All brand cars to be connected to the web by 2014

Posted by Karen on Feb 15, 2013 12:00:00 AM

A recent BBC report has unveiled car manufactures plans to have all new vehicles connected to the web within the next few years. In fact Intel, which will invest £64million over the next five years in the 'connected cars' claims that is already the third fastest growing technological device after phones and tablets.

The introduction of smart technologies into vehicles could herald a new era of app laden dashboards; providing useful information on anything from the price of petrol at local garages, to the nearest free parking space. Interestingly enough this technology isn't new as McLaren pioneered it over a decade ago with their F1 road car which could be connected to a mobile phone to provide data about the car back to headquarters in Woking.

Now though social media and entertainment would be placed in new vehicles; with specialist voice commands allowing drivers to check and update Facebook and Twitter without touching a button. BMW titantransline already have some of this functionality available in their cars.

Exciting stuff, but will ‘connected cars’ have grave consequences for road safety – as drivers are exposed to more distractions? Research suggests that a high number of road accidents are caused by drivers using their mobile phones at the wheel (according to the National Safety Council about 25 per cent in the US ) so the introduction of technology which stops us from taking our eyes of the road - should actually have a positive impact on safety.

‘Connected cars’ are just the latest example of how the internet is changing and how new connectivity solutions like 4G and 3G will affect how we work, live and play.

Topics: News