This Cadillac CTS is a rolling Wi-Fi hotspot.
(Credit: CNET)We were recently handed the keys to a Cadillac CTS equipped with an Autonet in-car wireless access point. The system joins a cellular data connection with a Wi-Fi access point to offer Internet access on the go.
We figured, what better way to test this system than with a liveblog from the road?
The Autonet router mounts in the vehicle's trunk and takes up very little space.
(Credit: CNET)After starting the vehicle, we were able to quickly connect our laptop (as well as an iPod Touch) to the Autonet access point in exactly the same way that we would for a stationary access point.
After confirming that we were in fact connected to the Internet, we attempted a few unofficial speed tests. We logged onto YouTube and (using the timer on our iPod Touch) checked to see how quickly we were able to load and play one of the Antuan's favorite videos. From the time we clicked the link to the time the video began to play, nearly 3 minutes had elapsed. Even then, the video stuttered with constant buffering. By the time the one-minute video had completed, nearly 5 minutes had passed. For comparison, the same video loaded in about 25 seconds on an iPhone 3G using the 3G wireless connection.
Our speed test concluded, we hit the road with Editor Wayne Cunningham behind the wheel and Associate Editor Antuan Goodwin at the keyboard, liveblogging. We tested a few less data-intensive sites. Google Maps, for example, was relatively quick to display our search results, but lagged in displaying the actual map imagery and live traffic updates. Our own CNET Car Tech page also loaded quickly, but again, videos were painfully slow to play.
It's very hard to type with the keyboard bouncing around in your lap.
(Credit: CNET)Eventually, we found ourselves at a great little burrito place, and Wayne ran in to grab lunch. Meanwhile, Antuan was busy uploading the pictures that we'd snapped along the way. The photos averaged about 200kb each and uploaded in about 2-5 seconds apiece, which is definitely tolerable.
Because the system is completely hidden, there's no way of knowing how strong your cellular signal is, so you won't know if you're in a dead spot until you lose your signal. This is a minor inconvenience, which we are inclined to forgive.
The Autonet in-car access point retails for $499 (plus installation) with a $29-per-month subscription to keep the bits and bytes flowing.
Whether you are a business professional, a student, or just someone who likes to stay connected, accessing the Internet and e-mail servers while away from your home or office is becoming more and more popular. While you can purchase an Internet card from your cellular provider or hook up at a pay-for-time hot spot, another solution on the market is the Autonet, a wireless Internet hub designed for use in your car, truck, or SUV.
Chrysler was one of the first manufacturers to offer wireless Internet as an option with its UConnect product, currently offered as an option on many vehicles. The same device is also available for use in any vehicle as the Autonet.
The Autonet Internet hub can be placed under a seat or in a cargo bin.
(Credit: Al & Ed's Autosound)We installed the Autonet in a Honda belonging to our outside sales rep, but it can go into any car. It's a two-wire hook-up (power/ground), and can be placed under a seat or in a storage compartment. Once powered up, multiple users can surf the Net, check e-mail, download files, or do whatever they need to do online. It has a range of about 100 feet, so it can provide a wireless network away from the vehicle, too. It can be set up as a secured or unsecured network. You could also wire the unit up to a cigarette lighter-type plug and use it in multiple vehicles by plugging in to a 12v power supply.
The system works pretty well. It takes about 30 seconds to boot up and access the network. During this time, you see a flashing blue indicator light, which goes solid blue once an Internet connection is established. Then, you simply log on the way you would to any available wireless network.
... Read moreCadillac offers wireless Internet in the CTS, sporty hybrids on the way from Honda and Toyota, gadgets that do a virtual repo when you miss a payment, and a very slick little car PC.
Listen now: Download today's podcast
SHOW NOTES
• Cadillac rolls out in-car Internet access
• New way to make scratch healing paint
• Stealth PC great for the car
Cadillac has announced the availability of an in-car wireless Internet option on its CTS sport sedan beginning in April. The new option will be called Cadillac WiFi (sic) by Autonet and be dealer-installed. The device itself will have an MSRP of $499, and the service will cost $29 per month.
This makes Cadillac one of the very first carmakers to offer wireless Internet in a production vehicle. Autonet Mobile says early market experience indicates that this option will appeal to families first, as opposed to the mobile business professional you probably think would be its main initial market.
