J.P. Stewart - A new hobby: putting Windows XP in your car
- Posted: Oct 20, 2004 at 6:40 PM
- 143,656 Views
- 37 Comments
This is a different kind of video. It's not of someone talking about a Microsoft product.
It's about a Microsoft employee's hobby.
We think you'll find his hobby to be pretty darn interesting, though. He tore apart his car, put Windows XP, WiFi, GPS, and other things, into his car, and put it all back together.
While we featured only one guy's car, J.P. Stewart, he's actually started a "carPC club" on campus and he knows a few dozen people who are working on similar customization projects.
He has also started a "CarPC blog." His blog has many photos and tips for those of you who are trying to customize your own cars in this way.
Some cool stuff J.P. has already built into his car:
1) RSS News Aggregator for receiving audio "Podcasts" (between the filming of this video and today, he built the software to do that).
2) Integration with the new Streets and Trips 2005, so he always knows where he is, and how to get where he's going.
3) A cool Motorola cell phone that uses BlueTooth to keep him on the Internet whenever he's near the car.
4) A portable hard drive for playing his audio and video files.
Keep in mind that this is an enthusiast group that isn't building products.
Channel 9 has previously talked to the AutoPC group here at Microsoft -- they are the ones who are actually trying to build products for car manufacturers to include. It's fascinating to compare the approaches that these two groups are taking.
Thanks J.P. for sharing your incredible project with us! We are so jealous!
It's about a Microsoft employee's hobby.
We think you'll find his hobby to be pretty darn interesting, though. He tore apart his car, put Windows XP, WiFi, GPS, and other things, into his car, and put it all back together.
While we featured only one guy's car, J.P. Stewart, he's actually started a "carPC club" on campus and he knows a few dozen people who are working on similar customization projects.
He has also started a "CarPC blog." His blog has many photos and tips for those of you who are trying to customize your own cars in this way.
Some cool stuff J.P. has already built into his car:
1) RSS News Aggregator for receiving audio "Podcasts" (between the filming of this video and today, he built the software to do that).
2) Integration with the new Streets and Trips 2005, so he always knows where he is, and how to get where he's going.
3) A cool Motorola cell phone that uses BlueTooth to keep him on the Internet whenever he's near the car.
4) A portable hard drive for playing his audio and video files.
Keep in mind that this is an enthusiast group that isn't building products.
Channel 9 has previously talked to the AutoPC group here at Microsoft -- they are the ones who are actually trying to build products for car manufacturers to include. It's fascinating to compare the approaches that these two groups are taking.
Thanks J.P. for sharing your incredible project with us! We are so jealous!
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Another use for the computer (even here in CA, just keep the monitor off) is to completely map out (with GPS -- by triangulation) the exact locations of wireless access points. It might involve driving around a block or two but during a long period of time, one could completely map out his/her own neighborhood.
J.P.
Over here in good old europe, the so called CarPC or Carputer is becoming more and more famous. For about 1500$ you can have everything you want like GPS, DVD, Games, Internet, WiFi, MP3 and so on. Maybe you like to check out these pages : www.car-pc.info or www.cartft.com. Sorry for both pages beeing in German, but maybe you can use babelfish.
Cheers from the "old world"
Nunki
http://ross-tech.com/
Tom
I'm working on a CarPC for a school project. One of my goals is to have a working OBDII interface.
I'm a member of Saab Turbo Club of Sweden and several members have tried the ElmScan interface from http://www.scantool.net/
It should work with any OBDII capable car on the market, not only Saabs. And it's not that expensive, the cost is less than $100
Fredrik
J.P.
What about mounting a camera at the rear of the vehicle and running a live feed for Media Player to play back as a replacement to the review mirror.
also this might wash away the California laws when using it in this mannor.
Some random thoughts about XP devices in a car:
Mobile hardware (laptops, tablets, etc.) seems more useful (despite the slightly higher cost) because of power consumption, battery augmentation, and the ability to remove the computer if needed for security. Some sort of a docking station is a must... People steal things from cars, you know.
TabletPC would be nice to incorporate since it could utlize touch screen, ink, etc., and most of the devices have WiFi and Bluetooth built in.
Need a decent auto-light-sensitive transflective touch screen like the Walkabout TabletPC has that looks good in sunlight.
With all the wireless speaker audio devices available, why couldn't one install a sound system that is WiFi based, and automatically picks up your mobile device.
There is potential for wired/wireless LCD projector for passengers in the back.
Is there any way to combine XP TabletPC with MCE 2005? *shivers*
...Now I just need to justify the cool automotive geekness to my wife after I spend all of our money.
www.hptuners.com
and
www.ls1edit.com (GM LS1-346ci cars)
In my case I am running a Shuttle XPC w/1800 mhz processor w/250 watt powersupply, Ati Radeon 9800 Pro video card, 512 megs of ram, Gametheatre Xp sound card w/5.1 Dolby Digital and DTS surroundsound, Sumsung 15" LCD monitor. IBM 40GB Travelstar USB 2.0 HD. 2 Car batteries, a battery Isolitor for the 2 batteries. Running WinXp Sp2. All hooked up to a Phoenix Gold 500.2 SUb amp, PPI 5440 5.0 sound, 2 12" Phoenix Gold Subs. More info to follow, but you are on the right track JP, keep up the good work.
