4G Cars – You Car Will Get a Better Mobile Connection Than Your Phone

4G connected cars have been a big thing at tradeshow CES in Las Vegas, with car companies falling over themselves to demonstrate how mobile broadband internet access is a coming reality in cars.

While most concept cars use a standard 4G mobile phone connection to stream videos, traffic info and maps to cars, Alcatel-Lucent has been showcasing a custom Toyota Prius with its own built-in 4G / LTE mobile connection, effectively turning the Toyota into a mobile Wi-Fi hotspot.

Speeds quoted have been five times that of 3G – at almost 15 Mbps. On occasion, speeds have hit 56 Mbps download and 25 Mbps upload.

Mobile games are also on the cards. The founder of Game company GameStreamer said, “People passionately enjoy games and are already actively playing them through Internet connected devices such as PC’s, consoles and mobile phones. We felt enabling video games in a connected car was a natural addition to these devices and one game players will welcome with open arms.”

But let’s hope that doesn’t happen while they’re driving :-)

Although the 4G car remains only a concept for now, Alcatel-Lucent is busy building the Verizon 4G network – aiming to have the entire United States covered by 2013.