carputers.org

A couple of months ago there were rumours floating around that Bluetooth viruses could infect the on-board computers of some Lexus cars, or at least cause some visible effects on them. We took a Toyota Prius to an underground bunker and tested various Bluetooth mobile phone viruses and assorted Bluetooth attacks against the onboard computer. The results were somewhat surprising. It came as no surprise that we could not infect the car, but the Prius performed in the test even better than expected. No matter what we did the car did not react to the Bluetooth traffic at all. Cabir tried to send itself to the car and the car just did not allow the Bluetooth OBEX transfer to happen. Then, the whole car crashed (but not because of a virus)...

Read more over at: The F-Secure Blog.

Hop in your car, turn the key and your phone book stares up at you from the LCD screen in your dashboard.

Scroll through a list of missed calls or recently dialed numbers. Find the name you're looking for, press a button and the call rings through the car's sound system, all while your phone remains untouched in your jacket pocket.

Radio-frequency wireless connections in cars through a technology known as Bluetooth have been around for about three years, but this new level of connectivity--where the phone's internal directory and call logs are displayed on the car's dashboard--is new. At the moment, you can find it only in 2005 Audi A6 and A8 models, and only if you use certain phones, including PalmOne's popular Treo 650 PDA phone.

The Audi-Treo matchup may still be missing certain crucial features, like the ability to find entries stored in the phone's memory by using the car's voice-recognition system. But this initial cooperation, followed by a broadening of the Bluetooth standard and continued development in automotive technology, promise a future where most cars and most phones work together in wireless harmony.

V1 Virtual Display is a new software product that displays alert information from the Valentine One Radar Locator from Valentine Research Inc.

Currently it supports a skinnable user interface and options for when and how to display alerts. The V1 can also be interacted with and muted by the software. At this time it requires the building of a custom interface cable to connect the V1 to your computer.

In development are a skin building tool, user-created sound themes, more detailed logging (including gps coordinates) and a pre-built interface for those who are afraid of a soldering iron.

Visit the V1VD website or the announcement thread on mp3car.com

Vital Engineering Limited will soon offer a Bluetooth OBDII Dongle for accessing Diagnostic ECU Data from your vehicle.

The unit is powered from the vehicle, and has 5 status LED's to indicate transmission states. Using it, you can access your vehicle's OBDII data without a serial cable (it's a standard Bluetooth Class I device).

It includes software for Microsoft Windows (including PocketPC and Windows Mobile) and Palm.

Microsoft’s Automotive Business Unit calls it a standardized telematics platform; the project, named "Windows Mobile for Automotive", (formerly known under its internal Microsoft code name as T-Box), is as scary of a proposition in cars as it is on desktops.

Ford Motor Co. has signed on with Microsoft to co-develop this great new technology[sic] into the forthcoming Ford Galaxy.

Ford’s new telematics system was presented today at the final press conference of the four-year research program "Intelligent Traffic and User-friendly Technology", which was sponsored by the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research.

Let's hope that shares in Ford Motor Co. don't tank as quickly as GM's did last week. If they do, at least GM can claim victory in that they didn't have to sell out to Microsoft when they purported their P/E.

We may all be hitchhikers, after the "Galaxy" - until then, let's just hope that Ford has a plan B.

Chris Webb, the guy behind ExtremeTech books, has posted a free, non-DRM'd bonus chapter from Geek My Ride - the first book to cover the car PC craze.

Check it out on his blog:

http://blog.ziffdavis.com/etbooks

MacVroom is reporting

"For everyone that has been patiently waiting for the ideal solution to power their Mac mini install - it's here! The CarNetix CNX-P1900 is now shipping and in stock at the mp3car store.

CarNetix has also updated their site to include a P1900 installation manual, compatibility matrix, Mac mini application diagram, and instructions for splicing the P1900 to a Mac mini power connection."

MicroNet has just released a fun looking new docking station for the Mac Mini: The minimate.

