'Black Box' Could Integrate Almost Everything in Your Car

Is it too much to ask for a single integrated computer system in your car that can give you directions, order movie tickets, check sports scores, warn you about traffic light cameras, alert you to maintenance needs, control your music, and help lower your vehicle’s emissions, among many, many other things?

Not anymore. We’ve written before about computer systems that will make cars safer [links], but automakers also want to use computers to improve in-car systems. A company called Hughes Telematics has designed an “all-in-one” control system it calls a “black box” that takes all the separate systems in a vehicle and coordinates them through one computer that includes GPS, a cellular modem and a solid-state hard drive.

Did we mention the system can also monitor teenage drivers, engage security systems if your car is stolen, schedule its own appointments for maintenance and unlock the doors if the rightful owner locks him or herself out?

Oh, and it also has voice recognition, but not robot-speak voice recognition like “find movie ‘Ironman.’” It has something called VoiceBox Technologies, so you can say, “How ’bout ‘Ironman’?” And the system will know what you’re talking about.

So when will we see this system? It will appear in select Chrysler and Mercedes-Benz vehicles sometime next year, but live traffic services and two-way satellite communications won’t be included until 2011. Hughes hasn’t attached a price tag yet, but we’re guessing it’s not going to be cheap.

Making Cars Smarter, Greener, Safer… and Better Listeners (Wheels)