LAS VEGAS - How cool can this be: Open source software comes to the dashboard. Imagine writing a music player, your own music player, to totally personalize your ride. BMW linked up with telematics service firms Connexis LLC of Illinois and WirelessCar of Sweden to create an open source telematics protocol called the Next Generation Telematics Protocol, that was introduced here at both the Consumer Electronics Show and the Consumer Telematics Seminar. But don't get your hopes up. This is open source for them, not for the rest of us. In a nutshell, NGTP allows automakers and telematics providers to more quickly develop and adapt devices. That they sell to us.

BMW, for instance, could have a vehicle telematics platform with common specifications so providers in the U.S., Japan, China, and Australia could provide BMW with services tweaked for their specific markets. Also, if Vendor A's technology lags, BMW could chuck them in favor of Vendor B without swapping out the hardware in the car, all the while maintaining a common BMW interface. And if other automakers follow BMW's lead (which means they'd be lagging behind BMW, which makes universal acceptance of NGTP an iffy thing), they could benefit from costs spread across more vehicles while still having their own distinct looks and feels.

Benefit for the consumer even if you can't lay on your own apps? First, you'll see more up-to-date telematics services, meaning Mayday calling, Web search, or navigation. Second, it can only help drive down the cost of in-car electronics. Automakers know (most of them) that the days of the $2,000 navigation system are numbered, and Ford's announcement of free Mayday calling (911 Assist) means the $15-$30 you pay monthly for OnStar may have to move downward, too. NGTP could make it happen. Details at the NGTP site.