From: Tom Whore (tomwhore@inetarena.com)
Date: Mon Jun 19 2000 - 08:51:28 PDT
http://www.smh.com.au/news/0006/19/pageone/pageone10.html
Ultimate fix for petrolheads By MARY FAGAN
Marconi, the electronics group, is developing a range of petrol pumps
which will allow motorists to download music from the internet to digital
players in their cars as they fill up on the forecourt.
The pumps, which
could be available within a year, follow on from an existing range of
"Encore" pumps supplied by Marconi Commerce Systems (formerly known as
Gilbarco) which allow motorists to surf the web, pay their bills and
contact their banks and which are already in use in the US. Those pumps,
which will be available in the UK within months, last week won the annual
Industrial Design Excellence Award from Business Week magazine.
The next generation of pumps will download music from the net and feed it
through a lead to special equipment in the car.
They are the result of co-operation between Commerce Systems and the
rapidly growing communications side of Marconi. Since the group sold off
its defence business to BAE systems it has been transforming itself into a
telecommunications and internet focused operation and has told all its
divisions to fully exploit internet technology.
Recently Marconi said it would create more than 2,000 high
technology jobs at a new global headquarters near Coventry. The company
has also caused a stir with plans to float its Fibreway arm, which has
built a 1300km fibre-optic telecoms network, much of it along towpaths. It
is also applying for a licence to operate a telecoms service in its own
right.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Mon Jun 19 2000 - 12:52:48 PDT