Tablets, the new Car Interface?

[G. David Felt]

So the Tablet craze got me thinking, Ford has their whole Sync world with USB upgrades. GM has their version coming out MyLink, they have also their Android App to help you better interface with the VOLT.

So with this in mind, what would it take to have an Auto maker decide to just have a 10" tablet holder in the center dash with a USB port. Just plug in your tablet and have say suction cups that hold it in place and boom. Up comes an interface allowing you to totally manage everything in your car. This way depending on how you interface to the world, via Apple, Windows, Linux, you have a nice to use interface and the abilityto customize it.

I see this as reducing the cost of creating the whole dash around a nav, stereo, HVAC controlls, etc. instead we end up with a smooth flowing dash with a single spot in the center for one to use their tablet.

Thoughts? Am I crazy or does this hold water and have merit to how we can streamline auto's and get updates out to people faster to address gliches in the electronics that control and assist with driving the auto?

Would his be a faster way to improve the over all end user experiance? Example is the slush tranny on the recent review for the spark.If you could just download a diagnostic file to GM, they review it in support and return an updated code file to address the tranny issues, we could see a much faster customer satisfaction as long as the tablet had WiFi or even 3G/4G.

Sound off on this,

Edited March 28, 2012 by dfelt

[GMTruckGuy74]

I think that the tablet would need to be an available option, in case the customer did not own one.

[Drew Dowdell]

Isn't Hyundai already planning this on the Genesis/Equus?

[G. David Felt]

I think that the tablet would need to be an available option, in case the customer did not own one.

Why would it need to be an option, if you do not have one, you can purchase one at the time of auto purchase. Just an expanded selling front for th tablets. Course I would expect a dealership to focus on just 1 or 2 models, but this would still in my mind allow a great amount of options/features/custimization for people. Especially for those that do not care much about the driving experiance in comparison to the experiance of getting from point A to B.

I especially think this will be reality when we get to self driving cars.

[Robert Hall]

I especially think this will be reality when we get to self driving cars.

Yes..I would expect a production version of the Google autonomious Priuses would have a Android-based tablet interface, for example. Or if Apple teams up w/ a car maker to do an iCar I would expect it to have an iPad....

Edited March 28, 2012 by Cubical-aka-Moltar

[frogger]

What happens when someone steals the tablet

[Robert Hall]

What happens when someone steals the tablet

Then you are SOL..

[balthazar]

With all the focus and hype on hand-held devices being banned, it amazes me anyone could turn around and suggest a driver-accessible tablet would be a peachy-keen idea.

[Robert Hall]

While they won't interface w/ the car's controls, there are dash mounts for the iPad and other popular tablets now available...

[daves87rs]

Isn't Hyundai already planning this on the Genesis/Equus?

Pretty sure...

[G. David Felt]

With all the focus and hype on hand-held devices being banned, it amazes me anyone could turn around and suggest a driver-accessible tablet would be a peachy-keen idea.

Not sure if I think this is a peach-keen idea, but working as a computer engineer and having friends that work on the Prius project, you would be surprised at how far some experiments have gone in regards to running the whole car from a tablet.

[FAPTurbo]

There would need to be universal standards and runtimes for this to be feasible. But a seamless HTML5 experience that allows a driver to interact with their vehicle would be nice.

That said, I think it's tablet hardware and software that will make its way into vehicles, not the tablets themselves. For example, RIM's QNX division has been hard at work implementing its software into vehicles - many of them already use the OS.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/aRZQHZ9umQ4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Incorporating this would allow seamless operation between a Blackberry or Android or iOS product.

What would be great, is the ability to set a route using Google or Bing Maps, complete with waypoints. Then the smartphone/tablet would beam the information to the car, having the route set as soon as the driver starts the engine. No need to continuously fiddle with a 4" screen.

Then they leave the car to walk the extra distance, the information goes right back to the tablet, recalibrated.

Cloud-sourced music would also be a great feature. Save your music on a cloud service like iCloud or SugarSync and then your playlist is with your car, wherever you go. No tablet, mp3 player or CD's required.

