Thread: What's the point to this carputer thing anyway...?

Originally Posted by firstorbit84

Good discussion here. I first want to chime in on the comment that a phone will "never" tie into the can bus, steering wheel controls, a noise cancelling mic, front end software, or expand its screen... I feel that with the right amount of determination and demand from the user community, all of these things could eventually be possible.

However, I definitely agree that RIGHT NOW, for the money and amount of features available, an inexpensive CarPC trumps anything that a docked phone can offer.

Dont they have blue tooth OBDII conections? most top phones have BT and some good car head units have BT integration. Are we not seeing the start of the phone/car integration? with USB screens now becoming available surely phones will later be able to "dock" with these screens?

If the above were very soon to be possible i would trade even the quickest boot time PC for an almost instant on phone. the major problem at present is the operating system and speed.

Nigel....

The way the market is moving, IMHO, there will be nearly equal features in stock systems to the current carpcs. We are running out of ways to innovate past much more than we have now. We are now just trying to find the microbe on the needle in the haystack. The OEMs are moving very quickly and have far deeper pockets than all of us combined. Furthermore, many, if not all the advancements we've been making in the hobbiest space is purely vehicle specific. We try to integrate better with the vehicles CANBus, remote starting, HVAC, etc. We try to make it look like its OEM. A GM system will have all that by default in a model year or two. So what are we going to do when all of that stuff already comes with the vehicle?

In my mind, the next level of innovation will be integrating better with these smart devices. Part of my work in my own "connected car" project is to have the car know me via my smartphone. It'll know when I'm there, and adjust settings in the car to match my preference. It'll do likewise for my wife's smartphone. it's stream effortlessless using upnp to my car. Handsfree will "just work". It'll sync up with web configured shares when it sees my home AP and connects up. The interesting thing is that I have to use a much lower-power device (aka the sheevaplug) to do this. Current Atom hardware is too power hungry to get the job done.

Originally Posted by Nigelfenton

Dont they have blue tooth OBDII conections? most top phones have BT and some good car head units have BT integration. Are we not seeing the start of the phone/car integration? with USB screens now becoming available surely phones will later be able to "dock" with these screens?

If the above were very soon to be possible i would trade even the quickest boot time PC for an almost instant on phone. the major problem at present is the operating system and speed.

Nigel....

even with the fastest smartphones, "instant on" doesn't exist. Normally, your phone will just sleep until you hit the power button and then wake up. Sometimes though, you do have to cold boot, in which case it does take some time.

I like your idea of some soft of docking functionality that pushes the phone's display to the car's display. But still, I don't see your car being 100% dependant on the phone for everything. I like the vision that this possibility brings.

I think one of the main point eluded to but not explicitly spelled out is that having your "central" device be your smartphone works well because it's almost always with you, and it's going to work the way you want it because of your sure will power to make it that way. I don't spend much time with my car, so it's painful right now to get it working the way I want.

at least in theory.

If CES and SEMA showed anything about the future direction OEMs will be taking when in comes to in car technology, smartphones are certainly on their radar. A lot of the big audio companies showed off all kinds of smartphone/headunit integration including my ford touch's smartphone apps linked to the headunit. My point wasn't about the abilities a smartphone could bring to the car it was about the idea of a smartphone completely replacing a carpc.

Threads like "help bugbyte kill the carpc" imply that a smartphone and a screen is all you really need and I think that would severely limit the feature set and functionality.

My Droid doesnt do Blu-Ray yet LOL

Originally Posted by 2k1Toaster

Everything you mention can be done on a CarPC just as well and more... Still dont see the advantage other than form factor.

I agree with you Toaster. One reason we do the "Car PC" thing is because we can say that we built the system. Everyone has their own need. Obviously a Smart Phone was enough to do it for you ThunderStick. I am building a multimedia monster that has 8 screens, bluray, and tons of gadgets that make inspector gadget look like a b!+ch. No little 500 mhz (or what ever it is) phone will ever come close. Ontop of that the tons of media, game systems (emulators) and all the other goodies. I'd also like to see a phone multitask. Can you talk on the phone and get the live traffic updating at the same time? Nope! The PPC solution has its advantages, easy to use and setup, but feature rich wise, it doesnt compare.

Originally Posted by malcom2073

You SAID it. The carpc hobby is about being on the bleeding edge. It's about playing around, not functionality.

If a phone can replace your carpc and you're happy, then the carpc hobby isnt for you.

Was just waiting for you to tap in, seen you posting on the android forums.
Anyway, I have been doing this carpc thing for a very long time. I agree as a hobby your phone will not replace it. But if you want stability and a fully functioning system, you may as well have both.

Hobbies are fun and so was working with carpc's, finding there limitations and developing new ideas. But as the next page turns for me, the carpc seems to be passing on. Your right OBDlogging on your carpc is cool but that has allready been done or is in the works for the android as well using a bluetooth OBDII scanner.
People develop for these phones the same as they do for the carpc's, the only difference is the phones are meant to be mobile. Most of the PC's used here are not. Even your best mobile PC does not have a hard drive that will with stand sub zero temps and start right up. I know my doesnt and I have tried many different hard drives. Harsh Wisconsin winters take there tole quickly on hard drives and processors. If you live in a relatively mild climate then yes a carputer may be reliable, but for as long as I have been using carputers winters are allways a PITA.
Who know's maybe I am just taking a break from this whole carputer thing, but for now I am more than satisfied with the plethora of apps available for the android and a bright future of development ahead.
I believe the android system will not just be limited to phones or hand helds, but eventually will move on to more mobilized computer systems via enthusiast development.

Originally Posted by ZX1Cruizer

I'd also like to see a phone multitask. Can you talk on the phone and get the live traffic updating at the same time?

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7emvUBpEkbU[/media]

Originally Posted by ZX1Cruizer

I'd also like to see a phone multitask. Can you talk on the phone and get the live traffic updating at the same time? Nope!

With Android or Maemo you can, course not on Verizon :P