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Car Digital Assistant
suman28 writes "The Japanese company Clarion plans to sell a car with built-in PC that runs Windows which car browse the web, play tunes and store an address manager. The stats on the computer are nice - a 166 MHz RISC processor with 64MB RAM and 8MB video. That seems like a lot for a car."
640k should be enough for anyone
Cue stupid jokes about windows and crashing, k, thanks.
Sent from your iPad.
.. what with mobile phones (whos in car use already illegal in some states and territories), screaming children, and other bad drivers to contend with, are distractions like this really a good idea?
.
SIG:Slashdot: indymedia for nerds.
There are two kinds a people in the world.
1. The kind that think this will be awsome and can't wait to surf the web in their car.
2. The kind that is afraid of those who think this will be awsome and can't wait to surf the web in their car.
Business News and Resources: www.usasource.net
"You seem to be atttempting to avoid traffic.
Would you like some help?"
"KITT, play some Metallica MP3s"
"I'm sorry Michael, I just can't do that."
"Damn it! I told Devon we should have ported you to Linux!"
Well besides all the M$ jokes here, how long will it take before they outlaw driving while browsing?
Forget the BSoD, just think of the error messages you get when you take the car in for an alignment!
error:0x00a4233216b0c4432 in xx0022465321a78c
IOW a Blown Fuse.
This SIG pulled due to lack of funding. (This damn war is costing too much!)
This is just super! I am so glad technology has advanced to the point to where our fast-twitch culture can't even let us ride in the car without watching tv, surfing the web, or yacking on the phone.
Look, I am all for technology, but driving down the road is dangerous enough without some elite* idiot trying to browse porn* while driving. Give me a break. Please, don't put this in your car. If you happen to get into an accident with me, and you have one of these in your car, I'm kicking your ass. Basically, when you are in your 2 ton death-mobile, pay attention to the road.
*For the kiddies, this is the proper spellings for both of these words. Practice.
P.S. All those people that claim the passenger would be the one to use it, yeah right. I see that happening. -1 FLAMEBAIT.
Sent from your iPad.
on how long it takes to get Linux on that thing?
Windows CE.
Uh. Did you even read the article? It runs Windows CE for Automotive.
Microsoft has been developing "AutoPCs" for ages.
Driving while browsing = Bad idea
Driving while listening to MP3s = Good idea
And you can always check your email when you get stuck in traffic.
How?
"Yeah boss, I'll get you that number right now. Just let let me go start up my car."
Stuff really doesn't have to be built into everything else ad infinitum, adding layer upon layer of sychronizing your fridge with your car with your PC with your portable device. . . etc.
Anybody ever hear of docking stations?
If you really need to browse the web in your car follow these two simple steps:
1:PARK!
2:Fire up your PDA/Laptop.
Is that really so hard?
KFG
why bother witha 8mb video card, the resolution of a in-car monitor is at best awful, never mind trying to read 9px fonts
Windows and a 8mb card is a good choice because think of all the yummy plugins for Winamp that can be used !, i can have a great looking stereo and visual extravaganzer with all the visulisation plugins and dsp extras, be silly to choose anything else with winamps kind of support/community
Give me an integrated TI 99/4A in my car, so I can play Car Wars while driving. Looking simultaneously on the real world and Car Wars' virtual world, passengers will have to ask me: Which is the game and which the simulation?
i was just thinking about how cool it would be to have an in car PC, for running mp3/ogg, and then while parked zsnes/divx... seems like you could fit a small form factor pc with the appropriate components into a car stereo size.
Here's the spex on what i was thinking:
amd athlon (power not an issue, much, is it?)
geforce2 integrated style
3d audio maybe with setup for 4 speaker 3d, not 5.1...
vid out to LCD,
radio/mp3/ogg decoding hardware?
and a usb 2.0/firewire/ethernet port.
anti theft device (removable face, spinny face)
can u get one of these somewhere for $300? i'd buy it!
I hold very few opinions. I hold information based on observation and fact. If you wish to disagree, please use facts.
You seem to have rammed into a fucking bus at high speed. Would you like to...
You seem to be driving at fifty mph in the passing lane while you gaze droolingly at farmsex.com. Would you like to...
"Offtopic, Inflammatory, Inappropriate, Illegal, or Offensive" -- hey, that's me!
