Ever forgotten where you parked the car? Many of us have at one time or another, but now, Toyota is to launch a new technology that may one day provide a respite from all the confusion.

Last May, Toyota announced its new partnership with Salesforce, a provider of web-based software for large companies. The partnership was made to form the first ever social network for cars and their owners, called Toyota Friend.

"Social networking services are transforming human interaction and modes of communication. The automobile needs to evolve in step with that transformation," says TMC President Akio Toyoda.

The social network will allow Toyota owners to connect with dealerships, the company, and their own cars. The service, which will be available to drivers of electric models in Japan in 2012, will enable people's cars to send tweet-like messages to their owners.

This opens doors for all kinds of possibilities. Including your car being able one day to send you a message to remind you where it is if you forget which level of a multi-storey you parked it in.

Another textbook problem that this invention will be able to help with is also that you're only reminded that your car needs maintenance while you're driving, and you see an orange light on the dashboard. It's all too easy to forget about taking care of your car after you've got from A to B. Now with Toyota's innovation, your car will be able to send a social media update to your smartphone every time it feels neglected.

Although the service will be a closed network available to only Toyota owners, people who use the service will be able to make their car info public, by sharing it on Facebook and Twitter. This will mean that friends and family who use the car will be able to log on and find out how economically or fast they have been driving.

Also, beyond maintenance issues, the car will be able to give you a quick heads up if it is ever dinged or broken into. This could work with the GPS, meaning that if your car is stolen, it could give you running updates on where it is. "I've just been stolen, now crossing Waterloo Bridge".

The internet is enabling a greater array of devices to become interconnected and share with each other, which will make for a much smarter way of living. It will be exciting to see this idea progress with the launch of Toyota Friend.

Be the first to comment on this.