Make your car a wifi hot spot

by on October 30, 2008

We’re taking a bus to the CES show and I needed a way to get Wifi onto the bus and people kept telling me about Autonet, which is a way to turn your car into a wifi hot spot. So today I visited the CEO, Sterling Pratz, and got a demo.

Also car related Ford lent me a Ford Flex this week with Microsoft Sync which is pretty cool. I’ll have a separate video about that on Monday.

[kyte.tv appKey=MarbachViewerEmbedded&uri=channels/6118&embedId=49352357&premium=true&height=500&width=425]

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  • This is such a neat concept. Normally, a car drive is a totally non productive offline experience, but with this technology you can keep on working even as you hop from freeway to freeway. Love it.
  • ok.. that's just cool. I'd love to have one of these in the car to run mobile radar when I'm storm spotting.

    -Adam
  • Some Guy
    I categorically refuse to buy any car that runs any microsoft code. This is a basic safety issue.
  • Ehm....is so innovative? :)
  • My lab at the University of New Hampshire does a similar kind of thing for police. Basically, our Project54 system uses a VHF police radio or a cell modem to provide cops access to remote databases. This access is usually provided through an in-cruiser computer. However, you can also connect to the in-cruiser computer using Wi-Fi and get the same data e.g. on a handheld computer you're using outside the cruiser.

    The Wi-Fi connection is also great because it allows us to remotely update software in cruisers and get log data out of them. This happens at dedicated Wi-Fi hot spots.
  • Jeremy
    Cradlepoint makes a decidedly cool product in this space:
    http://3gstore.com/index.php?main_page=product_... which I've been using with my existing Verizon EvDO USB modem. It's a lot smaller, and works inside of my laptop bag (without being visible). Very handy for testing VPN connectivity when installing routers...
  • scott
    Check this one out:

    create your own wifi hotspot and make money: http://www.skyrove.com/

    - Scott from http://venturedig.com

    Twitter for venture capitalists and entrepreneurs? http://venturedig.com
  • Aaron O.
    Umm.. Don't they sell those 3G to WiFi routers? Just use a 12V inverter off your lighter socket to power the box and away you go! It's not rocket science, it's the Internet in your car.
    Wow.
    http://www.linksys.com/servlet/Satellite?c=L_Pr...
  • Aaron O.
    On the same note, don't forget to get the spinning HDD out of any laptop you intend to use in a vehicle. Replace with an SSD, and it's good to go!
  • Akira
    Why am I seeing a video from curvesolutionsusa?
  • good idea
  • well this is really nice initiatives.
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