It features:

• up to 400GB additional storage
• 3 FireWire ports
• 4 USB 2.0 ports
• Attach power, USB and FireWire cable and you're ready to rock!

This could be a great way to mount the Mac Mini in a vehicle because it offers easy removal.

The first book to highlight carputers: "Geek My Ride" by Auri Rahimzadeh (John Wiley & Sons) hits store shelves [here in the US] today, April 25th 2005. International stores should carry it very soon.

Car hacker Auri Rahimzadeh revs up readers while guiding them through 21 cool projects complete with step-by-step instructions for adding electrical outlets, installing satellite radio and mobile Wi-Fi, and building in-car DVD systems.

Takes the automotive geek far beyond the factory options-readers will learn the "fine art" of fearlessly pulling out a dashboard, ripping up some carpet, and creating a crazy ride!

Hacks include adding backseat video gaming systems, building an auto-tracking in-car satellite TV unit, installing a trunk-mounted server computer, and even installing a mobile plasma theater system.

Foreword by Steve "Woz" Wozniak, who shares tips from his own hacked Hummer.

Aside from custom fabrication requirements for in-dash installs, the other developing technology is about the UI. A clean, smart UI that lets you use the touch screen to access all functions and sub-menus is critical in having a fully functional in-car computer. Using a mouse and keyboard while trying to avoid angry soccer-mom and her on-board honor student may be too much for most of us. In fact, trying to avoid cell-phone blabbing, no-turn-signal using, idiot drivers is hard enough without navigating display property sub-menus. There will be a perm-link to the discussion board covering this but I also wanted to cover it here. Here are the current UIs:

In Car Terminal  | Hybrid Mobile | Media Car | Media Engine | Frodo Player | Neo Car | Media Cruiser | Mobile Media Center | Auto Touch | A.I.M.E.E. | PyCar | Car Box | Head Unit | TinyMusicEmbedded(TME) | C.E.S. | X-Lobby | Centrafuse | DashPC | CNS Maestro | Tatra | Road Runner | I3 (Mac Application launcher) | Sohpie | ESXManager

Yahoo News is covering from the (AP) about a system that links individual cars to analyze traffic patterns, which allows the drivers to avoid traffic jams and accidents. This system is part of the 'smart highway' initiatives. The data from the car is sent to a central server and from that data traffic patterns in a 40 mile radius. According to the article this technology is less expensive than using poll mounted antennas or ground sensors.

Check out the new version of ProjectEZP.com. This site provides a new free service to avoid speed traps and other tricky areas in USA and other countries. The technology is based on a database of the GPS coordinates of speed traps. To utilize this service, all you need to do is download the database to your GPS navigation system or in car computer and it will warn you when you approach one of these many known traps. The new version includes:
- 26000 spots around the world.
- 5800 spots in USA
- twenty countries covered from Australia to Ukraine.
- Windows Executable file. You can install it on your in-car computer (carputer or laptop).

Reporting on the vehicles at the 2005 International Auto Show, Wired describes how the Ford concept car Synus (which also includes a 45 inch LCD screen) is equipped with both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. I am curious to know if they're offering any unique capabilities/functionality with either of these wireless technologies. While Ford is offering the Ford Focus in Europe with Bluetooth, it appears there is no change in its strategy in the US of only offering Bluetooth in luxury cars (Lincoln and Jaguar lines) or concept/research vehicles (the Ford SR2V featured in Popular Science a while back).

Read the original article here.

Matt from TunerTricks is at it again... This time he has gotten his hands on a pre-production version of the CarNetix CNX-P1900 and has installed it in his VW GTi. He has written another excellent and detailed entry on his site. It sounds like CarNetix has really done great job with this power supply, and it's great that they are thoroughly testing it with the Mac mini. Kudos to Matt and CarNetix!

It's good to finally hear about a P1900 installed in a Mac'd ride. Now when can we get ours? :)

Read the original article here.