Posted on 01/02/2007 7:30:26 PM PST by PeaceBeWithYou
Not literally of course, but a new service in the US promises to provide Internet access from motor vehicles on 95 percent of US roads.
Autonet Mobile (www.autonetmobile.com), which bills itself as the first Internet service provider for cars, will debut its new service at ShowStoppers during the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The company also promises to announce an agreement with a world leading car rental company to offer a portable, wireless Internet service by the end of the first quarter of 2007.
It says the service will let passengers check email, surf the web, game or communicate via any WiFi-enabled device. According to Autonet Mobile "The service is optimised for the in-car experience, and is specifically designed to work on 95 percent of US roads, regardless of driving conditions or location."
Installation is claimed to be plug and play by plugging the WiFi access point and router into the car' cigarette lighter.
Autonet has given no details as to how the unit connects to the Internet except to say that its patent pending 'TRU Technology' (of which it gives no information) "enables seamless Internet connectivity so that passengers stay connected while driving...providing intelligent, dynamic automatic session management between high/low speed networks, producing a reliable user experience."
The unit retails for $US399 with a monthly service charge of $US49.
According to Autonet Mobile CEO, Sterling Pratz, 40 percent of all SUVs and station wagons shipped in the US come equipped with media centres, supporting music and DVDs "yet, do not support today's connected lifestyle of the Internet, e-mail and social media."
Our Government should notify everyone in advance that anything and everything will be allowed (and nothing illegal) for drivers in our cities for one particular month.
That would get rid of some of the problem.
Buddy you're AHEAD of the curve on this one... :-)
What a great idea. Picture the blonde lady behind you with her left hand to her ear on her cel, her right hand monitoring Rosie on the new machine, steering with her leg as she smashes into your rear end, spilling her hot coffee in her lap. Then she sues you for the burns caused by the hot coffee.
"People shave and put on makeup while they drive so they'll be surfing the net."
I still remember the outraged calls from women after Rush noted that a lot of women were obviously fahding as they drove their cars. The calls stopped after he explained that "fahd" was a French term meaning to apply makeup. He was beside himself with laughter during that show, as was I.
One of the featured cars at a new products show was a little sports car where the controls could be used to play computer games.
Steering wheel, brakes, everything. Very realistic controls.
I'm thinking this will only work when the cars are smart enough to move us around without our guidance. Then we can just play in the back seat the way we used to ... as our parents drove.
I use a Samsung sch-i730. It runs 1xRTT almost everywhere. 1X-EVDO where available. The EVDO service just arrived in Pocatello, ID in Dec 2006. It's still not up in Idaho Falls. I surf while my wife drives up I-15 at the designated 75 MPH speed limit. At 1XRTT speeds, it can take multiple "exits" to actually download a full web page. At 1X-EVDO speeds, it is much quicker. Either way, it's difficult to accurately peck the screen in a moving vehicle. An unintended "click" happens all too often. It's not as cool as you might think. I pay $49 per month for unlimited access on the cellphone/PDA. The recent upgrade to Windows Mobile 5.0 makes it possible to use the phone as a "tethered modem" to a laptop. I've used that mode before with another 1XRTT phone. It's much more usable than a PDA. You can use a real browser with Java applets underneath. The PDA can't do that. It matters because my daily timecard recording is done with a real Java applet. It simply doesn't work on my PDA.
On my next "2 year" replacement with Verizon, the fancy PDA gets retired for a simple phone and a wireless 1X-EVDO PCMCIA card for my laptop. The cost will be nearly the same. All I really need is a reliable phone. The wireless card is valuable when I have to do my timecard on the road. Frankly, most hotels have a good connection. I can probably completely ditch the expense altogether.
There was a car weaving ahead of me on the way to dinner last evening. It changed lanes to the right and as we passed the reason for the weaving was revealed...the idiot was brushing his teeth while driving.
The word is farding.
Internet access from motor vehicles
I do it now all the time, all you have to do is park in the parking lot of a motel that provides the service, which most now do, and go on line free.
I saw a woman in slow moving traffic holding a cell phone in one hand, a cigarette in the other and steering with her elbows.
Many are password protected.
Brilliant.
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