[greenhorn]

@DA not sure what I was thinking when I posted that. A DC-DC converter should do fine, right?

but then again, for the purpose of argument, how about the bios battery

[agambhandari]

To fix the boot tiimes, i suppose manufacturers could use a windows hibernate like features

[DerAlte]

Originally Posted by greenhorn

... A DC-DC converter should do fine, right?

but then again, for the purpose of argument, how about the bios battery

Car PCs run off the car battery via a DC-DC converter already. Smaller boards (those usually powered by a brick directly) have that onboard; the microATX / miniITX need an external board.

Battery for the BIOS doesn't solve anything. BIOS is not 'OS' - it runs off relatively very fast ROM. It is the OS that needs to get transferred from 'disk' to RAM to be able to run - that's 'booting'. That is what makes conventional OS unsuitable for instant-on products like HUs. 'Hibernate' would also suffer the same malaise.

The other detractor against conventional OSes is the large amount of flab that they carry to make them suitable for general purpose UI oriented usage. That is one reason for the slow speed, as well as being superfluous for (maximally) hands-off operation.

A lot of people have tried to make HUs with drastically stripped down Linux, but then the problem they faced was lack of decent applications with nice UI - made with native graphics facilities (no UI framework). Even Nokia and Intel failed with MeeGo. It is economically unviable for programmers today to make good graphical interfaces in the absence of the nice fat UI frameworks that OSes like Android provide. Android doesn't give anything that eases the usage for users; it has delegated the onus of creation of 'facilities for easy usage' to the programming community. It makes life easy for programmers - only!

[ShivaCity2K6]

The thing is that the Smartphone OSes cannot be retrofitted directly in ICE systems. You need a real-time OS (RTOS), which has no down-time.

Ford probably uses Microsoft's Windows Embedded for their MyFord Touch system (probably Fiat as well). I'd rather have something like this - i.e., manufacturer works with the OS maker to think through the end-to-end experience while keeping the needs for an in-car entertainment system in the mind. The 3rd party apps (e.g., burrp, yelp, maps, etc) that run on such systems would then light-up!

[jaideepshinh]

Originally Posted by greenhorn

When android was released a couple of years ago, I had figured it would make its way onto a number of devices. While you have tablets and a few smart TV's, I had expected it to make major inroads into ICE. It would have more or less met the needs of the car PC segment while catering to the needs of the mainstream as well.
While 7K can get you a low end HU with aux in and a low end android phone with a 3.2" inch display, and 10k could get you a 7" tablet, what's stopping manufacturers - even the Chinese ones from slapping them together into a single unit?
While we've heard a few product announcements, we are far away from an actual product. Functionality wise, these would blow the current products out of the water.

What's the delay then?

I am already using an Android based head unit (Sony's XAV-701BT).
The sony XAV 701BT, 601BT, 64BT are all running on android. My smartphones can mirror applications onto them. The problem is sony doesnt advertise the fact that they are running on android.

It boots up instantly, and has crashed on me only one. The recovery from the crash was within 1 second anyway, so didnt make any difference. it was only funny to see the same error message as my android phone shows when an app crashes.

[agambhandari]

Originally Posted by jaideepshinh

I am already using an Android based head unit (Sony's XAV-701BT).
The sony XAV 701BT, 601BT, 64BT are all running on android. My smartphones can mirror applications onto them. The problem is sony doesnt advertise the fact that they are running on android.

It boots up instantly, and has crashed on me only one. The recovery from the crash was within 1 second anyway, so didnt make any difference. it was only funny to see the same error message as my android phone shows when an app crashes.

NO, they don't run Android, they can only mirror apps, they work on the proprietary Sony system

[jaideepshinh]

Originally Posted by agambhandari

NO, they don't run Android, they can only mirror apps, they work on the proprietary Sony system

They are running on an android deployment developed by sony for their head units. They are only mirroring apps, that is correct, but the base OS is android as well. The errors which appear are the same as what you see on your android phones. The one time i received an error (without my smartphone connected) was that the music app has crashed, with the same android type pop up error screen.

Also please take a look at the screens on the sony webpage. The poweroff screen of the HU is the same as that of your phone. Surprised?

http://www.sony.co.in/support/download/505640

[jaideepshinh]

Originally Posted by agambhandari

NO, they don't run Android, they can only mirror apps, they work on the proprietary Sony system

In addition, here is another link for your information.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/show....php?t=1686535

This mentions that these are the first Android based head units.

[agambhandari]

Originally Posted by jaideepshinh

In addition, here is another link for your information.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/show....php?t=1686535

This mentions that these are the first Android based head units.

I suppose i was wrong.
But the stock Android ui is not accessible and you can't install apps. Moreover, there is no way of connecting to the web. It seems it is of no use being Android

[gaurangsaini]

Originally Posted by ssk3g5

Imagine what Android has made Samsung today, whereas Google themselves are not able to profit from it, though they are the owners of this OS.
On similar lines is FIAT MJD making profits for MARUTI in DDiS Avatar.

Alert!

No offence meant, but you couldn't be any further from the truth. You really need to google Google's business model

Ever wondered why all the services offered by Google are at the top of their game (barring Google Plus lol) and yet, are absolutely free for the end-user?

To put it in a concise manner, Google is an ad company. Ads are the reason why Maps, Gmail, Translate & Drive are free. Android, much like Chrome and Google TV, is just another platform for Google to show ads on. The fact that it is an export-quality operating system only helps Google get more and more people to see it's ads.

Rest assured, Google's minting money through Android. Else, they'd just stop pushing out amazing new updates!

/OT

[GForce1980]

Until the time they do arrive, some folks have found really decent Workarounds. How about a Tegra 3 Quad Core Beast which will always get the latest Android update straight from Google? Try this one on for size:

http://androidcommunity.com/nexus-7-...ideo-20120806/

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13746_7...ch-powerhouse/

The HU will cost only Rs12,000 for a whopping 7 Inch Screen! All you need is an additional amplifier. Pretty decent if you ask me!

[ssk3g5]

gaurangsaini

Sorry for being off topic in my post, but isn't nexus an initiative from Google ?

Android was an unknown OS and we probably wouldn’t have even been discussing this thread for HU's, if not for Samsung to completely dominate the smart phone market and making this OS known to the common man.

But my only point is Operating systems have still a long way to go to be integrated into automotive at a very large scale (for low cost).

I believe the thread already mentions about the next big concern over framework which is required for making the eye candy UI, after all HU is for ears and eyes.

But again the technology improvements happen at a much faster pace and AFAIK about the industry its not far when we would have the entire car electronics driven from a OS, and HU will be a hidden amplifier integrated with a predefined standard interface.

[rider84]

In fact there are some really good Chinese tablets available - like Ainol Tablets (www.ainolindia.com), that can be used with a tablet mount on front wind shield, I have been told that one particular model - Ainol Aurora-II comes with aGPS that can be used using Google Maps and may fit the purpose. I am planning to pick up next week and see if it works, if yes - nothing like it - a tab, a HU, a GPS, a mini computer just for 8000.

[greenhorn]

guys, I know that you can buy a tab/phone and use it with your HU. In fact i mentioned it in the first post itself. But I'm interested in proper HU's running android - the possiblities are a lot more with them

[rider84]

Yes greenhorn the possibilities are much more with a HU, Infact I have witson HU installed on my Vento (witson comes with windows CE). I was just thinking on similar line and came across your post. I do not want to invest much on the device so thought having a multipurpose device that is capable of playing media and internet on the go. I will share my experience putting a TAB in my car soon.