Taking advantage of advances in network computing infrastructures, Sun has partnered with the research and development team at Ford Motor Company to create the Vehicle Consumer Services Interface. The design, which debuted at the 3GSM World Congress in Cannes, France, should allow for a range of information services and devices to be added to a vehicle design. Devices such as cell phones, pagers and PDAs could all be enabled to offer future car buyers custom information services while behind the wheel or in the passenger seat.

The Vehicle Consumer Services Interface architecture could specifically provide a vehicle with information such as weather and traffic summaries, updated financial or market data, restaurant information customized by individual taste and preference, as well as the ability to make reservations from the road. Additionally, much of this information could be accessed through voice commands or a heads-up display for easy use.

The industry will be able to take advantage of the interface in several ways. The Vehicle Consumer Services Interface is designed to be implemented without changing a vehicle's existing code or internal systems, which should allow for a cheaper deployment of the technology. The vehicle environment benefits from a three-to-four year engineering lifecycle, which provides a longer window for impact integration of any new technologies. A content delivery mechanism based on XML allows for connections with a number of services and devices. Manufacturers will also benefit by having a cutting edge vehicle on the market.

The Vehicle Consumer Services Interface architecture is based on open standards and powered by JiniTM, JavaTM and XML technologies. The SunTM ONE Studio 4, Mobile Edition (formerly ForteTM for JavaTM, Mobile Edition) was used in the development of some applications the architecture utilizes. Dan Hushon, a key player in the creation of the architecture, characterizes Sun's partnership with Ford this way, "This is a world-class solution that brings the best of Sun to bear for Ford. The quality, flexibility and openness of this solution is truly providing Ford with a potential competitive advantage." [...read more...]

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