That's all we need, someone stuck in traffic playing WoW (I'm talking about the driver, not the passenger). Talking on a cell phone is bad enough while driving, this is going to be totally crazy.

"Chrysler does emphasise that the system is designed for use by passengers. In our experience few Dodges or Jeeps actually carry passengers, but those other seats must be there for some reason."

If that isn't the truth! The only thing worse is a four door pick up truck... Air Hauler with Cabin Expansion Enabled for maximum capacity with minimal actual application...

As for the wifi... wouldn't it be cheaper to buy a data package from your cell provider? For the overall cost, including data, you could get an iPhone (holds up shield of fire protection +5) or Windows Mobile phone and a great data package. And if you set it up as a walking wifi as article suggests, your passengers still get to surf...

I can just see a scrum of cars refusing to go any faster than the trapped in Chrysler...

"Honey, why is that pack of cars moving so damn slow?"

"Dear, they are all using that 300C's wifi connection to surf the web"

Question... How many lanes away can I surf from?

Hmm... An always on webcam... better yet, more than one. A front facing that broadcasts your drive to guesswhocutmeofftoday.com and a rear facing one that broadcasts to pickingtheirnose.com and maybe even an internal one that you can turn on and broadcast to dudedonteventhinkaboutstealingmyjalopy.com

Mine's the one with the sniffer in the pocket.

Not sure that a car is the best place for these - at least in the driver's seat (!), but the concept of a WIFI hotspot connected to a 3G mobile connection seems quite compelling. will certainly stop the extortionate rates charged in hotels and airports. i can even imagine a cottage industry popping up. Rent a wifi from just about anywhere!

In cars? well at least it will keep the kids quiet!

So now you can go wardriving without moving... Let the wi-fi come to you!

amanfrommars is making sense? Inconceivable!! :)

Yeah, This is a dumb idea, all things considered. Drivers have enough things to worry about on the road without dealing with Yet Another Distraction on the road. A typical rush hour driver has FAR more things to worry about then wondering about Wifi access or such things.

However, I could see a portable unit for roadtrips (hey! let's take 4 people and drive two states over!) or for people-haulers (i.e., buses and limos). That would be a nifty gadget to have as a passenger- I can surf the web or do IM whilst the driver does what they are supposed to do- drive the bloody vehicle.

Alas , the problem with Chrysler is the new management team are living in a bygone era when US Auto Makers were kings who could do no wrong and are consistently selling very ugly badly styled and assembled overweight fuel guzzling vehicles which ignored all guidelines provided to them in the late seventies before chairman Ronnie unleashed the new killer SUV onto the unsuspecting(yes Virginia even their fancy Motor Show proof of marketing units are totally ugly without a shred of style or taste and ignore realities in life ).

Now , Ralph Nader told us in the sixties about an evil Flat Six from GM said to be the yankee version of Herbie the love bug , yet since first released whilst roll overs of these fat and ugly crap handling SUV's are involved in a mere 8 percent of all road incidents they result in nearly half the those killed of extremely badly injured , so go figure which is far more and deadly dangerous now !

Even when Daimler Benz tried to instil and introduce improvements in design construction and tried but failed to evict the mostly dead wood at the top as well ! But from the moment they left by the front door the thick rigid and dense management yankee wood thoroughly indoctrinated with "Harvard Business Mismanagement" concepts and ideas went straight back to their evil greedy old and very stupid ways of they think they know what the motorists really want even though the writing was on the wall back in the late nineties they were obsolete dinosaurs even back then and continued to make only lethal crap handling POS's . Thus despite being told by the experts their designs and their big engines made good boat mooring anchors were totally obsolete and should be scrapped at the drawing boards or else they will ultimately follow the same path as both Studebaker and American Motors Corporation in the face of local Japanese built designed and made product in the same country !

Let the death of the US car makers at their own hands continue as they strangle themselves to death with their own stupidity and as the song goes you are just little bit too late !

"As for the wifi... wouldn't it be cheaper to buy a data package from your cell provider? " Nope. Data pricing in the US is horrible. For on-the-phone-only use tends to run about $15, unless it's a smart phone, then they'll jack it up to like $30+. For tethering or any non-phone use, it tends to run about $30 for like 20MB and $60 for what they originally called unlimited but now list as 5GB. AT&T, VZW, Alltel, US Cellular, Sprint, they all have virtually the same prices for data; Alltel is a holdout in still having $60 for unlimited instead of 5GB (Alltel mainly serves rural areas, I suspect they simply have low enough traffic per site they don't have to crack down on heavy usage.)

What I wonder is, will they have people rigging this up to stay on 24/7 and using it as an internet connection for the house?

I'm from the United States, and the drivers here can't chew gum and drive at the same time. Yet, they try to read, put on makeup, change clothes, talk on a cellphone... now this. *sigh* I better go increase my insurance limits.

Mine's the motorcycle jacket with the "Log off and drive!" bumper sticker.

A dongle dos the same job of connecting your laptop to the interweb but costs far less than the 5-600 bucks for doing it. It's still got a 3G sim card in but then you can use it when you are in the cafe that you've driven too and the pub and anywhere else. When it's in a car, you can only use it in your car. Fine if you want to surf for porn while parked up but you'll get the police and passersby wondering why you're parked up like a junkie or dealer for hours in the one place while you just 're-installing windows'.