Toyota Joins The Linux Foundation as a Gold Member

When you think about cutting edge wireless devices, you don’t really think about cars. But that seems to be the direction in which many car makers are steering. Take Toyota for example, who – as one of world’s largest automobile manufacturers – has just joined The Linux Foundation as a Gold member.

According to the announcement from The Linux Foundation, Toyota is joining as a Gold member to maximize its own investment in Linux while fostering open innovation throughout the automotive ecosystem. The Linux Foundation says that its operating system is one that can be used to connect a wide range of devices, and that even includes cars. Since it is an open source system, Linux offers a flexibility for manufacturers and their partners to work together in an open environment and bring more digital technology features into their cars.

“Linux gives us the flexibility and technology maturity we require to evolve our In-Vehicle-Infotainment and communication systems to address the expectations of our customers,” said Kenichi Murata, Project General Manager, Electronics Development at Toyota, in a statement. “The Linux Foundation provides us with a neutral forum in which we can collaborate with the world’s leading technology companies on open innovation that accelerates that evolution.

In-Vehicle-Infotainment (IVI), according to Intel, is an integrated in-car entertainment and information system. It includes rear-seat entertainment (movies, games, TV, etc), navigation, radio / CD, location-based services, internal connectivity to mobile devices and external communication.

Currently The Linux Foundation is hosting the MeeGo project, a Linux-based open source mobile operating system that primarily targets mobile devices, including IVI. This could be one of the reasons why Toyota decided to join The Linux Foundation. According to MeeGo, automobile manufacturers nowadays are considering IVI as one of the key differentiators in their products.

Toyota becomes the third company in Asia to become a Gold member of The Linux Foundation, following Panasonic and China Mobile. Other companies from Asia have joined as Platinum members, including Fujitsu, Hitachi, and NEC. Toyota is unique, since it is the only non-digital tech company that supports open source organization with its prominent membership.

[Photo: danielctw]