Between the Lines

Larry Dignan, Andrew Nusca and Rachel King

CES: Toyota launches Entune, plans to take on Ford for in-car entertainment

By | January 4, 2011, 7:03am PST

Summary: In the never-ending race to turn your car cabin into a smart, mobile entertainment mecca, Toyota unveiled Entune, a system that will integrate mobile apps and music services with in-vehicle controls.

CES 2011

In the never-ending race to turn your car cabin into a smart, mobile entertainment mecca, Toyota on Tuesday unveiled Entune, a system that will integrate mobile apps and music services with in-vehicle controls.

Toyota is working to steal some thunder from Ford’s Sync effort. The grand plan for these automakers—you can expect others to follow—is to use car technology to create app ecosystems. The idea is that you will be able to plug in apps and access the Internet via voice commands.

According to Toyota, Entune will simplify interaction between voice recognition and in-vehicle controls. Users will download the Toyota Entune app, pair it with Bluetooth and access content. Entune will debut with Bing, OpenTable and MovieTickets.com. On the music front, Entune will feature iheartradio and personalized stations via Pandora.

CES gallery: Toyota rides with voice-activated entertainment

Entune will be available on select models later this year.

Key technology partners include Nuance, which provides the voice recognition software; QNX, the Research in Motion subsidiary that provides the embedded multimedia system; Microsoft and Harman.

More: Ford’s AppLink to be compatible with Apple’s iPhone

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Larry Dignan is Editor in Chief of ZDNet and SmartPlanet as well as Editorial Director of ZDNet's sister site TechRepublic.

Disclosure

Larry Dignan

Larry Dignan has nothing to disclose. He doesn’t hold investments in the technology companies he covers.

Biography

Larry Dignan

Larry Dignan is Editor in Chief of ZDNet and SmartPlanet as well as Editorial Director of ZDNet's sister site TechRepublic. He was most recently Executive Editor of News and Blogs at ZDNet. Prior to that he was executive news editor at eWeek and news editor at Baseline. He also served as the East Coast news editor and finance editor at CNET News.com. Larry has covered the technology and financial services industry since 1995, publishing articles in WallStreetWeek.com, Inter@ctive Week, The New York Times, and Financial Planning magazine. He's a graduate of the Columbia School of Journalism and the University of Delaware.

For daily updates, follow Larry on Twitter.

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