Cars are turning into centers for communications, entertainment and information.
By DAVE GUSSOW
Published July 28, 2003
[Photo: DaimlerChrysler]
Vehicles like the Chrysler Pacifica feature home theaters-on-wheels for entertaining passengers on long family trips.
[Photo: Davis Instruments]
The CarChip plugs into the On-Board Diagnostic System on all cars sold in the United States since 1996. It records 75 to 300 hours of data about how the vehicle was driven.
[Photo: KVH Industries]
The TracVision A5 satellite TV system uses a large, flat roof-top antenna (on the luggage rack) to pick up signals from DirecTV or the Dish network.
It has all the high-tech comforts of home: high-speed Internet access, video on demand, music downloads, even video conferencing. Except it's all in a car.
The special Mercedes model is just a prototype, but it's another indication that technology in cars is going far beyond computers to monitor mechanical processes.
"Wishing to stay in touch, stay informed and be entertained no matter where they are, consumers increasingly are demanding services that reach beyond their homes or offices to their vehicles," the Consumer Electronics Association says in a recent report.
And the electronics industry and automakers are responding by offering an array of gadgets and services. Cars are turning into high-tech centers for communications (e-mail, hands-free cell phones, accident reporting), entertainment (satellite radio, DVDs and soon satellite TV) and information.
Automakers also are adding touches that take advantage of the electronics: theater-like seats in the Chrysler Pacifica SUV and chaise-lounge-type seats in a Cadillac prototype. They're also including jacks for TVs, games and phones.
With all that in mind, here's a look at some automobile-related gadgets and services that can make those long summer drives less taxing:
The CarChip: The familiar bumper stickers ask "How's My Driving?" The CarChip knows.
The little plug-in device can not only monitor engine performance, but - parents and teens take note - can keep tabs on the driver, tracking speed, acceleration and braking.
"From the kids' point of view, there's really no escape," says Russ Heilig, director of sales at Davis Instruments, which makes the CarChip. "Even if you disconnect it on a Friday night, that shows up (on the log), too."
The CarChip (www.carchip.com $139 or $179 is used for more serious purposes, such as by trucking companies that want records on their vehicles and drivers, by auto dealers' service departments that use it to pinpoint problems and by car enthusiasts who want to make sure their engines are humming.
The device, about the size of a pack of gum, plugs into the On-Board Diagnostic systems built into all cars sold in the United States since 1996. One model can store up to 75 hours of driving data, the other stores 300 hours. To read the data, the user hooks it to a Windows PC.
"It's quite intriguing," says John Rettie, a correspondent for Motor Trend magazine who tested it. "Until now, you'd spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on equipment that a dealership would use. Now a little unit for $139 lets you do it yourself."
Satellite TV: Just as the pace is picking up for satellite radio subscriptions, along comes satellite TV for the car.
"This is an entirely new market," says Chris Watson, a spokesman for KVH Industries (www.kvh.com) "We're blazing the trail here."
Expected to go on sale next month, the TracVision A5 satellite TV system includes a roof-top antenna, receiver and remote control for a suggested $3,495. A screen and subscription to DirecTV or the Dish network are extra.
About a third of SUVs and minivans ship from the factory with some kind of video system, Watson says, and that's KVH's initial target market.
KVH is working with satellite companies on subscription rates, Watson says. It may end up with a two-tier pricing system. For people who already subscribe to a satellite TV service, there may be a modest monthly add-on fee. Those who don't have satellite TV at home may have to sign up for a full account.
For those who can live with DVDs, prices have come way down. A system three years ago could run $2,500 or more, but the average price for a system now is about $1,100, according to the Consumer Electronics Association.
But consumers don't have to spend that much. For example, Audiovox has a system with a 5-inch screen starting at $269, and its $599 VBP5000 system can handle three simultaneous video feeds: VCR, DVD and a game console.
Meanwhile, subscriptions to the XM and Sirius satellite radio networks continue to grow. XM reported almost 700,000 subscribers at the end of June, with Sirius trailing with about 100,000.
It all reinforces the idea that a simple AM-FM radio won't do, and dashboard units for satellite radio, CDs, DVDs and even computer hard drives for music are increasingly popular.
"The car is actually a personal listening room, in my opinion," says Tom Edwards, an analyst with the NPD Group, a market research company.
Down the road: IBM has said that computers eventually could make drivers obsolete. Until then, though, the company has plans for high-tech conversations between man and machine.
In a demonstration last month, the company showed off some of the things it's working on for cars, including the interactive dashboard.
After exchanging greetings, the driver can tell the computer his destination and have the computer answer with directions, travel time, traffic data, weather and other information.
The computer can interrupt with updated information, an accident ahead or a flight delayed. It relies on speech recognition technology, but adds a twist: a small camera on the visor can read the driver's lips if it can't hear. Obviously, not everything in the demo is available, but IBM says it's coming, some of it possibly within 18 months.
"We're talking about a butler in the dashboard who would look after you, take care of your every need," Mahesh Viswanathan, an IBM researcher, told the Associated Press.
- Information from Times wires was used in this report. Dave Gussow can be reached at gussow@sptimes.com or 727 771-4328.
