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As regular readers of this column are aware, I can't go on vacation or to the grocery store without my Internet fix. So naturally, I crave a constant high-speed connection for my car so that I can download MP3s as I roll down I-40 (a robotic chauffeur would be nice, too).

The good news is that the Internet is coming to automobiles later this year. And when it arrives, it will start to change how we interact with each other and the world around us.

Life Is a Highway

2007 will be the year cars and tech really mesh, thanks in part to Ford's Sync, a hands-free cell phone gizmo running on Microsoft's Auto operating system. It also lets you control your MP3 player using voice commands. Sync will be available on about a dozen 2007 car models in the fall, and, yes, it even works with iPods.

But this is only the beginning, says Velle Kolde, product manager for Microsoft's in-vehicle systems. Future versions of Sync could incorporate Wi-Fi, so you could download your e-mail while driving through a Net cloud and then have the system read it to you.

Autonet Mobile, meanwhile, wants to turn your car into a rolling hotspot. Autonet's book-size router plugs into your cigarette lighter and connects to the same kind of high-speed cell networks used by wireless PC Cards, while broadcasting a secure 802.11g network in your car (and a little beyond).

Autonet has two big advantages over wireless cards, according to the company's CEO, Sterling Prantz. It is better at managing handoffs when you move from fast networks to slower ones, allowing for seamless data streaming. And everyone can share one connection, so Mom can watch YouTube on her laptop while Sis IMs her posse and Junior plays multiplayer games on his PSP--assuming, of course, that you're hooked into a fast EvDO Rev A network. By the time you read this, cars with Autonet inside should be available at select Avis Rent A Car locations; late this spring you'll be able to buy the router for $399, plus $50 a month for access to Autonet's network.