With smart phones offering more at people’s fingertips, the more it seems that these phones are becoming the culprit in auto accidents. Texting, Web surfing, and dialing phone numbers can distract a driver to the point that his or her eyes are off the road for several seconds at a time. As an answer to this issue, Toyota and Microsoft are in talks to introduce a new in-car experience that essentially brings the functions of the mobile phone to a touch screen on the dashboard.

Entune Telematics Service, or Entune for short, was introduced by Toyota at the Consumer Electronics show on Wednesday, January 05, 2011. This system is being touted as a revolutionary in-car experience that allows the driver to link up his or her smart phone with the car. Once the driver registers their new car through the company website, the app can be downloaded to the owner’s smart phone. Entune is expected to be compatible with phones that feature an online data plan, such as the one offered through the Apple iPhone.

While this might seem like a new innovation to drivers who have only recently upgraded their new cars and mobile phones, this system is actually in competition with other similar systems put forward by Ford, for example, who came out with AppLink in their vehicles. However, AppLink only currently offers three apps, whereas Entune is expected to feature five apps.