
Three days until #Nissan's keynote at #CES2017! (Just ask #Cortana to remind you…) Catch it on @Twitter or @YouTube: https://t.co/yre8W4jf8F pic.twitter.com/ZMfs4xCem9
— Nissan Motor (@NissanMotor) January 2, 2017
And, also create newer capabilities to Cortana and increase its reach in newer smart devices and platform. It looks like Nissan has found Cortana to be more exciting than Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa.
Microsoft is also said to be working with four companies and an insurance firm Swiss Re to build safe and secure end-to-end mobility using AI-based bots, which are said to be capable of quickly assessing traffic, including pedestrian movement using car-to-car (V2V) and car-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication, radar, camera and Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) systems, a remote sensing method that uses light in the form of a pulsed laser to measure ranges.
"This collaboration at CES 2017 is another example of how we work together to continue testing, to see what sticks, and to help automakers bring truly personalised experiences to drivers and services that learn unique behaviours and can make improvements over time," News 18 quoted Kevin Dallas, corporate VP of business development for Microsoft, as saying.
The word on the street is that another major automobile firm Volvo is also expected to join the bandwagon. If Microsoft's Cortana succeeds in attracting more carmakers in CES 2017, the Redmond-based company, despite its late venture in the automobile game, will overtake rivals in no time.
As of now, there is no word on whether the Cortana-based Nissan car will have auto-pilot mode or not.
Watch this space for latest news on Microsoft Cortana and Nissan's smart car.
