Could Toyota be Setting Up the Lexus for Satellite Broadband?
The automotive industry is all about technological progress. And, speaking of progress, providing new Lexus buyers with access to the Internet in his or her cars is currently fueling a big percentage of the competitive automotive market. The case, up until this point, has been that usually most car owners will connect to the Internet via their own mobile devices or through an embedded SIM chip from any sort of provider (e.g., Verizon or AT&T, respectively). However, Toyota may be moving things in a different direction for future products. That is, according to a recent article written by Liane Yvkoff for forbes.com, Toyota may be stepping up their game with regard to “introducing satellite broadband connectivity to its vehicles.”
Yvkoff continues, stating: “Toyota is working with Kymeta to equip vehicles with satellite broadband antennas, says Roger Lanctot, automotive analyst for Strategy Analytics. […] This partnership enables Toyota to equip its vehicles with small-footprint satellite antennas that establish high-capacity and always-on satellite broadband connectivity that it would need to build a next-generation cloud-based infotainment system and autonomous car platform.” It is reported, too, that Kymeta also have deals in place with IntelSat and InmarSat, but no satellite network has come forward as of yet with regard to providing the connectivity needed, but still, things are looking up.
The benefits of a satellite broadband system in one’s vehicle are certainly compelling: Connectivity issue can come at peak hours with an ordinary LTE system, so satellite broadband would pretty much eradicate this issue. Too, a ever-smaller percentage of the United States can still be considered dead zones where connectivity is concerned, so a satellite broadband system would make sure you were always connected no matter where you are, from the city to the middle of nowhere.
Seeing as a good portion of broadband use when it comes to vehicles coms in the form of navigation and driving information, reducing the possibility of dead zones (if not getting rid of such a thing altogether) would be a major step as far as convenience is concerned. Really, though, the sky is the limit here. “For the most part,” Yvkoff writes, “connectivity in vehicles is used for streaming media and telematics, such as emergency response, making phone calls, or searching for points-of-interest during navigation. Recently, some manufacturers are using it to deliver over-the-air (OTA) updates to fix security vulnerabilities and install software that provides new features, such as Telsa’s recent release of the Model S Autosteer capabilities.”
Yvkoff notes that a possible debt car for this new satellite broadband technology would be the Lexus LC, which is rumored to make its own debut at the 2016 North American International Auto Show. For now, however, we can just keep our fingers crossed.
Please keep checking back in with us here at Lexus of Highland Park for more information with regard to Lexus’ possible move to satellite broadband technology.
