I’ve been musing what I would want out of an online car for a while now, there are plenty of guys out there constructing “carputers” which are basically in-car installations of PCs, usually to provide a high storage MP3 / video facility in the car but also some integrate other functions such as GPS and even interfacing with the OBD module to provide vehicle data and stats on a nice PC based screen. Mobile phone network 3 now offers a My-Fi device which takes a HSDPA (mobile broadband) data connection and turns it into a local wi-fi hotspot, these are available for walk-about use or in-car now.
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| There is an easier way to get a PC in a car... |
Ford in the US has a system called MyFord which links some vehicle systems and entertainment functions with online add-ons too. MyFord provides a Bluetooth link, GPS, entertainment system linkage and also web browsing in-car. You can check out the video HERE
Google are reputedly in cahoots with General Motors to provide an Android based online dashboard for GM’s US prestige cars in a service which would presumably replace OnStar eventually. No scoping has been published but I bet Google is eyeing all that lovely data it can harvest with a salivating tongue. RIM (manufacturer of the Blackberry smartphone) has also bought out a manufacturer of automotive electronics recently.
Which brings me back to the question of what I would want in on online enabled car; perhaps the GPS could update Facebook Places with the exact location of my car so my friends know where I am parked and so TWOCers could come and lift it while my I am in the cinema (as my RFID chipped card has also updated Twitter that I am going to see “Battleship Potemkin 2: This time its personal” at the Cineplex so I’ll be out of the way for three hours...) Maybe not.
However... I already have a CD/MP3 head unit which can control my iPod. Bluetooth linkages with mobile phones are common enough. Sat-nav is sufficiently common even my mate Steve has one (sorry Steve) and there is a proliferation of other devices which people are plopping into their cars (I am holding off on an in-car DVD until my daughter really, really demands one...) The opportunity to integrate the control of these devices has to be a win. Also there are loads of new services coming out the whole time, some location based, some not. Subscribers to LastFM, Spotify and the like could have their music on the move as well as being able to access online content from your favourite WebTV providers, LoveFilm or whoever. Ubuntu users can now stream music to Android devices and services like LiveDrive now support media streaming. Maybe I could search for a restaurant close to my GPS position then check their menu and read a review and ask to find a route to it all in one interface. I for one would like to dock my camera and upload photos taken at events straight to Flickr and update my blog... Sure, I can do this from a netbook (if I owned one or wanted to carry one around, assuming I tethered it to my mobile phone, if I could be arsed), but this is all about the user experience. Putting the services where people want them and making them easily usable.
Maybe when you hear Apple has an agreement in place with Toyota then we can expect a fully consumerised UI?
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