Built on Windows CE, the open platform offers companies developing telematics solutions notable enhancements in areas such as voice recognition and graphic capabilities.

"We've invested a considerable amount of time and resources in creating an open platform that allows developers to build rich, powerful and comprehensive devices from a compact footprint," said Bob McKenzie, general manager of the Automotive Business Unit at Microsoft. "Auto manufacturers and suppliers will also appreciate the enhanced features in the Windows CE for Automotive 3.5 telematics platform that make it cost-effective and easy to develop to fit every price tag and car model."

• Streamlined graphical user interface enables designers to easily customize the appearance of their systems to different car lines.

• Hands-free communication interface takes voice recognition technology one step further to allow drivers and passengers to speak more naturally.

• A new platform configuration enables developers to create a compact solution for devices with limited storage capacity.

• Customizable developer tools provides developers with flexible, scalable building blocks from which they can choose a variety of development systems, such as ActiveX Controls and Visual Basic.

Windows CE for Automotive 3.5 is the client component of the Microsoft Car .NET initiative, a new generation of in-car computing technology.