We've seen this Autonet device before (though the latest model is smaller, dockable, and sports an internal Wi-Fi antenna) and a company called Waav offers a similar rig, but what's interesting about the Cadillac-Autonet deal is that a top-tier carmaker is putting its imprimatur on general-purpose in-car Internet connectivity.
Connect a few dots, and you soon arrive at a future in which almost every service in a car--entertainment, navigation, communication--is cloud-based, and not dependent on computation or data that are captive in the vehicle.
BMW has shown us something like that, Mercedes is pursuing the idea with its MyCommand prototype, and Blaupunkt is about to roll out the first Internet-streaming car stereos.
Of course, the big competitive threat is that we all just decide to get in the car with more and more iPhones and Netbooks with integrated 3G (and later 4G) wireless connections, and skip mobile routers altogether. Companies in the emerging in-car Internet space will soon need to bring more to the party than just Wi-Fi and some 3G network massaging; they'll need to bundle and optimize services for in-car use, as well as develop car-specific interfaces, and deliver both in a way that speaks to two major use cases: driver and passenger.
That said, it's heartening to see an Internet option make its way to the showrooms of a global auto brand. It helps deliver on the sometimes breathlessly hyped promise of life in the cloud.
"Web Edition" pre-packages an array of tech toys and rolling connectivity.
(Credit: Chrysler LLC/Autonet Mobile)Our eyes eventually glaze over at all of the car industry's "limited editions," "value editions," and "sport editions." But Chrysler has just announced a "Web edition." OK, now we're awake.
It's not so much a car but an option package comprising a bunch of tech toys all tied to the Net by an Autonet Mobile router branded as Chrysler uConnect Web. The gear includes a Dell Mini 9 Netbook, an 8GB iPod Touch, a Sony PSP, and a digital camera with an Eye-Fi Wi-Fi SD card. All in, $1,999 including a year of service.
It gets unveiled tomorrow at the S.F. Auto Show in a specially badged Town & Country and will be available as a dealer-installed rig from Chrysler, Jeep, or Dodge dealers (as long as they're around!).
Autonet CEO Sterling Pratz says, "We're emphasizing this as the next entertainment platform in cars" more than a communication and productivity platform, though you can do whatever you want with the system. Bits is bits. Trip-centric Web services like Fandango and OpenTable are naturals for a Web rig in the car.
This seems to play more toward the "wanna-dopters"--people who aren't totally on top of tech, but really want to be. (You've rubbed elbows with them at Best Buy.) The tech savvy don't need to be spoon fed a complete array of gear; for them there's a leaner version called Web Edition Limited that is simply the wireless router, a year of connectivity, and the Dell Mini 9 for $1,100.
Certainly, this is partly a trial balloon, building data on how to get consumers familiar with--and unafraid of--Web in the car. It's one of those things a lot of people don't grok without touching it. Like the Palm Pilot or TiVo, many won't get it until someone plops them down in front of the technology. Now the race is on to see who does the plopping first and best: BMW and Mercedes are also keen on the mobile Internet idea, and Delphi may soon be enabling many others.
GM, BMW have a lousy week; Dash Navigation pulls the plug on it's device; Delphi is convinced we want in-car Internet; and a romp in the tire smoking Chevy Cobalt SS.
Listen now:
Download today's podcast
SHOW NOTES
• Delphi gets interested in putting Internet in lots of cars
• Dash pulls the plug on its connected nav device
• AT&T CruiseCast sat TV for cars
• Audi A4 3.2 Quattro road test
Car industry giant Delphi has announced it will develop wireless Internet gear for cars in a partnership with Autonet Mobile. This isn't the first announcement of its kind, but Delphi is one of the Big 5 suppliers, so this is something of a turning point.
Delphi sells $23 billion worth of car electronics to the automakers each year, while Autonet is a San Francisco-based start-up that you may know for equipping some Avis rentals and Chrysler products with wireless hotspots. It brings early mover experience to the party, along with a bonding technology called TRU that promises to avoid drops as you whoosh past 3G cell sites. We've been promised an Autonet-equipped test car, so we'll let you know how well that works.
Selling routers isn't the end game here; service revenues are. The data plan and download revenues that cell phone companies enjoy look awfully good to every company involved here, but especially to battered carmakers who would love to generate recurring bucks from their relationship with customers--especially in a day when financing is barely getting written and often at zero percent when it is.
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