While testing the 2015 Volvo V60 T6 R-Design for a week, I came across an alluring feature that is a perfect fit for a technophile like myself: A real, honest-to-gosh web browser in the dash. Besides being really quite useful, it could show how cars will connect in the future.
The sporty ride, which is shaped a bit like the station wagon my dad drove in the 70s, offers the typical tech extras you'd expect in a 2015 car, such as an iPhone or Android app that shows you how much fuel is left in the tank and the ability to call a human being at the push of a button. But a full web browser in the car is still an unusual find.
Many Toyota and Lexus cars offer what looks like a browser search using Bing, but it's really just for finding navigation waypoints. BMW offers something similar with its ConnectedDrive platform, which is available on many of their vehicles. But Even Audi and Mercedes-Benz do not offer full web browsing. In the past three years of testing cars, this is the first one I've seen that lets you pull up any site (say, popularmechanics.com), navigate on the screen, and even check your e-mail. As long as you're parked or stopped, you can visit a website to look up your work calendar, check e-mail, read the news, or search for somewhere to eat.
My first thought was to think about the potential. Right now, Volvo's browser works at 3G speeds, but if the connection ran faster, then the browser could reliably give me a live stream of my home security cam as I drive, pop up a link to the traffic cam up ahead so I can decide whether to change my route, or let me Skype my spouse.
Of course, any such use that takes the driver's eyes away from the road is going to be heavily scrutinized by carmakers and regulators, and possibly restricted to times when the car isn't in motion. But once your vehicle's dashboard can access the open web and not just apps, all kinds of possibilities are suddenly at your disposal.
