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Singapore company wires car for the Internet

By Reuters
Singapore, 07 Feb 2001

A Singapore software developer will soon turn the ordinary car into an Internet-connected business and entertainment centre on wheels.

"Anything you can do on the Internet will be delivered in the car," Jamshaid Akbar, chief executive officer of goMobile, told Reuters on Wednesday. "The car will be...totally networked, just like a small office."

The product -- tentatively called Wired Mobile -- will allow drivers to carry out a wide range of activities such as listen to music, check e-mails and download street information on handheld devices or mobile phones.

At the heart of Wired Mobile lies Ericsson`s Nanocube, developed at the telecommunications giant`s Singapore research facility.

The device, about half the size of a shoebox, acts as the base station for all the devices used in the car. The cube, placed in the boot, will be powered by the car battery.

Akbar said that while car-makers in the United States were developing similar proprietary products, Wired Mobile was based on open standards such as Linux and Bluetooth which made the product more compatible.

goMobile has paired up with car maker DaimlerChrysler in Singapore to produce a prototype of Wired Mobile within the next few weeks.

A commercially viable product would be ready in about three months, Akbar said, adding that the United States and Europe were key target markets because of long hours spent commuting.

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