Ford's New Cars To Be Wi-Fi Hotspots

clang_jangle writes "Autoblog and others are reporting on Ford's planned extension to its in-vehicle SYNC multimedia systems — to enable SYNC-equipped Fords as rolling Wi-Fi hotspots. Customers would use their existing cellular USB modems, so for already equipped road warriers there would be no extra monthly charges. While there are other ways to get your car online (Autonet Mobile review here), the SYNC system does look especially simple and practical. Last year BMW made some noise about FOSS for their cars, but they seem to have since stopped talking about it. Will we see a FOSS option for automotive infotainment systems in the future?" The capabilities of SYNC even without W-Fi look potentially pretty distracting. Unless Wi-Fi is blacked out for the driver, the safety implications of this development are worrisome.

Comments

Re:BMW's trials . . .

[wizardforce]

Nice try but that car is a Skoda Octavia which is made by Skoda Auto not BMW. At the time of the crash, the car was going at nearly 90 mph which was about 3x the speed limit of the area. The driver was in the wrong lane and was intoxicated. The cause of the crash was entirely the fault of the driver not the car its self.