Jan 5, 2011 11:29 GMT  ·  By

Toyota owners will be able to accelerate on the search highway right from their vehicles with Microsoft’s decision engine. The newly announced upcoming in-vehicle navigation, entertainment and information experience dubbed Toyota Entune integrates both Bing Maps and Bing for Mobile, allowing drivers to hit the road with Bing as their copilot.

Andy Chu, Director Product Management, Bing for Mobile applauded the partnership between Microsoft and Toyota, stressing that customers will be able to benefit from an enhanced in-vehicle search experience.

“Entune offers advanced conversational voice recognition, integrated mobile apps and can be upgraded. Available on select models later this year, Bing for Mobile will ship as a featured app of Entune, giving drivers access to over 16 million points of interest,” Chu revealed.

Watch the video embedded at the bottom of this article in order to get an idea of what Toyota Entune is about, and how Bing fits into the overall experience.

As users would expect, the new solution makes use of natural user interface advances allowing drivers to control Bing and the additional Entune apps via touch and voice.

“After downloading Entune and pairing a Bluetooth capable phone with a Toyota vehicle, you can begin accessing Bing via the in-car dashboard or by speaking instructions out loud," Chu stated.

Bing integrates seamlessly into the overall in-vehicle experience for drivers, meaning that the decision engine is designed to work “en tune” with the rest of the automotive navigation, entertainment and information solution.

For example, drivers can search for a specific destination and have the result coordinates sent to the navigation system that will guide them along.

“Toyota has always been a leader in the automotive industry, so it makes sense it would bring the latest in mobile technology to the car,” added Chris Daniels, general manager of Bing for Mobile, Microsoft Corp.

“By bringing Bing Maps and Bing for Mobile technology to the car, we are helping Toyota enhance the overall in-vehicle experience to be as rich and robust as possible, which means personalizing the information to each driver’s needs.”