Aug 17 2008
Chrysler to offer in-car wireless access on August 25th; road-bound sales pros tempted to surf and drive simultaneously
This Week in Consumer Electronics (a.k.a, TWICE) reports that Chrysler will offer integrated cellular/Wi-Fi Internet connection capability in its cars starting August 25th, under the name “Uconnect Web”. The new 
device will be compatible with all 2009 Chrysler vehicles and some earlier model year automobiles, and will be available either as a new car option, or as an installed add-on to older vehicles. It delivers download speeds from 400kbps to 800kbps with upload speeds averaging 400kbps, which are much faster than dial-up connections (but certainly not at the 1.5+ gigabyte connected broadband connection speeds from cable or DSL modems). The Wi-Fi service operates within 100 feet of the car and the Wi-Fi connection is secured with WEP and other encryption technologies.
The price for Uconnect Web is expected to be US$499, with a one-time $35 activation fee plus a $29 monthly service charge. The device needs to be installed by a certified Chrysler service technician, and so, there will be an installation fee between $35 to $50, depending on your vehicle model.
Uconnect Web will use both EVDO and WiMax signals to connect to the Internet. According to Autonet Mobile, the company supplying the new device to Chrysler, the device can be configured for use on all cellular networks. The tech blog CrunchGear speculates that the native EVDO functionality makes this more compatible with networks from either Sprint or Verizon, and it is likely that it will be promoted for use on one of these networks.
Sales pros who cover their territories in their cars will find turning their automobile into an Internet wireless “hot spot” a great convenience for getting directions, doing last-minute account research before sales calls, for updating CRM and contact management systems immediately after customer contact, and many other useful purposes. However, we predict that the fatality rate of salespeople on the road will increase, unfortunately, as they try to master the ability to drive and surf the web at the same time - definitely a recipe for disaster.
