Microsoft lays groundwork for new in-car computing platform - Auto PC

Automotive Industries, Jan, 1998 by Norman Martin

The great Microsoft onslaught has begun. The software giant will partner with 12 consumer electronic and automakers to bring Auto PC Version 1.0 to market by the spring. Clarion, the car audio maker, will be first to the aftermarket, with Tier 1 suppliers like Visteon Automotive Systems going into production within three years.

The action, coupled with recent announcements that Windows CE 2.0 will be the operating system platform for the new gadget, shows how Microsoft hopes to open the third frontier of computing -- the vehicle. The auto industry will produce and sell 50 to 60 million vehicles a year worldwide in the next decade, and some industry insiders believe Microsoft wants a royalty on each.

Microsoft officials say the project, known internally as Apollo, aims to create a standard Windows CE operating system platform for in-car computing, integrate a speech-based interface, establish a standard for navigation applications, and take a deep dive into in-car data communications.

"It's all in one place -- in one component," says Rob Enderle, a senior analyst with GIGA Information Group in Santa Clara, Calif. "And it seems to be aggressively priced." First aftermarket units will be about $1,300, but Microsoft's target is under $1,000.

The 12 partners under the Redmond, Wash., umbrella are Alpine, Clarion, Daewoo, Harmon-Kardon, Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan-North America, PSA Citroen, Samsung, UT Automotive, VDO and Visteon Automotive Systems.

Following the track of cellular phone integration, Microsoft's initial customers for Auto PC are likely to be mobile professionals who spend more than 20% of their time squeezed into a car, luxury owners, fleet operators and electronic gadget freaks who are always among the first new technology adapters.

An early look at a Microsoft Auto PC prototype by AI clearly shows the new unit in no way resembles the PC that's on your desk right now. Looking more like a high-end auto stereo, it's powered by a RISC chip that's roughly equivalent to a low-end Intel Pentium chip. Like a handheld PC, there's no boot up with CE. The system is instant-on. And despite only being two years old, the CE operating system has a strong application base, since thousands of developers can take advantage of Microsoft's Win32 language for writing software.

Learning Process

As Microsoft roars into the auto industry, small-time developers of all stripes are scrambling to jump on board. Creation of an open architecture platform will likely attract a stream of traditional Tier 1 and Tier 2 suppliers, as well as consumer and computer hardware and software developers, intent on building a electronic roadway into the vehicle.

"With consumers spending more and more time in their vehicles, it's encouraging to see a new integrated technology that adds convenience and productivity to a mobile lifestyle," says Ed Korenman, a spokesman for the Consumer Electronics Manufacturers Association in Arlington, Va.

Just how open "open architecture" is remains a matter of debate. Automakers are known to furiously protect electrical and electronic access to the vehicle. Microsoft says one solution might be development of OEM-certified software that could only be installed with an automaker's approval.

Is Microsoft about to hit a wall of conservative product development ingrained in the auto industry? "It's a learning process for Microsoft," admits Perry Lee, product manager in Microsoft's Consumer Platforms Division. "It's actually been kind of humbling because we're used to doing one way of business.

"In the software business," he says, "we can sell an idea on a demo. We've quickly discovered that doesn't work in the auto business. The first thing automakers ask is, `Where's the real device, the actual shipping product. We want to start testing it out.' Then we ask, when are you going to deploy it. And the answer is, `Well, three years from now.'" The product cycle in the software industry is closer to six months.

Man/Machine Interface

People close to the Auto PC project say Microsoft discovered it had to work closely with the suppliers to the automotive business.

"These are two very powerful industries that are just beginning to know each other," says Lori Markatos, engineering supervisor in multimedia systems at Visteon in Dearborn, Mich. "There is going to have to be learning on both sides."

Rich Chutorash, director of advanced technologies at UTA Automotive in Dearborn, Mich., adds suppliers understand the electrical system of a car both from the automaker's side, as well as the regulatory side. "We can help both the car manufacturers and Microsoft work together to develop systems that are compatible with both ends," he says.

Microsoft has moved in a number of directions since the introduction of the CE operating system in 1996. "They want to establish it (CE) as a multi-dimensional platform, and the auto is certainly a non-traditional computing environment that Microsoft wants to go after," says Mike McGuire, a mobile computing analyst with Dataquest in San Jose, Calif. "It's going to be interesting to watch -- this mad/machine interface in an automobile."