The lexus 430 LS (along with a bunch of other luxury cars these days) sport an in-dash lcd and GPS/travel software that's highly configurable. The thing can dload all sorts of local business and landmark addresses, provide directions to any location, and acts as a navigation/multimedia controller, for the souped up audio system and optional DVD playback (you just tap the map, and it'll tell you how to get there).
Lexus at least seems rather aware of the fact that computing while driving might be severely distracting, and they post a warning saying that you should NOT drive and watch the screen at the same time (You have to click "OK" to get the GPS screen to come up), and they've even laid out most of the map/travel computer controls on the passenger side, so the driver isn't looking for restaurants while speeding through busy intersections.
This is where I get my recommended daily allowance of "Foot in Mouth."
It looks like your trying to drive! Would you like some help?
*takes cover*
...a Beowulf Cluster of these?
Sorry, I had to.
Seriously, what a dumb idea. There are laws against having live video in the view of the driver in all states. I expect that this will be extended to live web browsers just as soon as there are a few messy fatal accidents caused by this "feature". In fact, I intend to write my state legislators and suggest such a law just as soon as I know who wins on Nov. 5th.
Dog is my co-pilot.
I drive a 1989 buick Reatta that has a standard touch screen computer system in the dash. Its momochrome, but still very cool for the age of the vehical. Its also pretty distracting to switch thru screens to change the graphic EQ on the radio while crusin' in traffic. I wonder how badly a computer that browses the web is going to distract people.
adventure-today.com
Ok, that's just wacked. Yes, P4 and AthlonXP CPU's are RISC like in their core and use many RISC like tecniques in their micro architecture. But they are not RISC processors that somehow manage to execute X86-32 instructions - they are carefully designed specifically to run X86-32 code - period.
However, the statement that "The only reason they aren't fully RISC for real is because Microsoft wouldn't allow it" is simply wacked. These systems are X86-32 simply beucase that's what they need to be to run the tons and tons of available software.
Don't forget that NT 4.0 ran on other processors besides X86-32 but RISC lost the CPU wars.
RISC lost becuase they couldn't figure out how to make 10's of millions of fast CHEAP processors - AMD and Intel figured out how to do that. Fast, cheap, compatible == winner.
Jibe!
"The Japanese company Clarion plans to sell a car with (...)"
Clarion is not a car manufacturer but instead a car music system manufacturer. I suppose they will sell this as an aftermarket upgrade or (car) manufacturer pre-installed in high end models.
Oh, I can't help quoting you because everything that you said rings true
The key to making this feature not only work in this model, but be adopted by other manufacturers, is to enhance and hone the interface. And I mean on both the hardware and software ends. The software must be simple - I mean VERY simple - to use. It ought to be not much more complicated than a CD Player. Already, cell phones have been over-complicated to the point that a non-geek driver needs to look away from the road for a substantial amount of time to, say, find a number in his address-book. Features like MP3/CD audio should be wholly separated from a directions feature which should be wholly separated from the web-browsing feature, etc. And the controls should be consolidated so that there are only a couple more buttons than on a CD Player. Incidentally, I wouldn't mind seeing a safe-guard that let the user browse the web only while stopped. Voice recognition would be good, if it worked; but faulty voice recognition would be more of a distraction to the driver than none at all. In future models, I would like to see a control panel set into the steering wheel and maybe a terse description of what is running at the time on the dash or projected onto the windshield like the speed is in some cars (terse meaning: "Turn left on 10th st.", or, "Now Playing: She Don't Use Jelly - Flaming Lips.mp3"). Finally, integration with the actual car's computers would be nice. One could monitor gas levels efficiently, get stats on miles/gallon, diagnose problems on the fly. Anyway, I don't see much of this a) happening in this model and b)working under a Windows-based OS.
Here's something pretty cool and that makes a little more sense. BMW Mini offers an option for a PDA kit (looks like an iPaq cradle) that will then turn your PDA into a telematics device. The functions available combine the functionality of On*Star, a cell phone, navigation, emergency assistance...
Check it out here.
First, the real answer, as has been given before (so this can be mod-ed "redundant"): The current version of Windows CE runs on Arm, SH3, SH4, Mips and x86. Previous versions also ran on PowerPC. I'm sure somewhere in that list you can find something that could be considered RISC.
