Friday, October 3, 2008

Car Internet: Personal Safety


Many of us use Motorola products, most likely as a phone or hand held device, but Motorola is working on something else that is going to help connect you to the internet while traveling down the highway. Motorola is on the brink of commercializing their brand new WiMax module. This is a small card that allows automotive equipment makers to make connected devices that can receive broadband information on the road from the comfort of your car.

Most of us think that this has already been implemented in cars. Most information that cars are receiving is through satellite or radio networks that link up with the navigation within the car; most commonly in cars such as Acura, BMW, Cadillac, and Lexus. The problem with this connection is that it can only receive information one way, and must first download the whole database. This is proven when people search their navigation to find local fuel prices. When it downloads the database, much of the information is not needed and therefore is a waste of time and effort. With the new WiMax network it would only allow you to download what you need, making it more efficient and less time consuming.

Another feature that could be put into place that I found was quite interesting was that it could be a vehicle-to-vehicle network. If one car is broken down on the side of the road, it can alert other drivers coming up behind it or close to it that they are stopped. This is basically an early warning system for all drivers, and makes being on the road changing a flat or working on your vehicle much safer.

I think that implementing something like this would be great in all cars especially if it can make the roads safer for those in accidents or breakdowns. This could also help notify people of stopped emergency vehicles or police stops, and could ultimately save the lives of those doing their jobs on the road.

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