Driving the triumph of social media one step further, Toyota announced that as soon as 2012 starts, it will offer electric and hybrid vehicles equipped with a hardware system called Entune. The system will enable users to gain access to Microsoft’s social media platform Azure and a new social network designed especially for Toyota users, called `Toyota Friend’. Even users who do not have the new device in their car will be able access the social media portals using smart phones or tablets.
 
User will be able to receive updates on their vehicles’ remaining battery power, share their `tweets’ with other Toyota drivers, send out updates in real time and connect with Toyota dealers in case a car requires repair. Customers will be able to access a special version of Microsoft’s Bing enabling them to search out restaurant reservations, weather forecasts, stock market info or listen to music.
 
Toyota’s collaboration with Microsoft comes after Ford Motor Co. already announced that it would soon include a wireless multimedia system for its vehicles. Other than Ford, Toyota is also working together with San Francisco-based internet start-up Salesforce.com that has made a name for itself in the field of cloud computing. While
 
"Toyota Friend is an idea that I had when I thought about the changes in our industry today. The car is the true mobile device", said Salesforce.com CEO Marc Benioff at a meeting with Toyota representatives in Hawaii.
 
Benioff added that the devastating earthquake that hit Japan in March was not interfering with the company’s plans and that testing at Toyota’s Japanese centre had begun.