Sit And Surf In NYC Cabs

New York City taxi cab passengers can surf the Web for free if they hail the right cabs, thanks to a deal between Internet media services company Yahoo! Inc. and Medallion Financial Corp., the companies said Thursday.

The cabs, which belong to one of New York City's largest taxi fleet operators, Team Systems Corp., are equipped with Palm Inc.'s Palm 7 handheld computer with Internet access to surf for news and directions.

The two companies said in a statement that a fleet of 10 Internet-enabled taxis outfitted in Yahoo's yellow and purple colors is cruising the streets of New York as part of a pilot program between Yahoo and Medallion that will run until March 2001.

The program, which is a part of Yahoo's "Yahoo Everywhere" strategy, follows the strong response the companies got in San Francisco when the first fleet of wired cabs hit the streets between September 1999 and March 2000.

According to the New York Taxi and Limousine Commission, there are 12,187 taxicabs in the city.