Toyota Friend - New Social Networking Site for Toyota Electric Vehicles
Like many other companies, Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) (NYSE:TM) is jumping on the social networking bandwagon in a whole new way.
Toyota recently announced it will be launching a different kind of social network for owners of its vehicles. The Japanese car manufacturer is collaborating with Salesforce (NYSE: CRM) to build a private social network called Toyota Friend.
The new service, powered by Salesforce Chatter, will initially be offered to consumers who own Toyota’s electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles. Maintenance tips, weather, products and service information will be part of the new service which will be accessible via personal computers, smart phones, tablets and advanced mobile devices.
If a car owner’s vehicle is running low on battery power, the consumer will receive a “tweet-like” alert reminding him or her it’s time to recharge. In a demonstration that took place in Tokyo, once the car was plugged in for a recharge, sensors in the vehicle prompted an automated answer, “The charge will be completed by 2:15 A.M. Is that ok?”
Information about other vehicles within the family will also be accessible on Toyota Friend. Consumers will be able to connect with their car dealership and communicate with family, friends and others via popular social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter.
Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff said, “Toyota and salesforce.com share a vision to take the auto industry into the future. Social and mobile technologies will transform the car ownership experience, and we are excited to be Toyota’s partner in this transformation.”
But the new venture is not cheap. San Francisco-based Salesforce will invest nearly $3 million while Toyota will invest over $5 million. And in an effort to eventually provide Internet services to Toyota vehicles, Microsoft will invest over $4 million in the project.
Toyota Friend is expected to launch next year in Japan, followed by rollouts in the U.S. and Europe. It is unknown if the new social networking service will be available for gasoline-powered vehicles.
Jace Shoemaker-Galloway is a freelance writer from Illinois. While much of her writing focuses on technology, parenting and online safety issues, she has a strong interest in environmental and renewable energy-related issues as well.
Any opinion contained in this article is solely that of the writers, and does not necessarily shapes or reflect the editorial opinions of Energy Boom.
Energy Boom content is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be advice regarding the investment merits of, or a recommendation regarding the purchase or sale of, any security identified on, or linked through, this site.
| Rate this story | Share | Subscribe | ||
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
