Reuters: Technology News: Ford buys small software startup to bolster 'connected car' offerings

Reuters: Technology News Reuters.com is your source for breaking news, business, financial and investing news, including personal finance and stocks. Reuters is the leading global provider of news, financial information and technology solutions to the world's media, financial institutions, businesses and individuals. // via fulltextrssfeed.com

All Tech news in ONE place Tired of browsing thru hundreds of RSS feeds? Try Techi. All the tech news from around the web in ONE place, including exclusive articles. Daily newsletter. From our sponsors

Ford buys small software startup to bolster 'connected car' offerings Sep 26th 2013, 16:10 Tweet Share this Email Print Related Topics Tech » Deals » Global Deals Review: 2011 Q3 » Global Deals Review: 2011 Q2 » Global Deals Review » Small Business » Inflows Outflows » The sign at a Ford dealer is pictured in Lakewood, Colorado September 4, 2013. Credit: Reuters/Rick Wilking By Deepa Seetharaman DETROIT | Thu Sep 26, 2013 12:10pm EDT DETROIT (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co has bought a five-year-old software company for less than $10 million in a move the No. 2 U.S. automaker hopes will beef up its in-car connectivity that is critical to winning over younger, more affluent buyers. The acquisition of Ferndale, Michigan-based Livio will also help promote the automaker's method of connecting smartphones with the vehicle as an industry standard, which will help speed the pace of app development, Ford said on Thursday. "With the acquisition, Livio now has the ability to advocate Ford's contribution of SmartDevice Link as a standard," Paul Mascarenas, Ford's chief technology officer, told reporters. "That, I think, is a big opportunity." The deal comes ahead of an expected boom in cars that can connect with drivers' smartphones. Ford expects sales of such cars to grow to 21 million by 2018, up from 2 million in 2012. Ford will keep the Livio name and the 11-person firm will operate as a wholly owned Ford subsidiary. Livio will report to Ford's electrical and electronics systems engineering division. Livio, founded by now 31-year-old Jake Sigal, will continue to assist its existing customers, which include other automakers, suppliers and third-party software developers. The deal with Livio marks Ford's first acquisition of a technology company in about 13 years, Mascarenas said. In October 2000, Ford entered a joint venture with Qualcomm Inc dubbed Wingcast that allowed drivers to issue voice commands to operate the car radio or phones. That venture shut down almost two years later. (Editing by Matthew Lewis) Global Deals Review: 2011 Q3 Global Deals Review: 2011 Q2 Tweet this Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/ Comments (0) Be the first to comment on reuters.com. Add yours using the box above.

You are receiving this email because you subscribed to this feed at blogtrottr.com. If you no longer wish to receive these emails, you can unsubscribe from this feed, or manage all your subscriptions