Smartphones done, cars next: Tech giants want to beat slowdown, and transform vehicles into money-making machines

LAS VEGAS: Technology companies transformed smartphones and televisions into continuous fountains of revenue. Now, big tech wants to work with automakers to do the same thing for your car.

With the widespread rollout of autonomous vehicles still years away, the two industries have converged on the idea of cars providing services and features delivered “over the air” – that is, over the same wireless data networks used by smartphones.

Those services – streaming video, vehicle performance upgrades, dashboard commerce – could answer a pressing need for automakers. They need to learn how to milk their hardware for revenue long after vehicles roll off dealers’ lots. Tech companies see cars and the time people spend in them as a new frontier for growth.