Many are conderned that scrapping millions of Note 7 devices poses an immense environmental threat. Apart from the fact that they would, in around two to four years, be discarded anyway, Sasmung could simply repurpose them. Remove the damn battery, route power from the USB port directly to the system (as is already in place), provide a suitable cradle and you have a stationary security cam, wifi access port, in car navigation system, Android TV, micro computer for home automation etc., etc., etc.. They could sell them at base price... Who wants one?
Related
PROPOSE: The creation of a connection protocol that will force/enable standardization of all mobile devices... One in which that can work with current technology connection no matter the device. Simple embedding the wires into a custom case that will act as the ALL-IN-ONE adapter.
LIKE the 19-connector apple protocol or the PDMI (Portable Digital Media Interface)
While, this case will add to the bulk to older/newer devices I would rather gain the ability to use multitudes of accessories without the need of multiple adapter connection.
ADDITIONALLY: I truly believe we should think about apples supporters and help them as well by developing this connector with them in mind... This will force the market to stop deciding to design apple, android or windows and focus on making cool accessories and letting the customers figure it out.
I hope this made sense... I did call three case companies and two wire companies and they stated they liked the Idea but do not think there is a large enough audience to ensure success...
THIS IS AS FAR AS I CAN GO... I CAN COME UP WITH THE MONEY TO START THE PROCESS BUT LACK THE KNOW-HOW AND SUPPORTERS TO MAKE THIS A SUCCESS....
The Standardized Developers Connector needs to not required the need for hardware or drivers. Developing for the future while enabling the past to connect to the same accessories....
HOPE This made sense any questions or comments let me know...
Image a case with the standardized connection but you can add additional specific to your need to alleviate the need for another adapter... EXAMPLE.... The standardize connector on the bottom a head phone jack at the top and hdmi and multiple standard usb to enable a pc experience at any hdmi capable screen and mouse and key board.
Then when I am home I can plug my standardized connection into my media setup and use my bluetooth keyboard mouse and game pad and utilize my big screen as a media center...
Then go the my favorite bar to open spin night plug my standardized connection into their Standardized developed spin tables and battle the other contestants...
Then when I want to upgrade I plug my standardized connected device into a cluster of old devices that I will pass forward to kids of friends and families but until then they will create a virtual power house of processing for my new interactive input device...
I own a SEAT IBIZA car with Android Auto and Mirror-Link features.
I'm curious to know if there is a possible way to read some information Via CANBUS protocol like RPM, Speed, Oil temperature etc.
through the original USB plug and not from the OBD II.
Thanks in advance!
Chen_Gold said:
I own a SEAT IBIZA car with Android Auto and Mirror-Link features.
I'm curious to know if there is a possible way to read some information Via CANBUS protocol like RPM, Speed, Oil temperature etc.
through the original USB plug and not from the OBD II.
Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Of course there is! Not everyone uses those damned rigged* Autel DS708 scantools anymore (even though they have been the gold standard for years, the UI has always been such a......tool.) VAG makes a scanner (not a code reader) that has a USB adapter for some foreign and domestic higher end vehicles.
Just do a Web search for a diagnostic auto scanner with USB adapters, or for the cars with USB diagnostic ports (sometimes they hide diag ports under the hood, too) - I threw it into a Google search and the Seat Ibiza was just the first car I came up with, followed by several scanners with matching port adapters.
Not to sound like a heifer, but finding a tech who is savvy enough to be able to tell the difference between a 16-pin OBD2 port and a USB port is a boon in and of itself. You'd do well to find a well rounded tech with a some history in electronics (wave forms are a marvelous thing when applied to the dynamics of an internal combustion engine and it's components!)
Automotive technicians are a rapidly changing group of people, with those who can't make the cut quickly fall by the wayside, so just be politely persistent about your needs, and [eventually] you may run across someone who specializes [which can be costly] or someone who has enough general knowledge to put a scanner to good use.
Just don't pay a ton of money for the "service" of plugging a scanner in and reading codes or resetting your sun roof - dealerships escalate the costs tremendously, but with intelligent scanners running anywhere from several hundred to several thousand dollars, I'd look for a smaller shop or individual. For what some of the dealers/specialists charge to plug in a scanner you could buy your own scantool!!
All that said, check with your favorite garage and inquire about the make/model of their scanner. The techs who stay up to date may charge a bit more for diagnostics, but it makes the repair a LOT less expensive when they can pinpoint the issues right away, and most are quick to offer up their services to show off that shiny new gadget that can read the cars' minds.
Depending on where you are, I may be able to offer a connect through a tech in your area. They may or may not have a scanner or a friend who does, but I don't mind asking if you'd like.
