A Third Of New Cellular Customers Last Quarter Were Cars (recode.net) 65
Ina Fried, reporting for Recode: With the U.S. smartphone market saturated, most of the growth in the cellular industry is actually coming from other kinds of devices including tablets, machine-to-machine connections and lots and lots of cars. In the first quarter, for example, the major carriers actually added more connected cars (Editor's note: amounting to a 32 percent capture) as new accounts than they did phones.
Don't use a cellphone while driving (Score:4, Funny)
Don't those engineers know anything?
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This is something I wanted for a while... a dedicated device number that maps to my car and not something I carry with me. If people want to reach me and think I'm driving, the car can ring and I don't have to set up Bluetooth. If somebody wants me to do something on the way home without bothering me during the workday, my car can carry the message when I get there.
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The analog cell phones of the 80s were power messes. Too much transmission, too little battery life. Today's GSM/LTE phones can do so much more with less.
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This is something I wanted for a while... a dedicated device number that maps to my car and not something I carry with me. If people want to reach me and think I'm driving, the car can ring and I don't have to set up Bluetooth.
That is not what these phones are for. You don't talk over them. They are for transmitting map info, traffic info, and software updates.
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That's not a phone, that's a data connection. I've had a FM-connected traffic-displaying GPS for years now. It could change my route to avoid blockage, then I could tell the boss about who got stuck in the morning commute.
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That's not a phone, that's a data connection.
It is a device that connects to the cellular network, and transmits and receives data. This is also what a cell phone is.
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Cell phone is safe when moved to the car radio position... you can't hand dial while driving, but you can voice dial without taking your hands of the wheel. Ideally, most of the car's controls should now be at the steering wheel, and the remainder within reach of your girlfriend.
Re:Don't use a cellphone while driving (Score:4, Funny)
I think you are forgetting that this is Slashdot you're posting at.
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Rosie can be a boys name, if that's what works for you.
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Slashdot isn't gay... it's just having trouble attracting women.
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Contrary to popular anime plots, girlfriends don't magically appear in basements.
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You seem to have forgotten the Slashdot that isn't in range of the search feature... my exes got together and designed an iPhone app compatible with car systems that are about ready to come out now.
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FIrst, I listen to pop music... and that's a real girlfriend-getter. Second, if she's really your girlfriend she'll turn on the baseball game at your request.
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That's not supported by any studies. To the contrary, studies have found that cells phone reduce driving ability, hands free or not. Just like a couple/few beers. Mythbusters did a show on this. Cell phone cause thousands of deaths per year. Recognize that if you are on a cell phone you are putting your own and other lives in danger.
Well (Score:2)
How can a car be a customer? (Score:1)
Every Parents' Worse Nightmare (Score:5, Funny)
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I bought my car new 17 years ago. I think it's about time for it to start producing grand-cars.
Why? (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Why? (Score:5, Informative)
So the car can send telemetry data back to the manufacturers to let them know what you're doing to the car so they can reject warranty claims. (See the story about the Tesla that auto-drove into a truck.)
I mean, to enable exciting new features like live updated maps and traffic in the in-car navigation system and things like in-car wifi! Totally not to constantly spy on you and everything you do!
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That still doesn't make that much sense. They can send telemetry back through your Bluetooth-connected phone. Of course, if you never bother to connect a phone by Bluetooth, that would stymie their spying, so I guess building the cellular modem into the car helps prevent that, but then how do they keep people from refusing to pay the monthly cellular bill for it and just getting it disconnected by the carrier?
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There's carmakers still doing that crap?
On my Mazda (which I think is now standard across the whole line; the infotainment systems all look identical), the GPS navigation is built into the infotainment which all the cars have, but you have to pay $250 for the SD card with the nav data on it if you didn't buy a model where it's thrown in as part of the trim package. There's no cellular modem, though, and no traffic updates (in the US), so it's not the greatest. It uses HERE navigation, so that part actuall
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If I had a Tesla that could update itself (ludicrous speed!) over its data connection, I'd think that's awesome.
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Many things are awesome in concept and suck in implementation. Many "update" systems for electronics, which now even includes cars, used to honor the concept of ownership, where the manufacturer listed changelogs and information about the updates and then the owner made the decision to update. Sometimes updates break things by accident, sometimes updates cripple things that used to work on purpose. Sometimes updates bring along unwanted "features". The owner should get to choose and also to control what the
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Basically this. Look at any ad that shows a car having WiFi - it's all about your passengers updating their facebook or playing games while on the move, and kinds playing games or other entertainment/distraction for the family road trip.
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Requiring their own SIMs is the least of the reasons not to buy a brand new car.
Until the car makers get their act together and build firmware to aviation standards, I will stick with brake peddle attached to master cylinder, throttle cable, stick shift, thanks. Comes from growing up in 'car cancer' country and now living in CA. The old cars are great here, hack a cradle into the dash and I'm good to go.
Those aviation standards will also likely set back 'automatic cars' a little. But so be it. It will
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I'm going to find clean one and make an ElCaMetro. Put a Honda B engine and drivetrain in it. Should fly.
