Hacking of Connected Vehicles Shifts From Theory to Very Scary

[Rlh04d]

Not trying to pick a fight with you KW, but...



You mean like we have been able to do for years, by using a cell phone as the hotspot?

And those automotive wifi systems still require 3G/4G, because they are operating on the same hardware/networks as the cell providers. It is not as if GM, FCA, and Ford are building wifi towers themselves; they are using existing networks via contract.



You mean like wirelessly streaming music between cell phone and car audio system via Bluetooth, as we've been able to do for years?



I think you're in front of the curve at hand here with that idea. Besides, same thing could hypothetically be done via cables, since - ya know - car interiors have something like 25 or 30 "square feet" of footprint. Not like the computer and the TV monitor are across the house.



They've done some of this for years using stereo waves, I believe. Regardless of the broadcast medium, this idea is not new and has been in application.

When the iPad came out, did it revolutionize technology in a way that made us able to do things we couldn't before? We already had laptops. Didn't stop the iPad from being massively successful. It made some actions slightly easier and that was enough to guarantee it's success.

The iPod? We could already listen to music with CD players. It made listening to music easier and that guaranteed its success.

Most of our technological developments aren't much more than minor, gradual changes, that slightly reduce the amount of work you have to do to achieve an end goal. None of that has stopped widespread adoption of those developments. Not having to use your cell phone to broadcast music to your car stereo might seem like a minor point to you (and to me as well), but I'm sure that minor ease of access will become widely desired and successful regardless. Moving from a wired stereo connection to my cell phone to a bluetooth input in my car didn't accomplish anything different other than reducing about two seconds of effort, but I still love having it.

Never underestimate our tendency to embrace expensive ways to marginally reduce effort.

I have a bizarre desire to set my house up with various WiFi integrated systems to be voice controlled from the Amazon Echo via the Wink Hub at the moment. Couldn't begin to explain to you why, though, other than that controlling my house by voice seems cool to me. I could probably come up with rational points to talk my wife into it, but really it's just because I think it would be fun. Do I need my egg carton to tell me how many eggs I have in my fridge? Hell no. But yet I still kind of want it.

[Rlh04d]

http://investmentwatchblog.com/the-w...a-wifi-toilet/

Next!

I can't even begin to guess at why you would want a WiFi toilet.

[Cdizzle]

I can't even begin to guess at why you would want a WiFi toilet.

On-Demand courtesy flushes?

[MoValley John]

If you have a new car, it's probably too late. The new thing is Usage Based Insurance (UBI), that monitors your driving habits, mileage and time of day. All through your 'smart car'. Progressive is marketing this as 'snapshot' currently, using a dongle they provide, but according to Deloite and Touche, you will soon be able to use your cell phone (via Bluetooth) to send details from the sensors and imbedded telematics information to your insurance carrier (if you sign up).

Mine (Ford) tells me where the cheapest gas is, can produce a status report on my mechanicals (and send it to my cell phone), tells me where the traffic problems are, provides navigation and places my phone calls on my blue-tooth enabled cell-phone. It also has sensors to tell me when my tires are low. I'm also thinking it has sensors that relate to oil change as well.

All at no cost (OnStar generates a billion dollars of revenue per year for GM).

I have a newer car with all the crap. I don't use it, it's unnecessary.

[wufan]

I have a newer car with all the crap. I don't use it, it's unnecessary.

I have a newer car with all the crap that was available in 2013. I want the crap that will be available in 2016!

[shocka khan]

I',m guessing you folks in Kansas (and maybe MoVallleyJohn) will go for Usage Based Insurance. I would think the companies to determine Kansas was a safer state from an accident standpoint, the residents don't drive as much as Texams, and that will be another variable that will be ra

The only thing I don't currently like is the fact that you have to go to the dealership to get the sensors reset. I hate paying $25 to have a flat fixed.

[Rlh04d]

On-Demand courtesy flushes?

You win :)

Amazon Echo better have a "courtesy flush" keyword for it in the future.

[MoValley John]

I think it's time to see who can find the dumbest thing that has been made wifi.

[SHOCKvalue]

The only thing I don't currently like is the fact that you have to go to the dealership to get the sensors reset. I hate paying $25 to have a flat fixed.

$25 to have a flat fixed is really not that bad of a price if it is done well by dismounting the wheel, breaking the bead, and patching the tire from the inside, in adding to the traditional plug.

If you meant you needed to pay $25 to have a tech hook a computer up to your car to reset TPMS sensor, then your Ford must be an anomaly. My truck and my wife's car both reset automatically in such cases, once you get going again for a mile or two after having the flat fixed. It simply sees the tire rotation has returned to normal and even amongst the other 3, and resets.

Life would be better if indirect TPMS became the rule of the land, instead of the direct systems with their annoying, spastic, and finite living TPMS sensors in every wheel. Just like when VHS beat out BETA, the crappy tech won here too. Good revenue stream though for the dealers and parts suppliers.

[MoValley John]

I need to remotely control my laundry.

http://www.samsung.com/us/appliances/washers-dryers/WF457ARGSWR/A2

[MoValley John]

757822_dbc0_1024x2000.jpg

I need to get with it and wifi me some toast!











Yes, I know the toater thing is a tech joke.

[MoValley John]

http://www.cnet.com/news/qualcomms-wi-fi-coffee-machine-high-tech-caffeinated-kicks/

[JJClamdip]

How about a butt plug?

http://www.vibratorwarehouse.com/wireless-remote-vibrators/

[Rlh04d]

http://www.cnet.com/news/qualcomms-w...einated-kicks/

That one's rather shitty, but I can still see a use for wi-fi connected coffee makers in general: you could have a pot of coffee set to begin brewing while still lying in bed, ready for you to go when you get up, regardless of time changes day to day in what time that is. Minor use beyond simply having a set time programmed into it, but still a use. Perhaps it gets integrated into your actual alarm clock, and begins brewing whenever you've accepted the inevitability of waking up without hitting the snooze? Theoretically you could use IFTTT to program something into it where turning on the bathroom light initiated brewing.

Laundry, I can still see a use: my house has three levels, and the laundry machines are on the bottom level. Theoretically maybe it would be useful to check what time is left on them from the master bedroom on the top level. Not much of a use, but something. Maybe I could set it up to ring an annoying ass alarm, over and over again, on my wife's phone when her laundry is done, so she'll stop leaving it in the machine for several days. Suddenly I've talked myself into wanting it ...

That toilet ... courtesy flush is still the only possible rationalization we've come up with.

[Kung Wu]

Bluetooth toothbrush.

http://connectedtoothbrush.com/