TWong350

iTrader: (8)

Those guys looks like a bunch of DB's. Just sayin'

DaBeast

That was cool but at the same time a little over kill.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

lol but then where are you going to put it, hold it in your hand?

bigguppy

iTrader: (15)

A: Get a extra set of hands. It is one of the ipad upgrade features, I swear.

LOL. But yes I only can see this working in older cars or cars with less fucntion.
Someone built a ipad car mount. I called 20% for the idea.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

hahhaha that's funny

but on a serious side, imho for the front it's probably not a good idea at all. but for the rear it can be a pretty interesting idea. we have all seen how the new RX and GX setup their rear seat entertainment. it's 2 screen setup behind the front seats.

i think that kind of methodology can be somewhat integrated by using the ipad. maybe some kind of flip up and down (hide) design, and find a way to connect to the head unit. that way the rear passenger can now watch movies (not relying on the front screen) and feed through the stock audio system

at least to me, this sounds like a more useful setup

bigguppy

iTrader: (15)

I do like the idea with the rear setup, finding a "plug and play" option would be sweet. That is a great place! But the cost side $500+ per seat would be too crazy and that is without labor. It would be a nightmare. I say hand the kidy each a laptop and some dvd or upload some movies and headphones. Ta da! lol.

But like you said lets leav it for the show built cars. More pratical for SEMA inovation eye catchers.

Me: "its my ipad. get your own!"

jtrue28

RooRa

I was told by the auto guy down my area that it will cost me about 6k to do a "custom job" and i will also have to supply the ipad with labor. he didnt describe it in detail because he never did it before, and i would have to leave the car for a good week.

I think I'm just gonna get a cup holder stand thing if they ever make one lol

IXI187IXI

iTrader: (3)

lol 6k, they estimate high because they dont want to do it. im sure you can have an audio shop my a custom enclosure for it and install it for less than half of that.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

6k? what are you trying to get done? replace the whole head unit with this and have all functionality on the ipad? that'd be "cool"

but if the ipad is nothing more than just an "add on" to the existing head unit, then he gotta be kidding charging 6k

and the fact that he has never done it before, more like you are paying 6k for him to learn

RooRa

I asked if he can take out the whole nav unit and replace it with a ipad, but then put new controls for the ac and other stuff. I dont really need the other stuff it has like maintenance thing. also asked to connect it to the speakers.

I'll just wait i guess

I also thought it was way too pricey to get this done. esp when the car is only valued at 24k lol

kyang91

iTrader: (5)

Very Interesting........

ivanz

I have a feeling that the GS, like most cars today, uses the standard CAN Bus to send data to the various controllers. In this is the case, the NAV should just send CAN bus messages to the HVAC controller to set the various parameters.

A $100 CANUSB adapter can be used to sniff the traffic between the NAV and A/C; and you can easily write a custom program to send these commands from any car pc to the HVAC controller.
I don't have the service manual or pinout of the NAV, so I don't want to risk frying the $100 adapter by randomly connecting it to random pins coming out of the NAV. But it should be fairly easy to do *if* it indeed uses a standard CAN Bus.

Stormforge

custom program won't come cheap, esp if it is a one time only kind of thing.

ivanz

If somebody is able to capture the CAN Bus messages and posts them, it should be easy to write. The hardest part is figuring out the CAN_H and CAN_L lines and which CAN Bus it is on (there are usually 3 on most newer cars). If you connect the adapter to a +12V and GND, for example, you can kiss the $100 adapter goodbye. Finding a wiring diagram for the OEM satellite radio could provide this information.

Otherwise, it could open the door to a CarPC that controls locks, displays tire pressure, controls HVAC, etc. The current screen is already a CarPC, as it reads all the information over the CAN Bus and displays it (instant fuel usage, range, etc). I am not sure about HVAC though, as it may simply have a controller in the screen which sends power to the actual components (compressor, blowers, etc).

Here is the adapter:
http://www.canusb.com/