Ford Acquires Livio to Speed Up In-Car Apps

Ford announced it has acquired Livio, a Ferndale, Mich.-based company that specializes in developing ways for mobile apps to work in the car.

Paul Mascarenas, chief technical officer and vice president of Ford Research and Innovation, made the announcement Thursday morning during a conference call with reporters. Mascarenas said Ford was buying Livio for three main reasons: to acquire Livio's team of software developers, to gain access to the company's IP and to promote a single technical standard for in-car apps.

Livio's technology provides an relatively easy way for developers to port their apps for in-car use. Ford Sync performs a similar function with its AppLink feature, although Mascarenas says Ford would work at combining the two "connectivity solutions" into a single industry standard. Read more...