Today's cars that can "talk" back and forth with wireless devices offer safer, higher-quality, hands-free, voice-controlled operation, at a fraction of the cost of earlier technologies.

By Jim Henry

Popular culture is going to have to come up with a new name for our "plugged-in" society, because our favorite electronic devices — including our cars — are rapidly going wireless.

Systems like Ford Motor Co.'s "Sync" system, jointly developed with Microsoft Corp., allow you to access and use wireless devices, such as cell phones and PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants) in your car, with voice-control capability, without physically having to plug them in.

We don't normally think of cars as electronic devices, either, but that's becoming harder to deny.

Hands-free cell phones and in-car Internet access are only a start. Soon, for instance, wireless networks will connect the car itself to a repair network, which can trouble-shoot the car's engine-management and other software remotely, and fix it, too, without ever having to touch it — probably without the driver even knowing it.

Unfair Advantage?

Professional motorsports teams can already perform remote software fixes. The technology is potentially such a competitive advantage race sanctioning bodies came up with rules to limit its use.

"There are dozens of microprocessors and microcontrollers on a vehicle today. I don't think most people understand the level of technology on a car," said Mike Bryars, automotive group senior manager of infotainment and multimedia, at Freescale Semiconductor Inc., Austin, Texas. He said the software in cell phones already gets frequent automatic updates.

"When you buy a phone from AT&T or Verizon or whatever provider, those phones are all reprogrammed all the time, via over-the-air updates. As a user you're not even aware of it. Your phone has to be updated as they make changes to their networks, or it's not going to be working anymore. Every time you turn it on or off, it's possible you're going to get an update," Bryars said.

Freescale is a leading semiconductor provider for the auto industry. That includes pieces of the Ford Sync system, but Freescale also supplies other major automakers. Freescale says it is making microprocessors for the auto industry at a rate of more than 100 million a year. To put that in perspective, total U.S. new car and light-truck sales in 2007 were about 16.1 million.

Demand From The Bottom-Up

In the United States, Ford is ahead of other automakers in promoting its in-car wireless system, even though many other automakers offer wireless connectivity, including other mass marketers like General Motors, and luxury brands like Mercedes-Benz.

One factor that sets Ford's effort apart is that it is promoting Sync from the "bottom up," making it available first on inexpensive cars like the Focus. Traditionally, high-tech features like anti-lock brakes, air bags, traction control and integrated cell phones became available on the most expensive luxury cars first, often adding thousands of dollars in price, and then worked their way down-market.

But in the case of in-car wireless networks, mass-market demand is already here, from the approximately 243 million Americans have mobile phones now, according to Ford. Bryars said an important new factor is that most new phones have Bluetooth capability. That means they are capable of functioning over a short-range, two-way, wireless connection. That technology, plus Sync or a similar system in your car, allows you to access your electronic devices through the car.

How It Works

For wireless devices like a phone or PDA, the car has a control module "box" that sends and receives signals to and from the wireless device. It can be installed behind a door panel, or in the dashboard. The control module for Ford's Sync is behind the dashboard.

The Sync system also has a USB port in the dash, for devices like an iPod or memory stick, which need to be physically plugged in. Working via the car's software and hardware, the devices can now be controlled using the car's buttons and switches; through a touch-screen; or by voice command.

One key attraction is that a cell phone can be used completely hands-free, which satisfies legal requirements in a growing number of states that prohibit the use of hand- held phones. Starting July 1, 2008, for instance, California will outlaw the use of hand-held phones while driving.

Compared with the devices themselves, the car has far more room for the hardware to support bigger and better features. Other advantages besides the hands-free and voice-control aspects include the fact that in-car software eliminates most of the background noise that's experienced when using a cell phone alone, in "speaker phone" mode. Conversations and music are also heard via the car's speakers, which are bigger and more capable than the devices' own tiny speakers.

"All of these technologies are finally coming together at the right time," Bryars said.

With the increased availability of in-car wireless options, newer services like remote diagnosis of car problems are on the horizon and poised to take off.

Bio: Jim Henry is a veteran freelance automotive writer. He was a one-man bureau in New York City for Detroit-based Automotive News for many years. He is also a past president and a board member of the International Motor Press Association.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and not necessarily those of Progressive Casualty Insurance Company or its affiliates.