Magden has a current business model of selling an x86 PC with their linux gauge software. I can see how this would be great for people who don't want to integrate their own apps and want the power of a computer in their car with less setup hassle. We strongly encouraged the magden team to consider the sale of their software and hardware to the community, even if they release it with little or no support. Talk about this on our forums.
Some people call OLED the next best thing in display technology. Manufacturers report very high levels of contrast and lots of sunlight readability. What do you think? Is OLED the next home run in mobile car computing and telematics display technology? Talk about this on our forums here.
We go for a drive as the Cruisecast team shows us the guts of their prototype device and an example of their buffering technology. Talk about this on our forums:
We thought the forum members of mp3car made the first car computer in the late 90s. Wrong. Done by the ghostbuster guys first in 1984. See our video for 20 seconds of ghost busting fun.
Who made the first car computer? If you made the first car computer, tell us about it. Help us document history.
The CEO of Raysat/Cruisecast (AT&T partnership) gave us a 20 minute technical explanation on the satellite, antennas, transponders, compression and how they have made CruiseCast “cruise” . A product overview can be found with the interview of Cruiscast’s President . There are more technical details in our CruiseCast drive test video.
Even thought this isn’t super techie, we decided to take a few minutes to check out rescue tape since they won an award this year.
Where was wardrobe in this scene? My collar is sticking up and my shirt is wrinkled. Expect a blast of videos over the next 2 days. I slowed down editing a bit to attend a three day
wedding over the weekend.
At Azentek's SEMA booth, we interviewed Donnie to hear a little bit about their new navigation smart mirror product. Windows Mobile devices really don’t fall in mp3car’s sweet spot, but this is an interesting form factor for a PND. Without giving it a full run through or a drive test, this mirror seems like it would be perfect for users who wants something that works out of the box.
So What is happening with their car computing efforts? Azentek is no longer bringing their original double din car PC into production and are starting on a brand new double din model which will be on display at CES, but not available for purchase until Q1 or Q2 2009.
The main features of this redesigned product set for release at CES will be increased tolerances to environmental and shock extremes as well as the ability for users to upgrade the Intel processor. More details will be available at CES.
Azentek also confirmed that Centrafuse is their software platform of choice and they will be using that in a modified Azentek branded form for the release at CES.
AT&T & RaySat kick off satellite service “CruisecCast” for the car. Mp3car interviews RaySat’s President, Winston Guillory in HD.
In a three-part HD video interview, mp3Car interviews AT&T’s and Raysat’s “CruiseCast” executive team today.
We are going to kick this off this three-part interview with President, Winston Guillory. Later this week we will post the rest of the interviews with their Chairman & CEO as well as a drive test through the Vegas streets. The CruiseCast team was also kind enough to show us all the innards of their prototype hardware, which we will share with you later in the week as part 3.
Mp3car typically focuses on mobile computing applications. The reason why this fits on our blog is that Brian from Palmer Performance has ported his car PC OBD and performance application to the iphone. This is a two part interview. The first part is going to be a tour of his new iphone application. We will follow this up later in the week with a tour of his carpc installation and the features of his car computer software. Brian has made some interesting hooks in his windows application that will allow for integration into roadrunner, centrafuse or other applications. Talk about this on our forums here
The Chinese manufacturer Bluestar has been making double din all in one units for a few years now. Online carPC retailers digitalww and hipepc have stocked blue star's products in the past but those retailers have now closed up shop.
We expect to test samples within the next few months to see if this something mp3Car will offer in the store. So far so good!
Michael, product planner at Hyundai gives some specs on the
New Hyundai genesis. He talks about Apple in the car, the future of car computing and connector services as well as the tour they
have planned with Rides Magazine in NY city. Talk about this on our forums
Pete has spent 5 years building this show car and has used it to win many awards. Tour Pete's car and see how he integrated a car computer. Pete's website is here if you want more details. Talk about this on our forums.
To kick this off, we are going to start with our interview with Ben Harris about Ride Magazine's outlook on car computing as well as details about the tour through New York Apple stores with Ride's Mac'ed out Hyundai.
Expect to see some more video tomorrow from SEMA about this car and other topics:
How they made the Hyundai Genesis, an interview with the creator.
An interview with Michael Detiz, Product Planning, Hyundai America
Everyone has been setting up for SEMA for the last 3 days. I happened to walk by the Hyundai booth yesterday while one of the vice presidents was rehearsing for their 9:30am press conference today. They had the usual un-blanketing of cars and performance celebrities there to talk. What I was really there for was the car computer geerkery. The real details about this project will have to wait until Tuesday when the real press conference starts, but here are some sneak peek photos.
I am already slightly disappointed with the mac install. It seems like more of an attempt to get press than a functional implementation. I saw one of the macbook airs plugged into an AC port which would imply no ignition integration. It is always harder to put in a DC-DC regulator. Why do installers just use inverters especially on a high profile car like this? Is it laziness or unknown technical mojo that is driving this?
If there is hot mobile computer tech at SEMA that we haven’t written about, Let us know.
For you Hyndai or Genesis addicts I posted a quick 1m video of their VP practicing, unveiling a car and doing a quick dance. See the forum post for more details.
This question has been asked over and over again so we decided to film the answer in HD as a way to test out our new camera. We have filmed the assembly of our telematics bundle.
Goce, Heather and I (Robert Wray) are heading to SEMA this week. Help us!
