When corporate America realized that they could save money by having their sales force work from home rather than occupy expensive office space, the world changed for sales across the country. If you are on the road a great deal for your company, Ford will soon make your job a little easier. In December 2009, Ford announced that they will be turning some select Ford Vehicles into “WiFi hotspots.” If you have ever been on the road and needed to send off a quick email to your boss or client, finding a business with open WiFi isn’t always so simple. Other car companies such as BMW, Mercedes, GM, and Chrysler all have mobile WiFi for their cars, but Ford has created WiFi with a bit of a twist for their vehicles.
According to Ford’s website, SYNC, Ford’s voice-activated communications and entertainment system created in collaboration with Microsoft, will be expanding to create in-car connectivity. The first generation SYNC system featured voice-activated calling, music, text messaging, as well as the ability to allow drivers to connect to news, business, and real-time traffic. The new SYNC system will utilize SYNC’s current capabilities plus make WiFi available to all of the car’s occupants. Ford has stated that they will only install SYNC in select vehicles, but they have not yet specified which models.
Users will be able to plug their USB mobile broadband modem or air card into the USB port provided in their vehicle. Using WPA2 or WiFi Protected Access 2 as the default security, Ford states that SYNC will be very secure. The user will be asked to enter randomly chosen passwords in order to be allowed access. Each device must be given permission by the driver in order to connect, which will prevent others outside of the car from connecting without permission.
Ford’s SYNC system has some distinct advantages over the other car company’s systems. Most other systems require additional hardware to be installed and then a contract with a third party, but Ford’s SYNC system is installed in the factory. Another unique feature of the SYNC system is that the business traveler will be able to plug in their business air card right into SYNC’s USB port while other systems require an additional monthly service fee. These features make WiFi not only more convenient but also more affordable.
Ford has also made their SYNC system upgradeable. This will allow for software updates in order for the system to keep up with current technological advancements, as well as allow the system to adapt to newer devices. Because technology is changing so quickly, other WiFi equipped-vehicles risk being quickly out of date. This means the systems would need replacement, which could be costly, in order to maintain the pace of current technology.
Ford has been diligently working to create marketable cars with the latest technology that are within the mainstream driver’s budget. With this latest addition, Ford just made in-car connectivity more flexible, as well as more affordable.
Content by Managed Services Provider University
Monday, August 23, 2010
Monday, August 9, 2010
Is it True That the Internet Could Slow Down?
There are several stories circulating on the Internet regarding bandwidth (the speed at which you access the Internet) and how it is going to begin to reach capacity very soon unless something is done. This will render the Internet almost completely useless for everything but the simplest and slimmest of applications.
The reason given is because the demand for high-speed Internet access is growing at a rate of 60% each year. Estimates tell us that by as early as 2010, we could begin to see excessive slowdowns in Internet response based purely on the amount of traffic that is traversing the web around the world.
In addition to the mammoth demand growth factor is the fact that bandwidth-hogging applications like YouTube and other multimedia streaming sources are causing bandwidth to slow down as well.
What does all of this mean? It means that the Internet would not be fast enough for much beyond maybe checking email. Feature-rich web pages would churn slowly on your screen. It would take many minutes to log onto your online bank account to check your balance. In effect, it would be like the days when we had to use analog modems to connect to the Internet. One potential concern resulting from eventuality would be that operating system (Microsoft Windows, Mac, etc.) and other business and home application patches and updates would be slowed down, as would be antivirus definitions, etc.
How else could it affect you? If you are now enjoying the high speed of your Internet connection, enjoy it while you can. But beyond that, businesses that have begun to depend on the Internet could be forced to do business the old fashioned way using snail mail, faxing and other resources to send and receive information around the world. Imagine a world without the ability to download movies or music and where the act of researching information on Wikipedia would be slowed to a crawl. All of this and the other myriad of website applications that you enjoy now would be challenging to view.
What is being done? There are several options being looked into right now. US companies and those in the UK are busy right now in an effort to upgrade infrastructure, cabling and supercomputers to expand the capabilities of the Internet. There is also talk about planning a very fast parallel network called "The Grid." Other consultants are conferring on the idea of creating systems for "caching" (storing frequently requested information) on servers in the cloud rather than having the Internet deliver information on demand as it is needed.
The bottom line - there is nothing for the average user to do at this point. Keeping informed as to the possibilities that might occur will help you understand the 'whys' behind any major slowdowns that you might face in the near future. Technology has accomplished amazing feats in the last 20 years, and the hope is that something will be devised and implemented quickly to maintain the instant, any time access to information and entertainment that we all need and desire. That is what makes the Internet such an important resource for us all.
Content by Managed Services Provider University
The reason given is because the demand for high-speed Internet access is growing at a rate of 60% each year. Estimates tell us that by as early as 2010, we could begin to see excessive slowdowns in Internet response based purely on the amount of traffic that is traversing the web around the world.
In addition to the mammoth demand growth factor is the fact that bandwidth-hogging applications like YouTube and other multimedia streaming sources are causing bandwidth to slow down as well.
What does all of this mean? It means that the Internet would not be fast enough for much beyond maybe checking email. Feature-rich web pages would churn slowly on your screen. It would take many minutes to log onto your online bank account to check your balance. In effect, it would be like the days when we had to use analog modems to connect to the Internet. One potential concern resulting from eventuality would be that operating system (Microsoft Windows, Mac, etc.) and other business and home application patches and updates would be slowed down, as would be antivirus definitions, etc.
How else could it affect you? If you are now enjoying the high speed of your Internet connection, enjoy it while you can. But beyond that, businesses that have begun to depend on the Internet could be forced to do business the old fashioned way using snail mail, faxing and other resources to send and receive information around the world. Imagine a world without the ability to download movies or music and where the act of researching information on Wikipedia would be slowed to a crawl. All of this and the other myriad of website applications that you enjoy now would be challenging to view.
What is being done? There are several options being looked into right now. US companies and those in the UK are busy right now in an effort to upgrade infrastructure, cabling and supercomputers to expand the capabilities of the Internet. There is also talk about planning a very fast parallel network called "The Grid." Other consultants are conferring on the idea of creating systems for "caching" (storing frequently requested information) on servers in the cloud rather than having the Internet deliver information on demand as it is needed.
The bottom line - there is nothing for the average user to do at this point. Keeping informed as to the possibilities that might occur will help you understand the 'whys' behind any major slowdowns that you might face in the near future. Technology has accomplished amazing feats in the last 20 years, and the hope is that something will be devised and implemented quickly to maintain the instant, any time access to information and entertainment that we all need and desire. That is what makes the Internet such an important resource for us all.
Content by Managed Services Provider University
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