Good luck!
CC~
EDITED TO ADD: *The Autel Maxidas DS708 is, and has been planned as a terminal application, neatly coinciding with the termination date of Wince 6.x. Want more info? Drop me a line.
I installed a Chinese car stereo/DVD/GPS in my Honda Civic in 2012, and was satisfied with the purchase. It was powered by WinCE, which is an operating system I do NOT recommend. The Android OS is supported by Android, and there is a huge amount of 3rd party software. By comparison, Microsoft has largely terminated support for WinCE, they've abandoned further development in that arena, and there are no 3rd party applications available.
My advice would be to purchase the latest version of Android available, and the most capable processor; that would be the largest number of cores, and the highest clock speed. Also get the largest available RAM and ROM configurations. The reason for getting the best hardware configuration available is to minimize start up lag, and improve responsiveness with the latest OS. With the best hardware, the Chinese units are very responsive. Even less capable hardware platforms respond well, but take longer to start up. There are a number of YouTube videos regarding various peoples' experience with Chinese Head Units, and in general most people are very satisfied.
Be aware that many units have identical front panels, but are very different inside. One way of determining whether you're getting the same hardware is to look at the rear of the unit (if they show a photo). Different hardware will almost always have a different plug layout on the back. If the rear of the deck is identical, there's a good chance that the decks you're comparing have identical hardware. When searching for your unit on a website like AliExpress, include your automobile name (Focus, Alantra, Civic) in the search term. This will bring up units that will fit your vehicle. Because dash layouts change over time, search results will include terms like 'Focus 2012 2017' which tells you that the particular unit will fit all Ford Focus vehicles between the years specified. Don't put the specific year of your vehicle in as a search term; it will just muddle the results.
Chinese head units often offer features that are not available on locally sold units. For example, my unit allowed me to stick any audio CD into the reader, and it would copy it at high speed into memory, where it would reside forever. This kind of feature is not built in on most North American head units, due to copyright infringement laws.
I purchased a USB modem for my head unit that would allow me to surf the web over a 3G phone network. It worked well, but I would not - in most circumstances - recommend it, simply because entering search terms on a vertical screen is physically cumbersome. I found it much simpler to use my handheld phone ( a Note 4 ). However, if you want to stream YouTube videos, streaming them on a larger screen - or to the back seat, by means of a video out terminal on virtually all Chinese head units - might prove superior to watching them on a small phone screen.
One very good reason for having a USB modem is if you wish to go on a lengthy road trip using google maps. While it is technically possible to download static map coverage and store it in the unit, in my experience Google limits the number of map sections you can download to a strip about 200 miles long. Also, those strips cease to work within 2 weeks, and must be refreshed. While I like Google navigation, the constant connection required can be problematic, particularly if you're visiting a foreign country (Canadian in the US, US citizen in Canada, either nationality in Mexico) where your regular data plan is not supported. Under those circumstances, Google maps can get real pricey. A better solution would be to purchase GPS software, and update the maps regularly. I have used Igo 8, and I found it to be excellent mapping software, with a number of extra features (speed camera locations, exceeding the local speed limit warnings, local speed limit display) that I found very useful. There are other good software choices as well.
Most units support many dozens of languages; my unit was supplied with English, but I could have changed it to any language I wanted. I also was able to specify that when my unit turned on, it displayed the Honda logo, which added to the 'factory install' appearance. Again, you can choose from dozens of company logos.
Most installs are very straightforward, and can be completed by an amateur in an afternoon. I'd recommend watching some YouTube videos first, in order to determine if this is a task you wish to take on. In my current install, I have to run an antenna line from the trunk to the head unit in the dash, as the trunk is where Mercedes put their amplifier/receiver. That's unusual, but watching a few videos first will help you determine the difficulty level. In most cases, it's very simple. Custom wiring harnesses are usually supplied with the unit, as are plastic shells and trim pieces that allow it to merge seamlessly into the dash and look like a factory install. My Civic was supplied with a huge plastic dash panel, several times the size of the unit. But it clipped seamlessly into place, and made the unit look like it came from the factory that way.
In general, Chinese auto head units offer excellent value; they perform as well or better than locally available units. My sister spent $1,500 for a top of the line Clarion, and was so disgusted with it she gave it away, after several angry verbal exchanges with the shop that sold it to her. I tried working with it as well, and found it to be so buggy as to be impossible to use. By comparison, the $300 I spent bought me an excellent, well performing unit. I'm currently purchasing another one for my Mercedes, which I guess speaks to my confidence regarding their quality and value.
