Toyota and Panasonic are jointly developing a service that links cars with home appliances. A new service will be launched as soon as the second half of this year. As part of its ongoing efforts to make mobility smarter, more convenient and more comfortable, and as a way to increase the value cars add to lives, Toyota will leverage its cloud-based Toyota Smart Center, which links people, cars, and homes. The service already adds convenience and comfort to cars in the daily lives of Toyota drivers around the world. Panasonic is working to develop new smart homes that are environment-friendly and connected to a network to support better lifestyles.
Both the companies have developed an interface to link their respective cloud services. They have also laid the groundwork for new services, including development of apps for in-car operation and status checking of home appliances. For example, an app linked with vehicle GPS data will remind the user to turn off the air conditioner before leaving and also enable the user to turn it on remotely from the vehicle before arriving home. The new service currently being developed will be displayed at the Toyota booth at Smart Community Japan 2014, being held at the Tokyo Big Sight from June 18 to 20.