That could be taken a step further using streaming radio services or programs like Slacker. If you're on the road and hear a song you like, you can quickly purchase it while driving and have it immediately sync'd to the playlist.

[PurdueGuy]

Standardized tablet stand/mount + inductive charging built in + bluetooth interface = win.

[FAPTurbo]

Standardized tablet stand/mount + inductive charging built in + bluetooth interface = win.

That would be geek heaven. But wouldn't Bluetooth restrict more bandwidth intensive programs? When my tablet is tethered via BT, it's woefully slow.

[frogger]

I'm all for cool features as long as the software is locked down enough so it's not possible to access the more distracting/advanced ones while the car is in gear.

[G. David Felt]

What you do not want Debbie Does Dallas playing while you drive?

[Robert Hall]

I can imagine a future where cube-dwelling resources are commuting to work in a self driving Google-powered Nissan Cube or Prius whilst surfing the web, reading email, playing Farmville, working on a tablet....the future's so bright I gotta wear shades...

Edited March 30, 2012 by Cubical-aka-Moltar

[balthazar]

^ sounds like hell on Earth.

[G. David Felt]

I either have to hold onto my old cars for long time or they hella better have auto's for the minority of us that love to drive the hell out of them.

Sadly, I can see as Cubical has stated, lots of idiots playing fake live in their cars.

[Robert Hall]

^ sounds like hell on Earth.

Yeah, not my choice...but if Google gets their way, it will be a reality soon on some roads, I suspect...

[PurdueGuy]

Standardized tablet stand/mount + inductive charging built in + bluetooth interface = win.

That would be geek heaven. But wouldn't Bluetooth restrict more bandwidth intensive programs? When my tablet is tethered via BT, it's woefully slow.

I believe the new Bluetooth 3.0 is capable of much larger bandwidth. At any rate, some kind of wireless interface seems like it would greatly improve standardization, so that all the dock needs to do is hold the tablet, not have standard location connectors.

I'm all for cool features as long as the software is locked down enough so it's not possible to access the more distracting/advanced ones while the car is in gear.

That's probably fine, I'll just wait the approximately 4 days it'll take for someone to crack the nanny features & make sure I can make my own judgments.

[G. David Felt]

Thinking about this, just imagen if a virus hits your car? Sorry but I cannot start due to the boot loader is not recognized.

[Drew Dowdell]

^ sounds like hell on Earth.

Yeah, not my choice...but if Google gets their way, it will be a reality soon on some roads, I suspect...

Google is already planning on doing advertising based on the background noises it can hear on whatever device you happen to have with you. Sound like you have a leak in the exhaust in your Jeep Cherokee there... better show you some Midas Muffler banners.

[Robert Hall]

^ sounds like hell on Earth.

Yeah, not my choice...but if Google gets their way, it will be a reality soon on some roads, I suspect...

Google is already planning on doing advertising based on the background noises it can hear on whatever device you happen to have with you. Sound like you have a leak in the exhaust in your Jeep Cherokee there... better show you some Midas Muffler banners.

I heard about that... speaking of all things Google, my Droid experience has been frustrating...I may go to the Dark Side w/ my next phone purchase...

[G. David Felt]

^ sounds like hell on Earth.

Yeah, not my choice...but if Google gets their way, it will be a reality soon on some roads, I suspect...

Google is already planning on doing advertising based on the background noises it can hear on whatever device you happen to have with you. Sound like you have a leak in the exhaust in your Jeep Cherokee there... better show you some Midas Muffler banners.

I heard about that... speaking of all things Google, my Droid experience has been frustrating...I may go to the Dark Side w/ my next phone purchase...

After having a terrible time with trying an iPhone, went to my Samsung Charge Driod and over all it has been good, but in playing with the beta versions of upcoming Windows Phones, I might be going back to windows later this year.

Apple is just too Graphical, nothing logical about their phones or computers I have come to hate that interface. Driod is good but not perfect as is windows. Be interestig to see what comes out this fall.