Your car will drive next-gen wireless advances

Have you ever heard your parents (or maybe your grandparents) ask you to get something out of the “ice box”? Of course, they were referring to the refrigerator, the modern appliance that has long since replaced the original “box” that held ice. Similarly, how many times have you heard somebody refer to a cell phone as a "car phone?" In both cases, technology advances have long since moved these products way beyond the idea behind their original name.

Although wireless technologies may be remarkable today, I think that we will soon stop thinking about whether there is a wire or not. In fact, wired may become the exception. I’ve noticed the rapidly dwindling selection of wired home phones that can be purchased. And almost none of the contractors working on my recent home remodeling used anything but wireless tools. (O.K., I know you were not thinking about THAT kind of wireless, but battery and power management technology is one of the key enablers.) Do you remember when a TV remote control (we used to call them “clickers”) was a big deal? Now try to buy a TV without one!

The automobile may just be the vehicle (pun intended) to bring on the next generation of wireless technology. One current example -- the mass adoption of RFID (radio frequency identification) tags (such as E-ZPass on tollways, turnpikes, and toll bridges) is driving up usage of this wireless technology and driving costs dramatically down. The adoption rate of digital satellite radio is being accelerated by the major automobile manufacturers, although the experience is just as compelling at home. And soon an increasing number of cars will come with a digital wireless key -- it will just stay in your pocket or purse. If you own more than one vehicle, you may eventually only have to carry one wireless digital key for all your automotive needs. And it could obviously go further than that. Just as the automobile helped make portable radios a viable mass market consumer concept, I think that ubiquitous broadband wireless connectivity could ultimately be driven by the adoption of this technology in the automobile. Finally, the same basic fuel cell technology that will power future automobiles will also be used to power wireless devices such as cell phones, laptops, and PDAs, but instead of battery life measured in hours, the new fuel cell technology will enable “untethered time” to be measured in days.

My argument for the auto industry as an enabler for some of these emerging technologies is based on the premise that the auto industry has two unique advantages. First is scale. The U.S. auto industry delivers 15-17 million new cars to market each year. This volume can help drive the unit cost of any new technology to the lowest possible level. Second, the industry has enough clout to drive standards in almost any area that it engages in.

However, the wireless world will not be without its challenges. In my view, spamming is likely to be the biggest unsolved issue we will have to face as the world becomes more and more wireless. It’s the one issue that I think has the potential to sabotage all the great innovation that is taking place in the wireless world. Imagine coming home to your wireless “ice box” only to discover hundreds of junk e-mails and instant messages posted there. You might wish you just had a handful of tacky refrigerator magnets to deal with.