A venture capitalist hopes to equip 1,000 livery cars in New York City with WiFi by early fall, the Wall Street Journal reports — and then blanket the city with roaming hotspots.
The plan calls for free, advertising-supported wireless Internet access for passengers and anyone within about 400 feet of the vehicles, the newspaper reports.
While the plan would directly benefit the passengers in the WiFi-enabled vehicles, anyone around the vehicles would also benefit as long as the car is idling — which happens a lot in the city. And if technology expands and allows WiFi to work like cell phones, the plan could make WiFi available throughout large parts of the city.
The vehicles, the Journal reports, will also have nearly a dozen plugs to charge gadgets like iPads, iPhones and BlackBerrys.
Now perhaps the livery cabs will be worth their steep prices.
