The connected car is a concept that has been kicked around for awhile but hasn't happened in a mainstream way yet.
The raw ingredients exist:
-displays/monitors
-gps/navigation
-2 way communication networks: cellular, bluetooth
-voice commands
-content (satellite, hd radio, etc).
-storage (ipods, dvds, etc)
But the software and services need to be developed so that the connected car set of apps "just work". And since we designing for the car it also needs to be safe.
For example if I want traffic updates on my Nuvi I connect my mobile phone via bluetooth to my gps. Then I have to make sure my car's built in bluetooth radio doesn't try to pair with my mobile phone. And even after going through these steps I can't get any other interesting info that I would naturally expect when you connect a display, gps and the internet (ie local search, where my friends are located, ratings, reviews, etc). Clunky and feature light.
That's why I'm excited about this announcement between Yahoo and Dash. They are combining yahoo local search with gps in seamless way. That's more like it.
I would be very interested to hear from people working or thinking about the connected car. It's a big idea.