Iphone in car navigation - The Death of your PND - Page 4

1wiseash · 05-01-2009, 05:46 PM

I think (almost) everyone has made a good point or two on this thread. The various positions of the posters seem to be largely driven by their perspective on time line. The mobile solutions folks are looking at trends in the field and thinking in the 2 to 5 year time frame---an eternity in high tech. And you are right; the trend is towards mobile computing (maybe not phone, but something similar). The carPC folks are looking at "what can it do for me now?" and not terribly interested in where the market is going. You are right too; no small mobile platform will come close to the power and customizability (is that a real word?) of an on-board system.

My suspicion is that you die-hard hobbyists out there will always be the vanguard on exploring the possibilities of in-car technology. But, as the really useful/valuable/cool applications you guys develop become obvious, the big boys are going to figure out a way to repackage it into smaller, more easily installed units for the mass consumer market. Because there will always be people like you pushing the envelope on high-tech apps, there will always be a need for dedicated on-board systems. Because there will always be people thinking about how to make a buck off the deep-pocketed, technologically un-savvy, there will be a strong push to "productize" the great stuff being developed here. Integrating into the rest of their "high-tech" lives will inevitably mean moving the big sellers to mobile platforms.

My 2¢ ... or maybe 25¢.

PS - I will, however, give a BIG thumbs up to cloud computing and all that it implies!

specterunseen · 06-04-2009, 01:21 PM

great points... as a lurker, i'd like to mention:
1) You'll likely never have the FULL power in a phone that you'd have in a custom system built into your car. Its just like latop vs desktop. Typically the desktop is the powerhouse.

2) For us out there that want some great features the phone is the way to go. I personally need music, traffic, mpg, etc. Stuff like that. The iphone is a perfect avenue for me once they figure out a larger display for car use. It just is simple, removable, and upgradable in 2 years with the next purchase of a phone. Perfect for uses that don't require 1080 high def etc. I don't need that function. I want charting, cool software, good music, and for those of us like that... this is a better avenue. PLUS, take into account when you sell your car, its easier to remove a single headunit and speakers than an entire car system built with wires everywhere

I can't wait to see if a screen control solution is found with the 3.0 release and the new generation of the iphone.

anthonyy · 06-04-2009, 06:28 PM

I recommend telenav. I first saw TeleNav mentioned in the New York Times and then I went to their website: www.telenav.com $10/month is a great deal, especially considering it offers more features than a $600 standalone unit.

pepsibobby · 06-08-2009, 04:04 PM

Just to let you guys know that Apple announced that TOMTOM will be releasing Turn By Turn app for the iphone soon. It will have a doc and everything. No word on pricing though.

meagain · 06-08-2009, 04:24 PM

Think it'll be over $30 bucks? I'm thinking $30 bucks min. but I'm not very gps savvy. Could it be $100 or more?

Deceptikon · 06-10-2009, 11:45 PM

I'm surprised there haven't been more comments on this thread since the announcement of the iPhone 3GS.
Think of the implications arising from all of the improvements.

iPhone 3GS hardware upgrade: more than incremental?
Voice control - touch a button and do anything, perfect for a car environment where your eyes need to be on the road... now just need someone to design a remote home button that I can mount on the center console or shift knob
Digital compass - nifty feature that enhances GPS
Video capture - record/display video taken from front of car (iPhone would be in a windshield-mounted dock)

meagain · 06-11-2009, 12:05 AM

Deceptikon - I know. The Voice Control alone is a big deal. Seems to only work for phone and iPod parts though? Course - anything's hackable right?

"A remote Home button" brilliant!

What I don't understand is why "Voice Control" is only available on the 3G S. Why not in 3.0 software? A hardware only thing? Why? What hardware-specific spec would enable it on 3gS and not the 3g? Because there's more processor/ram to handle it? Could that be it? It can be used via the earphones or speaker.

???

Deceptikon · 06-11-2009, 12:32 AM

Apple is going to allow 3rd party developers to incorporate voice control in their apps.

Fiberoptic · 06-11-2009, 08:28 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by meagain

What I don't understand is why "Voice Control" is only available on the 3G S. Why not in 3.0 software? Because there's more processor/ram to handle it??

Voice recognition is very CPU intensive. Image from anandtech article above. The 3gs looks like it is "twice as fast" as the 3g

Quote: Originally Posted by anandtech

The combination of higher clock speeds, more cache and a dual-issue front end results in a much faster processor. Apple claims the real world performance of the iPhone 3GS can be up to 2x faster than the iPhone 3G, and I believe that’s quite feasible.

rakess · 06-14-2009, 02:20 PM

The voice recognition is very interesting to me, I am currently working on voice recognition for mac os X (making a software that can do specific things, such as tell you the weather, check your facebook notification, RSS feeds, a timer, and music), I will post my progress later on in the mac part, but imagine this on the iphone, amazing!

meagain · 06-14-2009, 03:44 PM

Rakes, I hope you give a heads' up here when you post! Anxious to see it.

specterunseen · 06-15-2009, 10:19 AM

+ 1, eager to know what we'll be able to do with this new technology to possibly have a larger external control to use the iphone, thus allowing multiasking and easier navigation, etc

Bugbyte · 08-17-2009, 11:10 AM

TomTom app for iPhone was released. Definitely a nail in the coffin for the PND. Certainly PC magazine thinks so.

blk02si · 10-26-2009, 11:40 PM

Just picked up an iPhone 3g today and this device in no way, shape or form could replace my completely integrated pc based truck solution. Anyone can slap an iPhone, iPod or PND on their windshield and have some nice features, but it takes talent to custom build hardware and software to specific needs and pull off a professional install. Perhaps my opinion will change with time as I use the iPhone more, but for it's intended purpose, my truckPC kills the iPhone when driving. When I am stationary, the iPhone rocks, but it's just outright dangerous to operate while driving

Just my 2 cents, which IS biased since I've managed to stay apple free until today. . .

Bugbyte · 10-27-2009, 09:58 AM

I don't think your opinion will change. You hit the nail on the head. The iPhone (and probably ANY phone) requires you to focus on it while using. VERY different from a car PC install.

The challenge is to use the strengths of the iPhone (connectivity) and combine it with the strengths of other devices. Right now, I'm focusing on small embedded devices that can be controlled by the iPhone over an in car WiFi network.

That allows you to code up pages you can serve to the iPhone that require less attention than the iPhone's interface. Check out the kill my car PC link in my signature for more details or look at the 'RR replacements' thread for a recent discussion on the topic and my vision for where smart phones fit in the overall car PC landscape.

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