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Last updated: Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Considering the limited reach of AT&T’s 3G network, Apple iPhone users on the go are frequently stymied by being reduced to the Edge network. How great would it be to have ready access to Wi-Fi, wherever you go? Ford thinks it would be pretty awesome. The next generation of its SYNC in-car entertainment system will include a port for a USB modem that turns your car into a Wi-Fi hot spot at highway speeds. The system will be available next year on selected models, but Ford isn’t yet saying which ones. And Ford customers won’t have to keep updating their modems because the system will automatically download updates to keep it compatible with future devices, the company said. “The speeds with which technology is evolving, particularly on the wireless front, makes obsolescence a real problem,” said Doug VanDagens, director of Ford’s Connected Services Solutions Organization. “We’ve solved that problem by making SYNC work with just about any technology you plug into it. By leveraging a user’s existing hardware, which can be upgraded independent of SYNC, we’ve helped ensure ‘forward compatibility’ with whatever connectivity technology comes next.” Ubiquitous Internet “It’s just one more step in the process toward Internet ubiquity,” Greg Sterling, principal analyst with Sterling Market Research, said in a telephone interview. “There’s this growing expectation of getting on the Internet wherever you are.” Having it in your car clearly enhances that expectation. “Eventually, we will get to near-ubiquity,” Sterling said. “I think this is being driven by this notion that the Internet is a daily part of our daily lives. It’s so wound up in the texture of our lives, and the carriers and vendors are feeding off of that.” While in-car Internet may only be available in 2010 for people with a certain income, in time Internet…

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Ford’s In-Car Wi-Fi is a Trend Toward Internet Everywhere

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