In connected cars, they didn't talk about smartphone controls; it was more about the Ethernet inside the car. (100M ethernet, enabled through a technology called BroadR Reach.)
They're using it for the cameras on the car bumpers right now, and would like to spread it throughout the cabin and into the engine compartment. The engine part is what's tricky, because the qualifications are insanely strict, rightfully so.
What was the spin on connected cars? I'm still in favor of running everything through the smartphone and just using the vehicle radio/microphone as a controller for what's on the phone. Has it gone beyond getting Pandora on-the-go?
A location service occurred to me that's *not* all that creepy, although I'm not sure it's feasible ...
Broadcom talked about how with Bluetooth sensors around you and MEMS in your phone, it's possible for the network to know not only precisely where you are but what direction you're headed in. This would be most useful in a store, where you can seed those sensors all over and were the aisles limit your directions.
What we'd mainly get out of this is in-store marketing and ... yeah, that's creepy. Annoying, at the least.
But I think back to the times we went to Disneyland. Even with texting available, it was complicated figuring out where everybody was (you're not gonna text while on Space Mountain, for instance). But here's a place where it would be helpful to see where the rest of your group is and whether they're standing still or not.
Why it won't work: You'd need *so* many sensors all over the place. They'd probably use Bluetooth only for the very congested spots with lots of attractions, and go with lower-granularity wifi in the more sparse areas (obscure sidewalks, etc.)
Just a thought. I'd really like to see location to be used *for* me, rather than as a tool to market things *at* me.
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