Post by DaveyJones on Feb 26, 2013 12:44:59 GMT -5
Trucks are included too...lol
GM, AT&T teaming up for 'connected' vehicles.
General Motors announced Monday that it’s teaming with AT&T to bring snappy 4G connectivity to most of its vehicles by 2014, allowing for the type of in-car technologies that used to be the stuff of dreams.
With 4G, GM says, it can bring streaming video to the back seat without the need to lug along DVDs. Cars will have Wi-Fi hot spots that handle multiple devices. And navigation systems will grow more sophisticated and display faster.
“It shows that GM is serious about the connected vehicle,” said Thilo Koslowski, a vice president specializing in automotive tech for Gartner. “It’s a pretty big commitment.”
And a risky one, because embedded technology in cars can get outdated — and drivers are stuck with it. GM rival Ford Motor, by contrast, is still pinning its connectivity strategy on its Sync system, developed with Microsoft, which works through a motorist’s smartphone and other devices. Every time a driver gets a new phone, he or she is conceivably able to use the latest generation of tech.
With the 4G system, he and Glenn Lurie, AT&T’s president of emerging enterprises and partnerships, can envision a car with the ability to contact owners on their smartphones to inform them remotely of a parking-lot accident — and then display a video recording of the collision. Or drivers could receive more early warnings about a vehicle’s mechanical trouble based on sensor readings from a car’s computers.
GM, AT&T teaming up for 'connected' vehicles.
General Motors announced Monday that it’s teaming with AT&T to bring snappy 4G connectivity to most of its vehicles by 2014, allowing for the type of in-car technologies that used to be the stuff of dreams.
With 4G, GM says, it can bring streaming video to the back seat without the need to lug along DVDs. Cars will have Wi-Fi hot spots that handle multiple devices. And navigation systems will grow more sophisticated and display faster.
“It shows that GM is serious about the connected vehicle,” said Thilo Koslowski, a vice president specializing in automotive tech for Gartner. “It’s a pretty big commitment.”
And a risky one, because embedded technology in cars can get outdated — and drivers are stuck with it. GM rival Ford Motor, by contrast, is still pinning its connectivity strategy on its Sync system, developed with Microsoft, which works through a motorist’s smartphone and other devices. Every time a driver gets a new phone, he or she is conceivably able to use the latest generation of tech.
With the 4G system, he and Glenn Lurie, AT&T’s president of emerging enterprises and partnerships, can envision a car with the ability to contact owners on their smartphones to inform them remotely of a parking-lot accident — and then display a video recording of the collision. Or drivers could receive more early warnings about a vehicle’s mechanical trouble based on sensor readings from a car’s computers.
