MyRXdrug

Hey guys,

I was wondering what people here think about current technology used in cars today and where do you want it to go? I am mostly thinking about stereo interface and smartphone integration items such as Ford Sync, car information displays such as fuel economy, G-forces and engine performance and system gauges, something along the lines of the Nissan GT-R display unit.

Browsing along these forums, I have seen people put together car-puters, or installed various Pioneer/Alpine/etc large screen head units. Is the future these head units? or maybe someone will figure out a way to put in a tablet? or will the car manufacturers finally catch up and listen to their customers?

Are there any other manufacturers who are stepping up to the plate right now and competing with Ford's Sync and adding innovative features?

Thank you.

Bullitt

iTrader: (7)

I want to be able to slide a sun shield down with the push of a button.

bse50

a cd player and a 2.0 stereo system is all I need

rafaga

iTrader: (1)

I am personally waiting on android head units to come out. Much better than trying to custom-fit a tablet. I know of at least one company working on those.

Problem is that there is no compelling (IMHO) front-end yet for android devices (at least not like centrafuse), but I'm hoping one will come up soon. I would work on creating one if I had the time, but it takes a lot of effort and patience to do it right.

drifthappens

In reality, the whole front end thing is easily circumvented by a "launcher". Just make a launcher designed for the car, and you're good. Android has plenty of good stuff in it (torque, car dock, etc) that just needs to be integrated into a stereo.

Are-Ex-Eight

iTrader: (1)

GM is debuting the GM Intellilink on 2012 Terrains, Equinoxs and Volts. It will stream music wirelessly via Bluetooth and there is a Pandora app on the 7" touch screen center consol.

monchie

No aux plug in my car and not MP3 loaded

Razz1

Many cars already have performance indicators like my Pontiac G8 GT

I can see many functions at the push of a button.

rafaga

iTrader: (1)

Circunvent it? Yes. Replace it? Unfortunately no (for me at least). A front end is more than just a launcher. Android (before Honeycomb) was targeted mainly towards applications that performed one major function at a time, and that still shows in most of the current Android apps. A front end actually mixes some of those functions in a single screen and I need that. For example: in Centrafuse you can see the navigation map and still have the title of the song that's currently playing on top, and with one click you can change the volume without leaving the navigation screen. That cannot happen if you're using google maps for navigation. Those apps were not designed with a 7 inch screen in mind. The advent of many android based tablets will change this paradigm over time, though.

Still, the coordination between these apps is missing in a launcher. In centrafuse the navigation commands will automatically lower the volume of the currently playing song. This is not always the case in Android, with the notable exception of voice calls. Some apps do play nice with each other and make good use of Android "intents", but I have yet to see a single, coherent user experience like the one Centrafuse provides.

Still, the android platform does have all the elements in place to be the best starting point for future carputers, including the flexibility and openness. So it's just a matter of time until we see a compelling car-centric experience that includes all the elements that other well recognized systems provide today.

just my 2 cents.

drifthappens

I had meant to say a custom launcher, built from the ground up, because I agree with you 100%. I'm thinking something like placing the song name on the "status bar" with the nav going would be close. Then again, I'm only using an inspire, and not even a tablet, so I dont know how well that would work out. I really would need to get my hands on something with a screen large enough to start playing with, to be honest.

MyRXdrug

http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/15/c...nt-fit-in-you/

Interesting, but it seems like the car manufacturers have killed the din/double din standard with their integrated stereo systems. The crappy part is that still most manufacturers do not even offer a simple USB port on most of their cars.