"Connected Car" brings in-flight entertainment to your car

Rent movies, surf the Web, play games

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3 November 2009 22:00 GMT / By Stuart Miles

The humble car is about to be catapulted into the 21st century offering drivers and passengers a multimedia experience akin to enjoying an in-flight entertainment service sat on an aeroplane.

Although only at a "proof of concept" stage at the moment, Alcatel-Lucent has shown off in New York what it believes we will be experiencing in the next couple of years.

Based around a Toyota Prius, the "Connected Car" features a LTE wireless connection, four independently operated touchscreens streaming live content from the Internet and cloud computing resources, such as connected music catalogues.

Each individual touchscreen in the Connected Car can operate simultaneously and features six categories of applications and content: Navigation, Communication, Internet, Vehicle Control, Games, and Entertainment.

Because of the LTE connection, users will be able do things like rent a movie on the road, access home services and play multi-player games against passengers in the car, in other cars or remotely.

Alcatel-Lucent said the technology would also allow users to create a Wi-Fi hotspot in the car allowing your phone to connect to the Internet.