Most modern cars
already have several computers that control everything from engine idle speed to keeping
the CD player from skipping. But compared with the advances in home and office technology,
automotive technology lags far behind. Some standards even date back to the 1950s and
'60s. In the auto industry, designing a new vehicle now takes anywhere from 18 to 36
months.
The tech industry's product cycle is
much shorter, with some computer components obsolete in 18 months. The hi-tech industry
could have easily overcome that and come out with products to keep pace with the latest
technology, but, there are no basic set of standards for how hi-tech devices would plug
into a vehicle. Until now that is.
Today a consortium of automakers
announced plans to develop world industry standards for multimedia-vehicle electrical
systems. Standardization is intended to make it easy to plug in electronic devices,
including cellular phones, portable computers and navigational aides. The Automotive Multimedia Interface Consortium is composed of
BMW, DaimlerChrysler, Fiat, Ford, GM, Honda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Peugeot Citroen, Renault,
Toyota, Volkswagen. Eventually, all of the world's automakers are expected to join.
Automotive suppliers could then build a variety of electronic devices, all with universal
plugs designed to fit the standardized vehicle wiring.
Commuters are spending more time
behind the wheel. U.S. consumers spend about 10 percent of their waking hours driving or
riding in their vehicles. Auto makers desperate for new sources of income are seeing this
as the next point of focus. Today, fewer than a million people access the Net from their
vehicles. But by 2004, the industry estimates more than 11 million people will use the Net
and telematics on the road. Delphi president J.T. Battenberg says the market for auto
electronics will grow from $300-million (U.S.) last year to $5-billion in 2003.
While converging technology would give
consumers new productivity, safety and entertainment, there is also the ever increasing
danger of driver distraction making it unsafe on the roads. The National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration has estimated that driver distraction is involved in 25 percent of
the 6 million vehicle crashes reported each year. On the other hand, surveys show
customers want devices in their vehicles to get help when needed, find directions around a
new place and provide them with other information they can use while on the roads.
This interest jives well with the
recent advances in technology from the Bluetooth
consortium such as the protocol for cellphones and other wireless devices that enables
communication via radio waves for up to 10 metres. Over 1,200 companies across a range of
industries are now looking for ways to implement this radio frequency connectivity
technology to secure easy, quick and reliable short-range connections between devices.
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