A quick bit of background, I have recently sold my car that had a factory fit wince media centre fitted, and although locked down I miss the navigation and ease of use in my new car. The new car is actually a 10 year old Mazda MX5 NC (MK3) and currently has the stock radio which I'm thinking of upgrading.
I have figured I had 2 choices, either an all singing android unit, or a regular manufactures unit which supports Apple AirPlay. I figured that would still give me the basics of what I need, and probably with no potential for things to go wrong Anyway I like a challenge and the though of having more possible functionality I think is winning the argument for getting an android unit, but I have a few final questions from people in the know!
I have bene looking at a couple of units that look pretty similar spec wise (cornet me if I'm wrong) :-
Pumpkin AE0273B, XTRONS TE706PL. I was posting links to them but I'm not allowed yet So you will have to google for the exact details if needed.
So onto the questions :
1. I see a lot of the connectivity is via USB, and If I were to add several of the extras (E.g DAB+, 3/4G, DashCam, Phone) I would ned more USB ports than supplied (The XTRONS has 3, but the Pumpkin only 2). Can I just use a USB hub to get more ports like on a computer? If yes I'm assuming a powered one would be better as those accessories all need power.
2. I currently have a simple dash cam that just records video and audio in a loop onto an SD card all the time the ignition is on. Each file is about 2 mins long and I get about 4 hours recording before it starts to overwrite older files. This works great as I can forget about it and in 3 years, have never had to even look at the footage, and hopefully never will. But it gives peace of mind. I see you can get a USB one that I'm sure will have much better user interface if I want to play back footage. My existing camera has a phono out which I could connect to an AUX input to use the screen, but would still have the fiddly buttons to press on the camera behind my mirror.
Does the DVR app on the unit with the USB camera just crack on and record stuff in a similar I can forget about it way, and its just all there if I need it in the future. Or do I need to do something every time I turn the ignition on? Where does it record the footage, do I need to provide an additional SD card?
3. I see there are often 2 SD card slots, one marked for maps, the other presumably for music. Is there actually any difference, or are these just 2 mount points in the system that get used for anything? This question just came to me when thinking about the camera above. It wasn't actually on my list!
4. I'm worried that with a convertible car I'm not going to be able to see the screen due to the huge amount of ambient or even direct sun light. I have heard that there are anti-glare filters which could help a bit, but is this going to be a problem for me when it comes to navigating etc? Are the screens on the standard manufacture units (e.g. Pioneer etc) any better. In other words would I be better off sacrificing the cool stuff and getting a straight CarPlay unit that would be bright enough to see?
5. Lots os talk about rooting the device. What are the actual advantages of doing this? Are there some killer apps that make this a worth while exercise?
I appreciate its a long post and there are lots of questions, so a big thank you in advance for any of the questions you might be able to answer.
Regards
Ben
EDIT: forgot to mention — almost all units are identical to one another. They all have almost identical MTCD/MTCE MCU boards with the same audio/radio/wifi/Bluetooth chips (there are exceptions). And the main SoC is gonna be a PX5 with 4 GB of ram. So outside of that you want build quality (buttons, screen, plastic) and if it’s made to fit your car already.
First off, check out Joying units which have Carplay built in as well (and they have Octa core 4gb android 8.0 double din universal ones).
Next, yes you’d be able to use a USB hub and yes a powered one is best. Get one that works off of 12v and wire it in for a clean solution (so you always have a powered hub in your glove box for instance)
There are dash cams that the head unit manufacturers will sell you that you can leave plugged into your unit and they will auto record as you say. You basically don’t have to touch them, and just open the necessary app if you wanna change settings, or lock/save a file.
The 2 SD card slots are identical but one of them is meant to be always-in for GPS maps (for the Navi that the seller pre-loads sometimes). Also for firmware updates the GPS slot is the only one it boots from.
Glare depends heavily on the angle that your dash positions the screen at, so it’s hard to say. But yeah sometimes the sun hits it just right and there’s pretty much nothing you can do. Happens on oem units too.
Rooting isn’t super necessary but depending on how much you want to tinker it adds nice features like apps staying open after sleep, and the ability to customize the way everything looks. That said, there’s a lot in the way of customization that’s already available. Check malaysk’s custom ROM though. It’s pretty stable and the inclusion of viper4android alone is worth the hassle (in my opinion)
Hope this helps!
So it looks to me like there are 3 generic systems that have been badged up, one with a knob at the top, one with a knob at the bottom, and one without a knob.
The ones with the knobs seem to have the slightly newer TDA7851 amp chip, and the one with out uses the older TDA7850, which is a shame as I prefer the look of just buttons.
