Soon enough , the cars we drive will be more than conversation starter , status symbol or ways to get from one point to the next . Instead , they ’ll be the next program in a world gone wired . According to the engineering research firm iSuppli , 25 percent of cars will be connect to the Internet by 2015 [ author : Barry ] .
In - cable car Internet might be the way of the future , but going online behind the wheel is n’t anything Modern . In 1997 , Toyota launched Monet , a inspection and repair that allow drivers to tally their e - postal service and news headlines , and get at their dwelling computers [ source : Laterman ] . Rival manufacturers rolled out their own automobile cyberspace services shortly after [ source : Bartz ] . In the United States , orbiter radio providersbegan transmittingtraffic reports , weatherupdates and other data to their systems by the mid-2000s . Still , attached cable car – motorcar link up into the Internet and other communications networks – are a comparatively new phenomenon . '' The idea of connected car is just starting to take off [ in 2011 ] , '' says Wayne Cunningham , senior editor of the vane website CNET Car Tech .
Today ’s colligate motorcar physically reach the cyberspace in several ways . Some cable car , such as those equipped with theFord Sync system , exploit into the Internet connection on a driver ’s smartphone or a wireless USB adapter . Others , such as the 2011 Audi A8 , use a separate data point connection ramp up into the machine that accesses the net through a phone company ’s information service . There are aftermarket product to enable net admission in cars as well – the Autonet Mobile router connects to the Internet through a 3 GB or 4 G cellular connection and allows Wi - Fi - enable gadget in and near the gondola to go online [ source : Autonet Mobile ] .
Why are carmakers advertize for cyberspace connectivity in their railroad car ? It ’s not just consumer demand – it ’s the car producer . Cunningham says the nature of auto growing cycles means the belated cars incline to lag behind the latest technology . " Carmakers have been struggling with the fact that they want to put new engineering in their cars , but they ca n’t keep up because ( by the end of ) a five - yr developing round , the technology they put in their auto could be four or five years old " [ source : Cunningham ] . By enabling their cars to get at the Internet , add up the latest services and features requires a simple software update – not a unexampled term of a contract .
What can you do with in - railcar net access ? lease ’s take a spirit .
In-car Internet Features and Services
When it comes to in - car Internet , there are the features and services usable at the moment , and then there are the fascinating concept on the horizon .
General Motors , BMW , Mini and other automaker have developed their own customized applications . This mean that once you add the app on yoursmartphoneand colligate the earphone to the car ’s interface ( through aBluetooth connection , for good example ) , the railroad car display a predefined bent of applications on the railcar ’s infotainment organisation – the term for the technology that enables audio , video , and Internet capabilities . Typically these function appear on a dashboard - mount proctor and can be controlled by manipulating knobs on a center console or by tapping areas on a touch projection screen . A telephone outfit withToyota ’s Entune app , for example , reserve drivers to get at theBing hunting service , the OpenTable app to make reservations at local restaurant , and other feature from a dashboard - rise blind [ source : Cunningham ] . uncouth occasion let in send out and have e - mail , connecting to social internet like Facebook and Twitter , trip planning and navigation , and download music and podcasts . According to Cunningham , the individualized cyclosis radio servicePandorais among the most democratic coating being incorporate into connected cars .
In the San Francisco Bay Area , IBM ’s Smarter Traveler lotion collect data about a drug user ’s drive habit , measurestraffic flowin veridical time , and uses an algorithm to make predictions about congestion to help driver plan their commutes [ source : Boyle ] . This is a well-timed development : Since 2009 , the U.S. Department of Transportation ’s Intelligent Transportation Systems program has been research path to develop a more effective transportation system , using connected vehicle and infrastructure to subjugate pervasive problems like congestion , stroke , and carbon emissions [ author : U.S. Department of Transportation ] .
Whether every construct made potential by cyberspace connectivity come to market is another matter , Cunningham says , since carmakers are typically conservative about which features they include in their vehicles .
What condom issues arise when cars are connect to the Internet ? take on the find out .
Is in-car Internet safe?
While cars equipped with net could serve create a safer driving experience , critic say there are hazards to move online in an machine . One hazard is unhinge driving , delimitate as any activeness that takes a driver ’s focal point off the route and could take to an increased peril of a crash . Statistics from the U.S. Department of Transportation for 2009 tally 5,474 people wipe out and roughly 448,000 injured in motor fomite crashes that involved distracted driving [ informant : U.S. Department of Transportation ] . critic fear that drivers going online create hazards comparable or greater to those of cell phones and other common distractions .
However , drivers already can and do usesmartphonesin their railway car . '' The automakers desire to make [ using online role while driving ] a safer experience , '' say Cunningham . '' They do n’t require somebody driving their car , picking up their smartphone , and e - mailing , texting , or using Facebook . '' Many system allow voice dictation that answer to the number one wood ’s requests , as well as text - to - language function that can read east - mail , Twitter update , and other prose through the vehicle ’s speakers . Some systems even prohibit complex features , like programming radio stations , from operation while the fomite is in motion . Still , there are no laws regulating these systems just yet .
number one wood distraction is n’t the only issue . Connected cars could also be vulnerable toviruses , malware , and hackers , just like conventional computers . In 2010 , a former Texas auto dealership employee disabled and sabotaged more than 100 cars connected to a Web - based system intended to remind driver of overdue payments [ rootage : Poulsen ] . And in 2011 , researcher from the University of California San Diego and University of Washington revealed that they had exploited surety loophole in an nameless attached car and take dominance of its engine [ seed : Markoff ] .
While these episodes raise many security concerns , maker say there are safeguard that can protect automobile , such as break the infotainment system from the organisation that control the fomite ’s centre function . ( According to Translogic , railway car with work up - in data connections have dissimilar vulnerability than automobile that tether to a smartphone connector [ root : Lavrinc ] .
The quality self-assurance process a car undergoes before reaching consumer is another safeguard . Cunningham say that raw car are subject to hundreds of tests in hopes of anticipating and addressing job before the fomite get to the marketplace . '' There are a batch more citizenry involve in quality assurance on a car than in software system development , '' Cunningham says .
