Connected car's shines in emerging applications.

What can you actually do in a connected car?

A connected car is a car that is equipped with internet access, and usually also with a wireless local area network. This allows the car to share internet access withother devices both inside as outside the vehicle. Often, the car is also outfitted with special technologies that tap into the internet access or wireless LAN and provide additional benefits to the driver. Examples include: automatic notification of crashes and notification of speeding,

What applications can you use in a connected car today? AT&T (NYSE: T) CEO Randall Stephenson actually said his company thinks about the connected car as "a big smartphone on wheels." He adds: "The connected car will become just as routine as people carrying a smartphone."

While the industry segment is still evolving, here are five emerging applications that consumers who own a connected car could use. 

 
Representatives from carriers, car makers, components suppliers and analyst firms agree that the market is on the verge of a boom. Indeed, according to research firm Analysys Mason, auto makers will ship around 11.5 million connected cars this year, but will grow that number to around 170 million in 2023.."One thing is for sure: We are on the precipice of almost all new cars coming off the shop floor with a SIM card pre-installed” analyst Morgan Mullooly said.

However, the connected car, despite all the hype, is still a somewhat nebulous concept. Wireless carriers have talked up the benefits of bringing cellular connectivity into the car as if it were self-evident that consumers would not only find connected car services useful but would be willing to pay for them. Yet there still has not been a great deal of explanation of what a consumer can actually do in a connected car environment.

Here we have reviewed the most popular current uses cases and applications for the connected car as well as what will be coming down the pike in the next few years. This list is certainly not comprehensive, but does give an indication as to where the market is heading. Please let us know what you think in the comments.  

by Rob Longo
automobile tech editor