I was stuck in traffic yesterday morning, and I was thinking some of these same thoughts.

Autoblogging anyone?? -> What is autoblogging?

 

WiFi car-stereos

WiFi car-stereos. A new generation of WiFi-equipped in-car MP3 players is shipping. The possibilities are endless -- imagine a traffic-jam-area file-sharing/streaming net, or synching up with your home PC while your car is in the garage! Link Discuss (via WiFi News) [Boing Boing Blog]

 

See the USA with a Wi-Fi array

See the USA with a Wi-Fi array: I'm trying to hard to fit the jingle to the story, but automotive Wi-Fi may take off, with units in the car talking to mobile components to transfer music, misc. Imagine having a gateway in your car that provides an Car Area Network (CAN). Imagine bridging the CAN to GSM/GPRS as needed. Imagine bridging the CAN to a hot spot location when you're near one. Imagine that you can do that today with...a Macintosh running OS X or a Windows XP box with the right hoo-ha. But in-car, permanent components would be better. [via TechDirt]

[80211b News]

 

The WiFi Caravan

The Wifi Caravan is a mobile wireless network comprised of participating vehicles within range of each other using 802.11 networking equipment.   A variety of local resources will be present on the network and forwarding to the Internet will be handled transparently when we have an established uplink. 

[via TechDirt]

[Audioblog/Mobileblogging News]

Specifically, I had my laptop in my backpack next to me, and I was bemoaning the fact that I had no mechanism to play the songs in it without having to open it up, perch it on the seat next to me, and then listen to it via the little tiny speakers that came with said laptop. I was also mad that there was road construction that started AFTER rush hour, so none of the radio stations were reporting the 1/2 hour delay that it was causing me. lastly, since I was crawling along at 3 MPH, I could have been making follow up calls for my job as a Realtor, if I could have gotten to my contact list that is on the laptop.

My ideal solution? I dock my laptop into the car somehow, preferably via a wireless connection. The stereo can then access the songs on the laptop, and if the car is stopped, a heads up display appears on my windshield that allows me to navigate files and folders as well as running programs. An in car version of the MS Smart Display might do the trick.  The controls are all built into the rim of the steering wheel, including a teeny joystick for my mouse. The HUD brightness could drop off rapidly as your speed increased, for safety, but that would make it hard to see what song it is you are playing.

So, how do I keep from running down the battery in my laptop? Simple, the bottom of my docking station is a power pad. That way, I can keep it topped off and still use it. If there is enough space, I could drop in my cell phone and PDA as well, and via bluetooth, make calls and possibly schedule appointments while I'm at it.

7:00:42 AM