Delphi Autonet: Wi-Fi for your Prius

MARIN, CALIF. — Autonet Mobile, an ISP for the car, said it plans to bring its portable Wi-Fi router that creates a Wi-Fi hot spot for the car to a major retailer by Christmas.

The company also announced at International CES that Delphi will begin producing Autonet's next-generation Wi-Fi router. The new device will include storage so that consumers can "drag and drop" movies, games and music from their PC to the Autonet router.

Autonet Teams With Delphi For Car Wi-Fi Hot Spot - 2/11/2008 - TWICE

Autonet Mobile has signed a deal with the Price Family Dealer Group and will begin product distribution in late Q1 through their dealerships: Toyota Sunnyvale, Toyota Marin and Marin Volvo in Northern California. Autonet Mobile will be installed and hard mounted inside the car by the dealership.

Autonet Mobile Introduces New Consumer Internet Content Storage Service on Its In-Car... | Reuters

 

Once behind the wheel of the Pontiac, I plug the Autonet into the cigarette lighter and within seconds (seconds, not minutes) my PC picks up a full WiFi signal. In a blink I’m checking gmail, and not long after that I download directions to my hotel. Then I look at my watch. The entire process, from initial plug-in to receiving route info, is done in under a minute. I can’t match this performance -- even with my iPhone. But the best part? Well, I haven’t even arrived at the best part yet.

...But how is true mobile WiFi possible? Autonet has made it happen through a unique wireless internet service that interfaces with preexisting 3-G and 2.5-G (EVDO, 1xRTT) cellular data networks that cover 95 percent of the United States. High-speed access ranges from 600 to 800 Kbps while integrated WEP encryption, MAC address restriction and WAN port restriction offers Zen-inducing amounts of security. True, it’s not as fast as a direct cable or DSL connection but the company’s proprietary technology works transparently while a car is in motion, seamlessly stitching together signals from one cell tower to the next...

Autonet Mobile: Your Own Personal Hot Spot, Everywhere You Go

 

Sprint Nextel and Clearwire will create a new joint venture that will combine both companies' WiMax assets to create a nationwide broadband wireless network, the companies said Wednesday.


The deal, which will be valued at about $14.5 billion, is being backed by cable operators Comcast and Time Warner, as well as Intel and Google.

...

A network such as this will be used to connect a whole slew of devices to the Internet wirelessly. So instead of just cell phones surfing the Web, users might connect cameras, gaming devices, and a number of other consumer electronics to the network via a WiMax network.
Sprint competitors AT&T and Verizon Wireless are also looking at building a next-generation broadband wireless network. But they have decided to use a competing technology known as LTE. Most European carriers have also committed to using LTE for their next-generation network.
Sprint contends that WiMax is at least two to three years ahead of LTE, and the company believes that using WiMax will give it a head-start in the market. That remains to be seen, especially given that the ecosystem, and research and development dollars, will most likely follow the bigger market opportunity, which is LTE.
At this point, it's difficult to say whether the new WiMax joint venture will be a big success. The involvement of Google and Intel are good signs, but it remains to be seen if this network will ever have the legs it needs to compete against networks built by competitors using a technology with a greater following.

Sprint Nextel to spin off WiMax network | Tech news blog - CNET News.com