The Battle For The Connected Car Continues

At the same time legislators are passing harsher penalties and further restrictions on people using their mobile devices while driving, automakers keep finding additional ways to integrate those devices into the driving experience.

The latest announcement, coming yesterday, was General Motors announcing that some of their upcoming models will have 4G LTE mobile internet capabilities built in, according to the Detroit News. What does that mean? It means your car will become a rolling internet hot spot, providing wi-fi service to everyone in the car, allowing them to surf the net, use their tablets, and generally stay connected.

I find it hard to believe that the driver of the vehicle won't also be using his/her devices while driving, which will probably lead to another round of legislation banning the use of the internet by drivers, at which point the automakers will think of some other way to give the public what it wants. Some of the apps that will reportedly be included in the service will only be operational when the vehicle is in park.