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So far, I'm really liking my 2015 Mazda3. The "infotainment" computer runs Linux (though the application software on top of it is rather slow as it's all in JavaScript), and mostly works pretty decently and with the "commander knob" on the center console is easy to use and safe while driving (don't have to use the touchscreen). And so far, I haven't seen any kind of problems with the firmware in other parts of the car, nor have I even read about any such problems on the very active mazda3revolution.com fo
it ain't free, so (Score:3)
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I know... here, buy this car for thousands of dollars... and, oh hey, bonus, you also get to pay $80/month to keep your car connected to the Internet... lucky you!
Re:it ain't free, so (Score:4, Informative)
For my car, a 2016 Camaro SS, there's little that will be broken. The only things you would lose are the ability to make/take call on the car's phone number, you can still pair your BT phone just fine as with most modern cars. If you bought the Nav system, that is independent and will function just fine, but you don't get Directions and Connections from OnStar anymore.
Your XM channels and traffic are a fully separate thing you can choose to continue or not.
Honestly outside of the remote diagnostics and the OnStar App functions, you don't lose much. (for me, anways).
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I bought a used car in which the original cell subscription ran out. The only way to continue service was through the car company (which provides the service through T-Mobile) for, I think it was $30 per month or a lump sum of $450 for 3 years. It takes a T-Mobile sim card.
I tried getting the $10 per month T-Mobile sim card, but it didn't function in the car.
Since I am not up for paying that kind of money for the services, I didn't subscribe. If I ordered the service it provides:
Google maps in the naviga
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Or you could just use Ting, a T-Mobile reseller, and pay them $6/month (and your actual usage just adds to the rest of your Ting account, which works with both T-Mobile and Sprint devices).
Of course, if the $10/month T-mo card doesn't work with it, Ting probably won't either. Just pointing out that there's a cheaper option available for T-mo devices.
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Why? (Score:2)
Why having a $49 hotpot in a car became a sale point, is beyond me...
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People are stupid. The key to success in life is separating stupid people from their money. Hopefully without breaking any laws, but at least, without getting caught.
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Have you seen the ads for TV free-way?
It's like some weird parallel universe where no one's ever seen a tv antenna before and somehow they were able to do the whole commercial without ever using the word "antenna".
How many will last past 1 year? (Score:1)
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I bought a 2016 Camaro SS earlier in the year, OnStar comes will Cellular minutes as a freebie (intro). I don't use the cell in my car, nor do I really like OnStar all that much. The OnStar module and related data channel may use the same signal back, but you don't have to have cell minutes for it to work. You do have to subscribe to the OnStar packages though for them to continue past your initial trail time.
I just have my cell phone BT paired to my MyLink and it handles incoming and outgoing calls for me.
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It's going to cost you a buck or two to get that all removed, but it can be done.
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It's going to cost you a buck or two to get that all removed, but it can be done.
I'm not going to remove any of it as it's all tightly integrated in to the control systems of the car. You can easily have it fully disabled by telling OnStar to kill it. The blue light will even turn red and they're very clear that it means 0 crash response and assistance, no remote diagnostics, no auto generated monthly vehicle status emails, etc.
I've turned it off on my prior Corvettes and Camaros because I simply don't use or need it. I also Road Course and Drag Race, so I don't need it keeping track of
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Jeez,Corvettes and Camaros.
A serial bad-decision maker, you sure you don't want OnStar?
Man, you really got me there... I don't know how I'm ever going to survive such an awful anonymous comment...
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At least you were smart enough to avoid a Chrysler product.
On the Camaro, what's it like driving a car where window glass isn't available as a factory option? It boggles my mind that they're allowed to sell a car with suck poor visibility. Then again I suppose it's no worse then a box truck.
I see people complain about that all the time. I don't have any visibility issues. People that tend to have those don't have their side mirrors correctly aligned and such blind themselves. Now, it's not a bubble setup up like a C6 Grand Sport. It's not like I've got 0 visibility.
Honestly, the C7 Z06 w/ Z07 package had much less rear visibility than my '16 SS.
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To me, it feels like I'm driving a pillbox of cheap plastic. However, it's not really too different than a lot of modern cars where crappy visibility is now the norm. But each to their own.
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Jeez,Corvettes and Camaros. A serial bad-decision maker, you sure you don't want OnStar?
I've own a Vette now and have had Camaro's as well. If you're looking for performance for cheap (relatively) then there's really not a lot of other choices.
Car == new, extra device (Score:2)
Doesn't this make the flatlining mobile sales look even worse?
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So new cars have built in celphones, things like onstar. Who pays for this? I assume there is some monthly fee required. The consumer? the auto maker? the dealership?
I've never had a car with that kind of thing in it. Generally curious.I guess if you pay 20k for a car, they can throw in a cel phone contract for a few years in the purchase price. But maybe its an optional add on?
It comes with a trial period with OnStar remote assistance, navigation/concierge, diagnostics, cell minutes and data, etc.
You can opt to continue these various services for a fee depending on which options you purchase.
I don't continue with any of them because my car has integrated nav, I have a cell w/ BT that pairs easily to the MyLink system, I'm a shade tree mechanic, so I don't see the remote diags, I have friends that work for dealers, so I don't need that service and I have 0 use for the WiFi tetheri
Now cars? (Score:2)