Morning News Over Easy: Car computers meet opposition from safety experts
by Matt Berger
September 15, 2000
DaimlerChrysler (DCX) executives announced today that the company will offer factory-installed wireless Internet services in its 2001 line of Mercedes-Benz vehicles in the U.S. The technology will allow drivers to receive news, sports, weather, stock information and driving directions from a screen on the car's dashboard.
The system, which is being adopted by several other carmakers, including Ford (F) and General Motors (GM) later this year, is prompting new concern from policy makers over the dangers of distracting drivers.
Facing possible regulation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, some carmakers have taken action to sidestep these concerns. Ford said its Internet service will include a voice interface, in which a computer will read the downloaded information. General Motors plans to go a step further, only allowing the Internet service to work when a car isn't moving.
But then, if you commute in San Francisco, that's all the time.
A better idea: Yahoo (YHOO) took its yellow-and-purple fleet of wired taxis to New York this week, continuing a pilot program that began in San Francisco a year ago to study consumer response to surfing the information highway while driving the polluted cement highway.
Yahoo made a deal with Medallion Financial (TAXI) to equip 10 taxis with Palm (PALM) handheld computers so passengers can access news and financial information from the "comfort" of a New York taxi.
"They can even access online directions to where they want to go if the cab driver gets lost," Andrew Murstein, president of Medallion, said in a prepared statement.
Real comforting.
Search services search for new life
They're only a few years old, but portal companies are already going under the knife. The Walt Disney Internet Group (DIG) said today it unveiled a new version of its portal site Go.com, which now focuses on entertainment and leisure activities. Executives said the move was an attempt to set the portal apart from the rest of the pack.
Fellow portal site AltaVista is trying another tactic to stay afloat: cutting its workforce. Today the company is expected to let go of about 15 percent of its 900-person staff as the company regroups for a new assault on the market. Its first attempt to go public in April was disrupted by unfriendly market conditions but it has only propelled them to work harder.
Company officials insist that the layoffs will pay off. AltaVista has pushed up its deadline for profitability to Jan. 31 and is expected to announce some new investments today.
Digital cable TV secure identity
The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday settled an ongoing debate over what to call the new breed of television sets that connect to digital cable systems. It's a catchy title, too -- you ready? -- "Digital Cable Ready Television."
I guess that's why they get paid the big bucks.
Maybe the FCC had bigger things on its mind. The commission decided not stand in the way of the Motion Picture Association of America, which is trying hard to prevent the distribution of technology that allows the illegal copying of digital movies. The ruling clears the way for a device that will be implanted into digital television sets to allow broadcasters to control whether a given program can be copied.
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