Centrafuse leads to iPhone control via touchscreen, carputer dreams come to life

**trinybwoy** · 01-13-2011, 11:58 AM

Copied and pasted from www.engadget.com

We've seen countless individuals integrate their phone, PMP or tablet into their whip, but for years, we've all been thinking the same thing: "There has to be an easier way." Turns out, there is. One Mr. Romin has seemingly unearthed the solution, which involves a Lilliput FA1042 touchpanel, a Belkin AV dock adapter cable and a critical piece of software by the name of Centrafuse. Working in conjunction, he has enabled his monitor to actually control the iPhone, and when firing up a YouTube video, the content plays back on the big screen while the controls remain visible on the handset. It's a nifty setup, for sure, and we're downright excited to see this rig get installed in a vehicle far too small for American roads in a fortnight or so. For now, catch it working in action just past the break.

http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/13/c...-carputer-dre/

**Thorsteenster** · 01-13-2011, 12:42 PM

I'm not a big iGuy but that's pretty sweet!
With a widescreen monitor set in portrait orientation in dash would make a hot system for an iPhone/Touch.

**Bugbyte** · 01-13-2011, 01:40 PM

Centrafuse is a front end that runs on PC's. I think engadget didn't get that, especially when you watch the video. He's saying that CF never stays synced and doesn't work like he wants, not that CF does this.

It smells like a fake, but I'd be happy to be proven wrong.

**maxthebuilder** · 01-13-2011, 02:16 PM

What the @#$% CF has to do with this? The guy said he didn't like CF and that's why he switched to iPhone fed to an external touchscreen via belkin adapter...

**VegasGuy** · 01-13-2011, 03:39 PM

This is a case of the copy editor at Engadget not really knowing what he's talking about. As Maxb points out, this has nothing to do with iPhone integration into Centrafuse. There isn't even a carPC running in this video...it's just an external monitor (composite video I might add) attached to an iPhone. Not surprisingly, this popped up over at the CF forum as well.

Well I suppose if you are of the "any press is good press" school of thought, then this is okay.

If you want to see remote control of a smartphone from Centrafuse (admittedly just a VNC client embedded in CF

), here you go:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDWoRa2l7EQ

VegasGuy

**Fiberoptic** · 01-13-2011, 04:03 PM

Originally Posted by VegasGuy

This is a case of the copy editor at Engadget not really knowing what he's talking about.

I agree. I think this is probably fake. Fake specifically meaning that there is some other type of intelligent hardware off camera performing a vnc type function. It almost seems like he intentionally glazes over those details to avoid questioning and to add to the 'wow/ press factor' Engadget took the bait. If it was a passive converter box I'd be blown away.

It is also interesting to note the views are only at 317 after a front page engadget endorsement.

**tripzero** · 01-13-2011, 09:44 PM

after watching the video... I think he's saying that his method of connecting the TS with his iphone (however he's doing it), is a better solution than using Centrafuse + the iphone (and simply syncing, pairing, etc). If you think of it in that context and listen to what he's saying, it's easy to see why engadget screwed it up.

**soundman98** · 01-13-2011, 10:24 PM

i tend to agree with tripzero-- he really only briefly mentions centrafuse..

my notes:
does a lilliput touchscreen work with a composite input? did he hack the touch screen pins?

i can't say i have paid attention to my screen as it boots up, but isn't the fact that the screens displays "video 1" mean that it is on composite, and not a vga source?

as he opens the phone dialer, his hand moves out of view, the app closes back to the springboard, and he reopens the phone dialer-- possible use of a external control/something that accidentally closed the screen? or was it just due to apples poor coding, and was a temporary app crash?

videos like this tend to bother me.. it's great someone got it working, but you're not going to share any details at all? then it is no better then if you had just kept it to yourself..