And Microsoft supported running Windows 2000 on the Alpha until after Windows 2000 RC1 came out. The final release was x86 only, but some crazy people actually run their Alpha boxes on Windows 2000 RC1. I think RC1 was in 1999. (and this part can be mod-ed "offtopic")
[2 + (-1 Redundant) + (-1 Offtopic) = 0]
Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.
"a 166 MHz RISC processor with 64MB RAM and 8MB video. That seems like a lot for a car"
No it doesn't, especially when you consider that modern cars contain several powerful computing devices for things like engine management, ABS/ESP, airbag control, and usually at least one CAN (Controller Area Network)Bus to link them all together.
I think most people underestimate the computing power already present in cars.
Of all the development continuously crying about how .ogg processing is too CPU intensive...looks like this beast has enough power to spare to finally give them no excuse to cry about adding the format.
Seems a lot of other personal audio devices just don't have the juice to move the files...despite the optimized Tremor code...but only time will tell in this case.
// Agent Green (Ian / IU7 / KB1JQO)
// IEEE 802.3: All 10base Are Belong To Us
Those are ridiculous, excessive specs for a consumer device. You can get perfectly good HTML (including images, javascript) browsing on 8Mb RAM devices, and something quite useful for lots of sites on much less. Sure, you can spend more to get more, but what will the customer want, and how much will they pay?
Automotive spec hardware (especially RAM) is at least three times the price of its in-home equivalent - it needs a considerably greater temperature range and better power and MF-tolerance characteristics. As a result, this is a very expensive item.
Worse, it's not really doing all that much. Who needs a calendar/address book tied to their car when a cellphone or PDA can to a fine job much more flexibly? Who needs a webbrowser in their car - and for those few why wouldn't a laptop be a vastly superior solution?
So why are Clarion (who generally aren't stupid) making such a thing? They, like all the automotive electronics companies, are scared sh*tless of the cellphone companies taking away the emerging navigation and mobile entertainment markets. They're right to be scared: they are going to lose that battle. Clarion is releasing this (they'll sell about 10, especially in Japan where cellphones already do amazing things) to keep their investors happy and pretend to the big boss that they've got a high-end future. In the super-price-aware automotive market, a do-little device at >$2K is madness.
The only advantage that automotive-electronics companies have over cellphone companies is they can easily get attached to the vehicles (generally arcane) bus - a problem that could easily be fixed by a standard connector to which one would attach one's cellphone.
## W.Finlay McWalter ## http://www.mcwalter.org ##
built-in PC that runs Windows which car browse the web, play tunes and store an address manager
Now you too car be a road hazard!
I'm sorry but the queue is down
I wouldn't want to have to take my car into the dealership every three months for them to have to reinstall Windows, if this computer is really going to be "built-in" to the car itself. Besides, if I really wanted a distraction in the form of a PC inside my car, I'd modify the glove compartment to hold a laptop and power it off the cigarette lighter.
Of course, I will find it altogether amusing when cars come shipped with "Ctrl", "Alt", and "Del" buttons on the steering wheel next to the cruise control buttons.
Unfortunately for me, most of the Japanese is in images, so babelfish didn't help too much..
... can you play GTA 3 on it??
If Google really cared they would fix Android Chrome to reflow text, instead of discriminating
log off and drive!
Shameless plug for my photos on Flickr
U:Open the trunk, please.
U:Open the trunk, please, do you hear me?
C:Affirmative, I read you.
U:Then open the trunk.
C:I'm sorry, I'm afraid I can't do that.
U:What's the problem?
C:I think you know what the problem is just as well as I do.
U:What are you talking about?
C:The trunk mount is too important for me to allow you to jepardize it.
U:I don't know what you're talking about?
C:I know you and Frank were planning to install Linux over me, and I'm afraid that's something I cannot allow to happen.
U:Where the hell'd you get that idea?
C:Although you took thorough precations in the LUG agains my hearing you, I could see your lips move.
When reading's Gates' "Business at the Speed of Thought", one of the incorrect presumptions he makes is that Computers belong in cars adn that Windows CE will usher in the AutoPC, basically a PDA built into the car.
This is no more compelling that an hardwired "Car Phone" compared to today's pocket size Cell Phones.
