Online, on the Road
The definition of a hot car is about to change. Speed? Style? That’s all well and good, but how can a car be hot if it doesn’t have an internet hotspot?
Yes, after several false starts, the telecom industry is about to do what it has long promised – or threatened, depending on your view: turn your car into a mobile office and multimedia playpen.
Web-surfing smart phones and Bluetooth connections have opened the pipeline and automakers are going with a flow whose direction has become clear: networking portable devices rather than installing pricey and rapidly obsolete hardware in the car.
Mercedes-Benz and BMW took baby steps for 2009, letting users send Google Map addresses and data from a home computer to a car’s navigation system. For 2010, all BMW models with the fourth generation iDrive system take the next step, letting drivers to connect to Google Maps’ powerful database using the car’s navigation screen.
BMW’s2010 7-Series will go a step further, offering full internet connectivity. But that’s only for Europe. (Sorry friends!!!)
Chrysler, however has no such qualms. For every Chrysler , Dodge and Jeep can be equipped with a WiFi connection for laptops,music players and other devices. At a cost of just dealers will install and activate a wireless router with a built in modem, with subscribers paying an additional $29 for monthly service. The web service is the latest in Chrysler’s suite of UConnect features, which includes Bluetooth phone synchronization and Sirus satellite television.
Ultimately, the point won’t be to outlaw four-wheeled Web-surfing (a quixotic quest) but to make it work smarter, via improved voice controls and interfaces-and improved drivers. Let’s just hope that the guy in the other lane is watching the road, not YouTube.
No comments:
Post a Comment