At IFA 2016 earlier this month, Daimler AG announced that they are working with Microsoft to bring Office 365 to the cars. Today, Microsoft discussed about their partnership on their official blog. They also mentioned that they are working with “auto companies” to bring Office 365 communication and collaboration services to the car. One of the first automotive company to bring Office 365 to the cars will be Daimler AG.
The Office 365 in the car includes Microsoft Exchange support, which integrates your work calendar, to-do list and contacts, with all of them using your car’s voice and navigation systems. You can dial into a Skype meeting using Office in the car without you having to take your hands off the wheel, or find a place to get off the road. Office 365 in the car service can also tap into your calendar data and auto-populate your car’s navigation unit with driving directions for an upcoming meeting. In the future, when self-driving cars become a reality, Microsoft says that this service will become a platform for more extensive tasks like Skype video chats. Daimler’s implementation of Office 365 in the car will be called “In Car Office” and will be shipping in some of its Mercedes models beginning in mid-2017.
“Microsoft is working with auto companies to make time spent in vehicles more efficient and connected to people’s daily lives,” said Kevin Dallas, Corporate Vice President of Business Development at Microsoft Corp. “This collaboration with Daimler represents a new emphasis on consumer productivity within the car as we look forward to autonomous driving in the future.”
Zetsche noted that, “fully self-driving cars will be the greatest upgrade in the history of the car,” but that in the meantime, “the car is steadily developing into a quality time machine.”
Microsoft recently published a report titled “The Future of Automotive” in partnership with PSFK to express their views on the future state of the automotive industry, read the report -.