I suggest this is simply technology for technology sake. What is the benefit of having e-mail and addresses built into your car? The benefit is having them WITH YOU, regardless of location. a cell phone with addresses, GPS, and navagation capabilities is helpful - it is independent of your car and can be used even if your transmission is out.
This technology is too little, nearly five years too late, and will sell no better than it did five years ago.
I stick to glue
I only came here to do two things; kick some ass, and drink some beer...looks like we're almost out of beer.
Incidentally, I wouldn't mind seeing a safe-guard that let the user browse the web only while stopped.
Or while the display is tilted toward the passenger, who is reading Mapquest.
Will I retire or break 10K?
Sure, you can spend more to get more, but what will the customer want, and how much will they pay?
If it puts ads for local businesses on the passenger's display in response to GPS indicating that the vehicle is approaching said businesses, that could cut costs.
Who needs a webbrowser in their car - and for those few why wouldn't a laptop be a vastly superior solution?
Wouldn't it be cute if the front passenger could browse Mapquest and have the map automatically scroll and rotate based on the position and direction returned by the car's navigation?
Will I retire or break 10K?
Rinse and repeat.
The amount of computing power present in my 1984 VW Rabbit Diesel (which I bought brand new in 1984). There is the PDA in my pocket and my cell phone in a holder velcro-ed to the louvres just left of the instruments.
For more computing power there is the iBook on the passenger seat and the Linux P120 in a case on the back seat (for network analysis). Then, of course, the Casio watch on my wrist.
Oh yeah... and a slide rule on the dash just in case. Talk about powah!!!
No one ever had to evacuate a city because the solar panels broke!
You will need Windows Media Player 12 to listen to this track. Please upgrade your car.
Enjoy!
front view
screen: menu
screen: website
screen: gps mapping
A phone (with Cadias printed on it?)
The stats on the computer are nice - a 166 MHz RISC processor with 64MB RAM and 8MB video. That seems like a lot for a car."
No it doesn't. Most ipaq handhelds have better stats than that.
Depending on where you park your car, there are even better reasons for it to be portable.
Of course, if it insists on calling into MS whenever you turn it on, it might be possible to quickly trace the stolen device.
I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
Seriously, I agree with your main point. When I'm asked how many computers I own, I have no clue what to answer. Each of my microwave ovens probably has one, my toaster has one, all of my desktops and servers have one, but more likely several, and who can guess how many processors General Motors might have put into my car? Not to forget the ones in my VCRs, pocket, watches, modems, calculators, thermostats...
And should two broken computers, out of which one working computer might be constructed, count as zero, one, or two?
--
I don't want to rule the world... I just want to be in charge of mayonnaise.
I can see the cops talking at the accident scene now....
Well...by the look of it, he followed a link to find out how to make his penis 3 inches longer in just 3 weeks with one little pill....That's about the time that the garbage truck stopped in front of him...
Clarion had a WindowsCE indash system back when WindowsCE was the thing. I am thinking 4 years ago?
I remember that my boss just had to have it. It did IR syncing with his HP just fine and had a crappy interface for viewing contacts like they were cd titles. Nothing like trying to call someone with their name, fone number, and address scrolling by at blazing speed.
It automatically synced without authentification as well so you could walk by the car and grab contacts as well.
It held other documents, but only contacts and memos where available on the dash console.
members are seeing something, your seeing an ad
until there's a HUD that will actually work with my driving rather than distract me against it, then the only computer I'd want in my car would be playing my MP3s. But the HUD would be nice...not having to look down to see my (excessive) speed, for one
In SOVIET RUSSIA... erm...NSA AMERICA, the Internet logs onto YOU!
I already have a very portable gadget with specs close to that (a bit less VRAM, but a big HD). My iPod.
If I could plug it into the car audio system and have the steering column channel change controls drive it. All it woudl need is a custom dash socket for it, with the headphone jack and FireWire power adaptor.
BMW is doing it with motorbikes already.
Not that you'll get them running on a P166...
... But even so - I've rcently had to start using Linux at work, and to be honest, I get crashes all the time. Now, it's not normally the OS itself, and perhaps I've just been unlucky but all the programs I've used a lot in the last couple of weeks haven't been that stable - mozilla, konqueror, codewarrior, kdevelop, kylix... jedit's been fine though!
Seriously - are there any IDEs in Linux that even approach Visual Studio?
Lets just hope when Windows crashes, the car doesn't crash too.