Efforts stepped up on smart vehicles

Chinese internet giants are teaming up with automakers in the race toward rolling out smart, internet-connected vehicles, which are widely seen as the ultimate mobile devices to connect people with online services.

Tencent Holdings Ltd signed a deal with Guangzhou Automobile Group Co Ltd on Monday to cooperate on internet-of-vehicle services, smart driving, cloud computing and other areas.

According to a report by China Business Network, quoting an anonymous source, Guangzhou Automobile will be in charge of developing the operating system for cars, while Tencent will equip cars with applications such as music streaming.