Uh oh...Chrysler will offer wireless Internet access in 2009 models

[babylonsister]

This sounds safe...:sarcasm:

Chrysler will offer wireless Internet access in 2009 models
The struggling automaker's announcement comes shortly before California enacts a law that requires hands-free cellphone use while driving.
By Ken Bensinger, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
June 25, 2008


Have you ever thought rush hour on the 405 Freeway might be more bearable if you could check your e-mail, shop for a book on Amazon, place some bids on EBay and maybe even, if nobody is looking, download a little porn?

Then perhaps you should be driving a Chrysler.

The nation's third-largest automaker is set to announce Thursday that it's making wireless Internet an option on all its 2009 models. The mobile hotspot, called UConnect Web, would be the first such technology from any automaker.

Struggling Chrysler is hoping that providing motorists access to the information superhighway will set it apart from competitors and help reverse a dismal year; through May, sales are down 19.3% compared with 2007, the worst drop-off in the industry.

"It's a notion of always wanting to be connected wherever you are," said Scott Slagle, Chrysler's senior manager of global marketing strategy, who has been testing the technology since last week, allowing his daughters to surf the Web from the back seat. "There's a demand for that."

Coincidentally, Wi-Fi on wheels is being unveiled just days before new hands-free legislation goes into effect July 1 in California and Washington state. Those laws, designed to reduce accidents caused by driver distraction, prohibit talking on a cellular phone without a headset or other hands-free device.

more...

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-fi-wificar25-2008jun25,0,5947848.story

[Frank Cannon]

1. Further proof that Detroit automakers...

get all the best drugs.

[Maureen1322]

2. Oh good, shitty mileage, great internet.

[Gman]

3. You could sure catch the latest on DU

[liberal N proud]

4. Going down the 405 at 65 checking your email

WooHooo!

We are just now getting laws to ban cell phone use while driving so now people will just pop out the laptop and plop it up on the dash and surf their way into the rear end of that semi.

[babylonsister]

5. And I hate people driving while on phones; this does not sound

promising to me at all. I think chatterers are distracted; I can't even imagine this.

[liberal N proud]

8. You and me both

[InkAddict]

19. On-Star: Read e-mail n/t

[RB TexLa]

6. I guess I'm alone in loving this?

[KharmaTrain]

7. How About Internet Radio In Your Car?

For those of us who have been gambling on this technology (I've been working with it for over a decade) this is a big breakthrough for Internet Radio...the combination of Wi-Fi systems coming online and Internet Radio making it into cars. Imagine hearing a song and being able to download it right as its playing...or wanting to listen to a Progressive radio or even "TIVO" what you want to hear. It's all on the way...and it's scaring the shit out of the large broadcast conglomerates who have invested billions on what will be worthless licenses and even more on even more worthless HD equipment.

[jmowreader]

9. In Fayetteville, it would be perfectly safe

Let me tell you about how fucking LONG the red lights in this town are: I was going to work one day and chose a route that took me to a stoplight with a grove of trees beside it. There was a driver in front of me. The light turned red. He got out of his car, ran to the treeline, took a piss and got back in his car...and the light was still red.

You could seriously blog in this town from the steering wheel.

I'm thinking of one other major application for this: competition for OnStar's Turn By Turn Directions.

Unfortunately for Chrysler, onboard internet won't change the fact that Chrysler's model lineup consists of boring gas-guzzlers. Come clean: except for the Ram and Dakota pickups, is there a Chrysler product anyone really likes?

[InkAddict]

20. I love my PT Cruiser.

Look for its design elements in a new VW model coming soon and at much greater cost.

[crikkett]

10. All the better to live with Gridlock

[DS1]

11. I'd like to be able to stream my mp3s from home

but that's about it

[Wiley50]

12. I've Had It For Two Years. I Posted On DU all the way from Nashville to Winchester, VA

last summer on a trip up to see a buddy. I was in the passenger seat though.

My only internet provider is a Verizon Broadband Access PCMCIA card.
Only once or twice have I been in a dead spot. It works like a charm.

[dionysus]

13. oh man thats sounds like a very, very dangerous idea....

:scared:

[Wizard777]

14. Great! Like GET OFF THE PHONE AND DRIVE YOU ASSHOLE! wasn't bad enough.

Now Chrysler will be introducing a new phrase to American drivers. GET OFF THE INTERNET AND DRIVE YOU ASSHOLE! I swear the first time I see someone driving the road checking their Email or blogging. I will run them off the road. It shouldn't be too hard. They aren't paying attention to the road any way. What are they going to say about it? Well officer I was driving down the road blogging on dumbass.com and the next thing I knew I was in the trees.

[NNN0LHI]

15. I can't wait to do some serious gaming on the Tri-State Tollway

It will be like when you die you really do die.

:scared:

Don

[lame54]

16. Great-driving while watching porn...

that will lead to hell of a climax

[dysfunctional press]

17. some people already do...thanks to dvd players in cars.

nt

[Bigmack]

18. Great idea!! When folks are ....

living in their cars because the economy flops, they can have Wi-Fi.

Jeeezus H. Keeyrist!