The company unveiled the RX5, a connected vehicle it has been developing along with Chinese automaker SAIC Motor Corp. for more than two years, reports Alizila.
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Jack Ma, the Executive Chairman of Alibaba Group, is certain that the unique YunOS will transform the face of the automotive industry in the near future.
“What we are creating is not the “internet in the car” but a ‘car on the internet, ‘” said Wang Jian, chairman of Alibaba Group’s technology steering committee.
Alibaba says it hopes its smartcar will help spur the development of connected transportation and infrastructure, where everything is connected though a concept referred to as the Internet of things (IoT). Available for pre-order in China, the auto has been developed in collaboration with Chinese automaker SAIC. “Alibaba hopes to cooperate to SAIC to combine data, Internet service, and operation system with drivers, consumers and hardware equipment”.
The e-commerce giant has fitted the RX5 with three LED screens, a smart rearview mirror, and an intelligent navigation system. Today marks the dawn of that new era. “We will be embracing a world where everything is closely connected”, Dr Wang said.
With cloud-based data, YunOS provides OS’Car RX5 drivers with a series of innovative features like an intelligent map.
Each driver will have an “internet ID” that allows the OS to not only recognize different users but also to make recommendations for music, air temperature or nearby restaurants based on past trips.
Targeting the young urban audiences, the vehicle operating system supports four detachable cameras that can record the journey and click 360-degree selfies from within the cabin.
The RX5 utilises Alibaba’s Yun OS, the same operating system that powers the company’s range of connected home appliances and smartphones, derived from a version of Android’s Open Source Project platform.
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The blurring of technologies is already causing a ripple in the automobile industry, where even traditional manufacturers are depending and collaborating with IT majors to improve convergence, like autonomous manufacturers.
