Thread: Mac-centric links

Below is a running collection of Mac links related to the car environment. Please feel free to either PM me or add your own links..i will delete your post when it is added to this list. Please do not discuss them here :-)

FAQs

• Installing a Mac Mini in Your Car by Bugbyte - step by step instructions on materials needed, steps, and items you may need for your PowerPC based MacMini install into your car.
• Installing a Macbook or iBook in your Car - How to install a portable Mac in your car

Software interfaces
(as of 2008-04-20)

• Active:
  • Dash interfaces
    • CarFrontEnd -Open source front end with plug in architecture
    • Neon Boombox - Free front end with software development kit
    • QCAR - Successor to Tatra App, a slot oriented front end in beta development
      
      Media Center Interfaces (alternatives to dash interfaces)
      
      • Front Row - The media center interface that comes with every Mac.
      • iTheater - an open source Mac Media center to run on OS X; still looks in alpha stage
      • CenterStage - an open source project to "build a powerful and intuitive media center application"; in alpha code releases
  • Inactive:
    
    • AMP - The latest front end interface for Mac OS X - Tiger only.
    • CcarProject! - Another frontend for Mac OS X that is quite active here at this Mp3Car.com thread
    • Dash-Mac - still in early stages of development
    • Mobile Media Center for Mac OS X (aka "iMeedia") - port of the Mobile Media frontend for PCs; in development stages
    • i3 - An "intelligent integrated interface for your Mac and your car" with a running Mp3car.com thread
    • PyCar - interface coded in Python for Win and Linux - No Mac port *yet*
    • TactPlayer - functioning front end player for Mac OS X. free demo, but looks like its free for now

Installs

• Search the Show off your project forum and use the search term "Mac" to see Mac installs

Hardware - 3rd party

• Sound interfaces
  • iMic - USB Audio interface
  • Griffin Firewave - a firewire surround sound dolby digital processor device for the Mac
• Touchscreen Drivers
  • Lilliput touchscreen drivers
  • Xenarc touchscreen drivers
  • How to display 800 X 480 on the Mini
• Startup/shutdown controllers
  • USB Start-up Button - Does not work with iMac DV Summer 2000 or later since they do not have the ability to start from USB device

Software

• Cell phone:
  
  • Mac N Cell
• Emulation:
  
  • Virtual PC for Mac 7.0
• Onscreen keyboard
  
  • KiiBoard - an onscreen keyboard useful for your touchscreen apps.
• GPS Navigation
  
  • Route Buddy - The only native Mac mapping solution in development
  • RoadNav - open source road navigation program for Mac, Linux, and Windows; maps used are free from several US government and state agencies - tested by BugByte on a roadtrip with review here
  • Google Earth - In conjunction with GPS2GEX and GPSD, you can plot your position on Google Earth's 3D moving map. Details on how to do it are here.
  • Route 2004 (aka Route 66) - use to be the only known up-to-date commerical GPS software for Mac OS X - newer versions not made for Mac anymore
  • Street Atlas USA 6.0 for Mac - notice how *old* this version is...if you can find it, it runs on Mac
• Media players
  
  • Apple iTunes - native MP3/AAC media player
  • MPlayer for OS X - port from Linux for Mac OS X - plays every musick and video format imagineable
• Wardriving
  
  • KisMAC - KisNet for Mac OS X - KisNet is the best linux/unix based wardriving tool out there
  • MacStumber - still developmental
  • iStumbler - Mac port of our favorite stumbler program!
• XM Radio
  
  • MacXM
  • Display ConfigX - Allows the Mac Mini to display native 800 X 480 resolution on 7" touchscreens
• Utilities
  
  • Sleep time out - Shuts your Mac down after a specified amount of time sleeping. Great to prevent a drained battery.

Programming for OS X

• Native Apple languages/items
  • Dashboard - Possible alternative using widgets native to OS X Tiger
• 3rd Party Freeware
  • MacPyton - port of the Python language for Mac
  • PyMedia - Python classes for media playing for Win/Linux - needs port to Mac
• 3rd Party Commerical
  • RealBasic - Code once, compile for Win, Linux, Mac
  • Runtime Revolution - Code once, use their player to run the same code for Win, Linux, Mac; uses Quicktime libaries for media playing

Other forums:

• CarMac.Acmelab.org