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Computerworld - We Americans love our cars, don't we? We have turned them into mobile bubbles of comfort and entertainment -- extensions of our homes, really. Nowadays, cars have incredible sound systems, comfortable seats, DVD players -- you name it. Just like home. But our homes have one thing cars don't have: Wi-Fi networks.

Wi-Fi and automobiles. Automobiles and Wi-Fi. The two were made for each other, if you think about it.

Cars are boring for passengers, who would surf the Internet, chat with friends or watch TV if they could. Drivers could use Internet connections, too, to get updated driving directions or find out about a local restaurant. And cars have large batteries -- big enough to power wireless routers.

The idea of Wi-Fi-enabled cars will seem dangerous and excessive to some. Many are just now getting used to the idea of fixed wireless hot spots and the growing ubiquity of wireless Internet access. But I believe that -- love the idea or hate it -- the widespread installation of Wi-Fi networks in cars is an unstoppable inevitability.

Fifteen years ago, very few people accepted the idea that just about everyone -- including teens -- would have a cell phone, but now it's a fact of life.

The old model for telephones was that they were installed in fixed locations -- pay phones on the street corner, one in the home and another in the office -- and people moved from phone to phone. Now, the phone goes with you.

Likewise, the current model for Wi-Fi hot spots is that they're fixed, and "mobility" means that you move from one stationary wireless network to the next. But in the future -- the very near future -- you'll take your wireless hot spot with you.

Autonet Mobile to roll out car Wi-Fi

Autonet Mobile Inc. is a San Francisco-based start-up that claims to be the word's "first ISP for cars." The company plans to unveil its product and service next week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

Autonet Mobile will sell a black box starting in March that plugs into a car cigarette lighter (or standard wall outlet) and connects to the Internet via a 3G cellular connection. Then, just like your home Wi-Fi network, it makes that connection available to wireless devices, such as laptops, at rates of 400 Kbit/sec. to 1 Mbit/sec, depending on the speed and quality of the available cell network.

The system works whether the car is parked or speeding down the highway at 75 mph. Autonet Mobile claims to offer special technology in a wireless router that enables "seamless connectivity," even as the data signal is passed from one cell tower to the next. The company claims its product will work on 95% of U.S. roads.