I thought you might be interested in these web sites about Car PC's - there is a massive community out there that's been going several years.
My site:
http://www.stevieg.org/carpc
UK Magazine article on Car PCs (featuring mine)
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/custompc/features/65144/kitt-out-your-car.html" target="_blank">http://www.pcpro.co.uk/custompc/features/65144/kitt-out-your-car.html
and of course the communities..
UK Car PCs
http://www.digital-car.co.uk
Worldwide Car PCs at MP3Car.com
http://www.mp3car.com
Any thoughts on intergrating a PocketPC into the car?
Although one would want to use the VGA PPC's and probably needs to brush up on WinCE development to get a bigger secondary touch screen working right.
Or even go to a WinCE device and hack open the device to make the screen detachable and go from there...
You might be interested in looking over at MP3Car.com - Windows CE is something quite a few other are looking at doing themselves..
http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=33968&highlight=Windows+CE
http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=35541&highlight=Windows+CE
http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=14069&highlight=Windows+CE
And the most common in-car VGA touchscreens (I won't mention any brands here just in case it's not allowed but you will soon find them on mp3car and other car pc sites) have Windows CE drivers available (this is a link to the driver site, not the manufacturer or reseller of the screens)
http://www.egalax.com.tw/Download.htm
So it's all possible!
California's law states that as long as the screen is being used as a GPS, mapping device or a couple of other "driver friendly" functions it is legal.
http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d12/vc27602.htm
I want to do that to my Civic, however i don't have the money & my warranty is preventing me to go into my car.
I have a HP Jornada 540 (Yes, it was used by Adam & Eve), and it doesn't have any connectivity. It's batteries are officially dead. I took out the battery provided by HP and am planning of having it run on AA batteries. It has a CF Card port, and InfraRed port. Is there a way that I can have the CF Card port connect to a USB hub, and have the USB hub connect to a WiFi card & Bluetooth Card to go to the Internet and use a GPS.
Is there a CF Card that connects to my port that has a USB extension?
Do you guys know anything on how to transform this old bucket of bolts (my Jornada) into a new bucket of bolts?
THANX
-dg3D -- davy$dany
Yo J.P., i think if you have a Windows Mobile Device, you can have it load quicker. Just a suggestion. I'm a HS student, you guys are da pro.
iMobile Executive - www.imobilepc.com
Xenarc PC - www.xenarc.com
Power Supply - www.carnetix.com
I've been down the cheap road with VIA boards and the freeware and it just didn't work right.
http://elect_blue2.tripod.com/
http://elect_blue.tripod.com/
I haven't as yet even come up with a permanent mount 2.4 GHz antenna for the back hatch yet. Any help would be appreciated.
I saw a Lexus SUV recently with an LCD flat panel in it's front dash. Does this mean it can not be driven in California?
---Will---
Glendale AZ USA
It's a dry heat ........
also on humanclock.com at noon time.......
The movie is located at:
http://flum.se/pictures/dp.asp?i=DFAE799F6590429CAAAEC3E9354ADB7E
I will add more content to this site later on at:
http://flum.se/pictures/?i=13E623D917CF46DBBBAFAFF1B4A610CE
He has changed his setup just recently and I will update my site with some new pictures and videos as I get a chance to.
www.autohacks.net
www.carpcspecialist.com
www.dashboardmonkey.com
Hope they may be of help and best of luck to stuart.
The most inexpensive OBD-II scan tool / performance analysis tool for a CarPC is ProScan @ http://www.MyScanTool.com. It is a complete OBD-II scan tool with 1/4 mile and dyno features as well.
You can get a single-protocol kit for your vehicle for less than $100 with free software upgrades for life. If you want a universal kit that works on ALL OBD-II vehicles, its only slightly more.
Also, very soon there will be custom-tailored software for user's who have a PC mounted permanently in the vehicle. So this is definitely the best route to take for in-vehicle OBD-II.
Thanks,
David Gore
Developer of ProScan
http://www.dashboardmonkey.com
There is also an UK / EU forum too at http://www.digital-car.co.uk/
Terran
Nice install! For anyone looking for an affordable pre-made in car pc solution, please check out this site:
http://www.gnetcanada.com
We carry in-vehicle LCD displays, car pc's and navigation video interfaces.
Thanks!
Shawn
G-NET Inc.
hi J.P
For obdII you may check this link, it is using Windows CE
automotive scan tool
hi J.P
You check this link: Auto scan tool
It uses windows CE
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