Skip to main content

In AT&T’s smart city future, cars talk to each other and play nice

When driving, you invariably end up depending on slight communications with other drivers to ensure everyone’s safety. In AT&T’s smart city future, the cars will do the communicating with each other. Digital Trends spoke with Joe Mosele, vice president of internet of things solutions at AT&T Mobility, at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show about how technology is inspiring one of the greatest advancements in the history of the automotive industry.

“This is the biggest transformation of the automotive industry in the last 100 years,” Mosele said of the recent wave of internet of things integration in cars. Mosele touted AT&T’s past contributions to the revolution — remote control car locks, built-in Wi-Fi hot spots — but harped on AT&T focusing on connecting cars deeper by having them talk to one another. AT&T announced new partnerships with Ford and Delphi at CES to develop and implement vehicle-to-anything (V2X) communication. The companies plans to integrate V2X with AT&T’s smart cities’ infrastructure so drivers can be notified of approaching vehicles and possible traffic accidents over AT&T’s LTE network.

Mosele says the government will be the “catalyst” to getting all cars connected, even suggesting a federal mandate for all older cars to be retrofitted with connective technology. Yes, your dad’s 1970 Cadillac DeVille will have to turn into KITT from Knight Rider in AT&T’s smart city future.

Cars may be able to tell the other one when there’s trouble ahead, but it’s still up to a human to decide how to avoid it, and we make mistakes. Mosele says there will come a time when there are no accidents — it will be when there are no people driving. “We’re years away from a society where nobody’s driving, where nobody owns their own car,” Mosele attests before claiming it will happen, but not in the near future.

The smart car is another component of AT&T’s smart cities initative. AT&T first revealed its framework for smart cities last year around this time; naming Atlanta, the Georgia Institute of Technology, Chicago, and Dallas the initial spotlight cities. This year AT&T have added  infrastructure, citizen engagement, transportation, and public safety as well as naming Portland, Oregon, the latest city it will spotlight.

Digital Trends is live all week at CES 2017 in Las Vegas. Check out our continuing coverage live on YouTube, Facebook, #DTces, and DigitalTrends.com/ces/.

Editors' Recommendations

Keith Nelson Jr.
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Keith Nelson Jr is a music/tech journalist making big pictures by connecting dots. Born and raised in Brooklyn, NY he…
Alpine sale: Up to $160 off speakers and subs for your car
alpine speaker sale crutchfield march 2024 car and amp setup on table

If you’re looking to kit your car out with some superior speakers or a subwoofer, Crutchfield is the place to go today. Right now, there’s a huge sale on Alpine subwoofers and speakers with nearly 50 different items forming the sale. As there are so many options, the best idea is to hit the button below to see what’s around. If you don’t know where to start though, read on while we take you through some great items in the sale.

What to shop for in the Alpine sale
Buying the best aftermarket car speakers are important for anyone who spends a lot of time on the road and is currently dealing with a mediocre sound system. One good starting point in the Alpine sale is the 2-way speakers for $104 instead of $130. You get two 2-way speakers with a polypropylene/glass fiber/mica woofer with a specialized rubber surround. There’s a one-inch silk dome tweeter with speakers able to handle up to 80 watts RMS with 240 watts peak power. The grilles aren’t included but the factor ones should be fine for most purposes.

Read more
Mercedes to trial humanoid robots for ‘low-skill, repetitive, demanding’ jobs
Apptronik's Apollo robot at work in an auto plant.

Humanoid robots have been coming on leaps and bounds in recent years, and some major companies are starting to take note.

Mercedes-Benz, for example, has just entered into an agreement with Texas-based robotics specialist Apptronik to collaborate on identifying applications for highly advanced robots that the auto giant could deploy. The deal will involve a trial that will see Apptronik's Apollo humanoid robot work alongside Mercedes' human workers on the factory floor.

Read more
Hyundai Ioniq 9: price, release date, range, and more
Hyundai Ioniq 9 Front

Hyundai has been at the forefront of EV development for a while now, largely thanks to the success of the crossover-sized Hyundai Ioniq 5. But the company is readying another new EV that could be even more popular than the Ioniq 5 -- or at least more desirable in the U.S., the land of big cars.

The upcoming Ioniq 9, previously set to be called the Ioniq 7, will be Hyundai's take on an electric SUV. It will be to Hyundai what the Kia EV9 is to Kia. It will have three rows and carry over design elements from the Ioniq 5.

Read more