OpenCar builds a platform for auto apps

In a sort of David v. Goliath effort, Seattle startup OpenCar is going up against Microsoft, Google and Apple with a technology platform that lets third-party developers build apps for cars. Its Open Car Connect Platform allows drivers to replicate the one touch lifestyle theyve become accustomed to with their smartphones, using apps to do everything from helping them avoid potholes to improving their entertainment systems.

OpenCar, which has 18 employees, has been working with Mazda since 2011 to implement the OpenCar Connect system in Mazdas upcoming models. I thought they [Mazda] were just the Zoom Zoom brand, but they took safety more seriously than any other automaker I had met with up to that point, says founder and CEO Jeff Payne.

Most automakers in the past have used proprietary electronic systems, limiting consumer options to upgrade or augment their offerings. OpenCar offers a set of standards and services as well as a free software development kit so developers can build apps that are closely integrated with a car whose internal electronics are designed to those standards.

Only 15 OpenCar apps are available so far, including a National Public Radio channel providing drivers with a backlog of NPR programs from around the nation. But more than 200 developers have downloaded the companys development toolkit, Payne says.

Just weeks after OpenCar introduced Connect at the Consumer Electronics Show in January, Google announced the Android-friendly Open Automotive Alliance, whose members include auto giants like GM, Audi and Honda. Microsoft has been working closely on Fords SYNC system (though rumors abound that Ford may switch to BlackBerry for its next-generation version). Apple says several carmakers are ready to offer models with its CarPlay system that will link to iPhones and iPads.

Payne insists the broader involvement of other companies will complement OpenCars effort. Google and Microsoft will not own the market, says Payne. The auto market is really big.

True enough, but the tiny Seattle firm certainly faces an interesting struggle in its bid to persuade developers that it can survive a battle against multiple Goliaths.