The Consumer Telematics Show which opens 6th Jan 2010 in Las Vegas asked industry experts to predict the top  in car Telematics innovation for 2010.

UPDATE via CNN below.

Here are three of those apps:

#5. The integration of Internet radio into cars is the most fundamental change in in-car audio entertainment since the introduction of tape and CD players over 25 years ago. It will deliver an explosion of consumer choice and control, fundamentally enhancing the driving experience virtually every time the consumer drives their car.

#4. The killer app will be augmented reality on the windshield. Because the only way to delivery location related advertisement is AR on the window with navigation guidance. You can find out the benefits from the iPhone Yelp application.

#3. Call it Tivo for cars. The same car companies that have in-vehicle TVs in the back seats (for kids etc.) will feature ability to “store” movies, cartoons etc. and/or have them streamed in real time. This will transform the in-vehicle experience as passengers will actually look forward to traveling and see it as a chance to stay entertained, kept informed.

UPDATE:  CNN reported also a couple of days back Ford is introducing Wifi to a range of cars in 2010:

The next generation of the Sync in-car entertainment and information system will use a USB mobile broadband modem to establish a secure wireless connection capable of supporting several devices simultaneously.

Some of that CNN post was picked up from this October WIRED.com article on the in-car internet:

Mercedes recently announced it has successfully tested in-vehicle internet applications — including web browsing, vehicle software updates and VOIP — on a prototype 4G network. It follows BMW’s internet-connected iDrive system and Chrysler’s Uconnect Web in-vehicle mobile hotspot. Most of the automakers, along with Microsoft, are following them into the pool.

This is how it’s happening so far according to Wired.com: “OnStar, Uconnect and the Pro edition of Toyota’s Japan-only G-BOOK for clues. They use cellular modems with associated data accounts, and customers pay as much as $30 a month. Other systems like Ford’s Sync and Toyota’s entry-level G-BOOK use Bluetooth to share the user’s personal cellphone account. Audi’s MMI (multimedia interface) web-connected nav system takes another approach, using Bluetooth to “borrow” the SIM profile of the user’s cellphone. It doesn’t require a separate fee, but it does require the customer to have a data plan and a phone on a SIM chip.”