Reader Forum: IoT and the automotive industry

The automotive industry is being transformed by the “Internet of Things.” Having cars connected to the Internet is changing the way people drive, order and service their cars and how passengers enjoy the ride.

But IoT features aren’t a new idea for commercial fleet vehicles. In fact, telematics have been available in the automotive aftermarket, primarily for commercial vehicles, for decades, but only using aftermarket add-ons. “Telematics,” a word first coined by Simon Nora and Alain Minc in a 1978 report to the French government, combines “telecommunications” and “informatique” – the French word for computing. As these commercial fleet vehicles solutions increasingly began to share information bi-directionally via the Internet, they have become a part of the Internet of Things. Today, the “connected car” is rapidly transforming the consumer automotive experience as manufacturers compete to provide a wide array of factory- and dealer-installed IoT options.
These consumer-oriented IoT applications range from practical to entertaining. Audi, BMW and Mercedes demonstrated automated vehicles that assist with parking and lane changing at last year’s Consumer Electronics Show. AT&T partnered with Uber to enable passengers to watch college football games from tablets in the backseat. Signing up with General Motors, Audi and Ford, AT&T is aiming to hook up cars with Internet access to stream videos and games onto passengers’ mobile devices.