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.
