Ford follows GM with in-vehicle WiFi

Following GM’s announcement of making your car a moving hotspot, Ford announces similar options to their next line of vehicles.

Beginning in 2010, Ford will begin giving Sync-equipped vehicles WiFi. Uconnect, the name of this option, will turn your car or truck into rolling WiFi hotspot. So, if you need to finish sending some emails that apparently more important than your life, then your set!

Now, when I was getting my first car, I wanted to get one of those $300 touchscreen radios so I could impress my friends. My parents wouldn’t let me get it because they said I had too many distractions already and I didn’t need any more. So now, if you buy a Sync equipped vehicle, you have the option of surfing the web while flying down the highway.

Now, you may say, “Greg, why would I buy my child a Sync equipped car anyway?” Well concerned parent, Sync offers some options that are made to appeal specifically to parents of new drivers. Probably the most notable one is Ford’s “smart key”. This key has an embedded chip inside that allows parents to put parental controls on their children’s car. Some of things you can control are the maximum volume of the radio and the maximum speed of the car.

So when you get your son or daughter a Sync-equipped car thinking they will be a safer driver, think about this. Your child is driving down the freeway at the preset speed of 55. People are passing them because the speed limit is 65. So they decide to whip out their netbook and surf the web for ways to override the key’s internal chip so they can drive faster. What do you think is going to happen?

Now, I’m not saying it’s a bad idea. Just be careful with it.

Read [PCWorld]