Nowadays, we are all used to being online. It doesn’t matter if you’re at work, at home, at a restaurant or any other place. Through your laptop, tablet or smartphone you’ll be almost always online. You use these devices to check your social media apps, bank accounts, agenda, email, tasks, weather forecast, to upload your Angry Birds high score and so on. The possibilities are numerous.

Until now, your car wasn’t one of the online “devices”. Wel this is about to change. Car manufacturers are really busing hooking your car up onto the online experience. Cars will be able to use online services like we’ve never seen before. For example, you’ll be able to look up a restaurant through Google straight from your car and let you navigate towards it through a Google maps streetview interface. Or imagine that you’re in a traffic jam and a car upfront notices this and sends a “traffic jam warning” message. This way you’ll be able to receive real-time information. Next to this it can also be possible to actually connect to the car driving next to you to exchange information like your business card, points of interest, or even to share music or photo’s. Possibilities are really endless. But also for safety measures you could think of sending an alert to the emergency services if you witness a car accident or to track your stolen car.

Of course there is always a battle of the sexes between for example BMW and Audi.

This picture below shows a BMW which notices an older Audi model with technical malfunctions. The BMW calls in for help for the broken car. What a coincidence that this car happens to be an Audi.

Click the image to go to the BMW connected drive website.

At BMW, they also think that a thief would rather pick a BMW instead of a Mercedes or Audi if he could choose. I find it quite funny. With BMW connected drive, you can track your car’s location within seconds.

Audi also launched a website on which they inform you about their vision for online cars.

They still need to work on some nice video footage but the textual content is available for your reading pleasures.

Also check the following link for Google’s self-driving car:

http://www.smartplanet.com/technology/blog/thinking-tech/googles-self-driving-car/5445/

I’d say, go check it!