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By Times Staff Writer
Published October 9, 2007

Thieves could be taken for a ride by GM's OnStar

Say some clown steals your car from the parking deck at work. If it's equipped with General Motors' OnStar service, he could be in for a big surprise and you could get a little revenge - and even see your car again. Starting with about 20 models for 2009, the service will be able to slowly halt a car that is reported stolen, and the radio may even speak up and tell the thief to pull over because police are watching. With the new technology, which OnStar president Chet Huber said GM will apply to the rest of its lineup in future years, OnStar would call police and tell them a stolen car's whereabouts. Then, if officers see the car in motion and judge it can be stopped safely, they can tell OnStar operators, who will send the car a signal via cell phone to slow it to a halt. OnStar, including the first year's subscription fee, is standard on most of GM's 2008 vehicles. After the first year, the subscription price is $16.95 a month or $199 annually for basic service.

TiVo gets in groove with music deal

TiVo Inc. is introducing music to its mix of entertainment services, offering owners of the company's digital video recorders access through their TVs to RealNetworks Inc.'s Rhapsody music service. The new feature to be announced today means TiVo subscribers with broadband-connected set-top boxes will be able to listen to music streamed over the Internet from Rhapsody's service, which has a catalog of more than 4-million songs. TiVo and RealNetworks view their partnership as a way to cross-market to boost their subscriber bases. Whether users access it through TiVo, a PC or portable gadgets, the Rhapsody service will cost $12.99 per month on top of the $12.95 or more TiVo regularly charges.

Web a key source for chronically ill

Americans with disabilities and other chronic conditions are less likely to use the Internet, but those who are online are among the most avid consumers of health-related information, a new study finds. Half of those with chronic conditions use the Internet, compared with three-quarters of those without, the Pew Internet and American Life Project said Monday. But when they are online, those with chronic conditions are more apt to seek health information online - at least for some tasks. Pew said 86 percent of Internet users with chronic conditions have looked online for information on at least one of 17 health topics, compared with 79 percent of those without such conditions. The difference, however, falls within the error margin. The study found the chronic population far more likely to look for information about medication, specific treatments and procedures and alternative treatments and medicines - all by margins exceeding the potential sampling error.

[Last modified October 9, 2007, 00:33:20]