The Xtrons unit has a 3rd USB, which saves having to get a USB hub.
The Joying has the benefit of the built in ZLink, but as its software it does mean you loose that benefit if you use a different rom.
And there are various options on the back of the units, some have small wifi antenna built in, some have connectors for an external one.
It all make for lots of extra decisions!!
After getting Whitehouse support from Pumpkin, I would only buy Dasaita now. I just ordered a Dasaita PX5 4GB Oreo to replace my Pumpkin PX3 2GB.
Hi,
I'd like to introduce my project...
I'm building a vintage kit car using the BMW Z3 (2000 model year) as the base car. I want the car to have access to tech but for the tech to be hidden in the centre console, actually on the underside of the top of the console. The concept is that when no tech is needed (for example at shows) the car will retain its vintage looks but when tech is required (i.e. when being driven) the tech becomes available. I'm imagining a top section of the console which will hinge up and reveal the tablet. There isn't going to be much space on the underside of the console which is why I'm going for a tablet rather than one of the many Chinese android units.
As an aside, I've just ordered an Icebox Octa core 64G Rom / 4G Ram unit (TTF1983 ) for my facelift (2015) Vauxhall Insignia which I expect to arrive in the next week or so.
I've already researched other people's projects which has helped me to get to where I currently am. Where I currently am is ordering many of the bits and pieces which I expect to need.
My tablet project is intended to be a much simpler affair than the Icebox unit:
DAB and FM radio
Rear and, hopefully, front camera
Sat nav
OBD II
Mirror my phone if needs be
What I won't need includes:
Steering wheel controls
Air con management
Electric roof control
Pretty much everything else that an android head unit offers
What I might need is:
BT Phone but in a convertible that's going to be a bit of an issue any way
Because the car will only be used sporadically I need an effective power management system, one which will kick in after perhaps a month's lack of use.
My tablet of choice is a Galaxy Tab S 10.5 (SM-T800) which I happen to have lying around, it's currently running stock Android 6.01 . The tablet is a wifi model so the plan is to hotspot it to my Galaxy S8 when I'm on the road
I've already ordered
a 12V to 5V 3A dc-dc converter
a 4 port USB2 hub
an OTG Y cable to take power from the dc-dc converter to feed the tablet and to move data between the devices
an easycap UTV007 video capture device (for the parking camera units)
a USB to USB relay to allow the easycap to feed the video through to the USB when reverse is connected
an 'intelligent' video selector which has two video inputs (front and rear cameras) and one video output (to the head unit via the USB relay). The unit keeps the relevant camera connected to the output. I need to take delivery of this and play with it to see what it can really do.
an ELM327 bluetooth OBD II device
a NooElec Smart DVB+ device
a Creative Soundblaster DAC
I know that I'm going to need a decent amplifier between the DAC and the speakers (suggestions and recommendations welcome). I might also want a manual volume control, possibly with a push button mute facility. I've probably missed a bunch of stuff...
I've rooted the tablet and tweaked it (overwritten lpm) so that when the ignition is switched on then the tablet will boot. I've used MacroDroid to tell the device to switch off 10 seconds after the ignition is switched off (unless the ignition gets switched on again within those 10 seconds)
I'm looking very closely at the Agama Car Launcher to pull much of it together. There are some aspects of this launcher that I'd like to see improved. For example I'd like to be able to get back to the home screen from the maps screen (or other screens) CarWebGuru places a button on the screen to allow this. It would be nice also to have a split screen so that I can have maps on one side and Audio / OBD / any other app on the other side. I'm aware that I might not get all that I wish for
One thing I'd REALLY like to see improved is the cold boot time which is currently 50 seconds. I might consider a custom ROM if anyone knows of a ROM that will fire up quickly, or any other tweak which will significantly shorten the cold boot time. 10 seconds or less would be nice. I've looked at Cyanogenmod 12.1 or 13 with the quick boot utility but I understand that the quick boot is basically hibernate and may not survive a month without the ignition being switched on.
Hopefully I've given a reasonable overview of what I'm looking to achieve and hopefully there will be people out there that can help tie everything together and troubleshoot when the time comes.
Russell
nice project, good luck with it..
Keep us posted on your project progress...
Wondering how this is coming along?
My question for you is, will the tablet charge and use data via the OTG cable simultaneously? Did you need to run a custom kernel to enable that?
thanks.
Quite in consonance with what I've been wanting to achieve. Nevertheless, the plan was frustrated by other priorities. Would love to see how this emerges. Meanwhile here's a basic experiment I've tried.