Hackable In-Car GPS Unit? 208
Posted
by
timothy
from the what-I-want-is-an-r2-unit dept.
from the what-I-want-is-an-r2-unit dept.
gigne writes "I'm in the market for a new, in-car GPS/sat nav. I am preferably looking for one that has live, up-to-date traffic information and route planning that doesn't make you want to cry. I'm not quite dumb enough to drive off a cliff, but something that doesn't even try and lead me to watery doom is preferable. The only thing I absolutely must have is the ability to hack it. It would be preferable if it ran GNU/Linux, but given a convincing argument, I would be swayed to another OS. Without wanting the Moon on a stick, what is the best device that would offer a decent modding community and a good feature set?"
Android (Score:0, Interesting)
Tmobile G1 running telenav.
bam. done.
g1 (Score:5, Interesting)
Uh, it's called Windows Mobile (Score:5, Interesting)
When I drove from California to NC, I wrote a custom app that read the GPS lat/long coordinates, searched a database of 5000 fast food places, gas stations, and hotels within 1 mile of I-40, so I could find where I wanted to go even if it was 70 miles up the road, and hit a great big button to search for it so I wouldn't wreck my car, and then enter the coordinates in the navsat program to start driving me there.
Does that count as hacking it?
I did it on my PocketPC. Does that mean Windows Mobile still sucks and is useless for hackers?
OpenMoko (Score:3, Interesting)
Lots of potential (Score:4, Interesting)
A good system would boot up in less than two seconds, start playing music where it left off, and instantly switch on a rear-view camera as soon as the car switches to reverse. Most existing systems have only a few of the aforementioned features, they tend to run fairly slow, and they have startup times that leave you wonting for music.
I think a feature-complete system would require a fast processor, a large display (probably requiring custom dashboard work), and a lot of wiring.
My own research turned up Navit [navit-project.org] which looks pretty good for the navigation piece.
blue-sky ideas ... (Score:4, Interesting)
I really would like an R2 unit / the earthly equivalent.
First, I have a penchant for getting lost. As in, it's happened in my own neighborhood -- GPS device, while in some ways it's a crutch, also helps me *learn* streets by taking me the (or a) correct way a few times. As the saying goes, sometimes crutches are useful.
Second, I like to drive long distances / cross-country (for instance: I plan to go east in not many weeks from now on this route -- and back to Seattle via a slightly less direct path -- ), and would like something that can fake AI pretty well as a travel aid. ("Infotainment!")
Right now I have a decent-enough (discontinued, middle-end) Garmin, which took me several GPS-buying attempts to settle on, and it does a lot of things well (interface is OK, and it plays MP3s). But a guy can dream ...
I know this is not yet a reasonable demand for products in my price range, but I'd like to be able to use moderately complex spoken demands / requests / ideas, Star Trek (or Star Wars, or Hitchhiker's Guide) fashion, some of which would require either a really big data store or (at least intermittently) an internet connection:
"Plot me a course to the nearest used bookstore, artoo."
"How much longer if I take a route with no tolls?"
"Does that Taco Bell have a 24 hour drive through?"
"What happened at this battlefield? Give me the short version."
"Play that interview from EconTalk.org about the difference between law and legislation, and then some up-tempo Bach."
"What are reviews like on this cheap motel?"
What about an Android phone? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:in-car computer (Score:1, Interesting)
Get a PDA with window mount and a built-in GPS, few on deal extreme. Get one of those, buy TomTom's PDA versoin, comes on a CD. Available at their website. install it on the device. Also since this is a PDA that looks like a GPS, you can pretty much do what you want with it.
Here is one http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.8545
OpenStreetMap (Score:2, Interesting)
how about IPhone (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Android (Score:3, Interesting)
Maybe a Nokia N810 or N800 (with an external Bluetooth GPS).
I grabbed a Kogan GPS Watch for AU$129 and paired it with my Nokia N800, which works fine. You can use the default Wayfinder Navigator application for a fee, or try any of the free GPS/Nav packages available. Maemo Mapper is good if you don't want route planning, while Navit looks like a promising contender for an open-source car navigation system with routing engine.
The underlying OS is Maemo, a Debian port optimised for the N8xx/ARMs. Very easy to hack with, and nicely robust too.
TomTom (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Uh, it's called Windows Mobile (Score:3, Interesting)
I did it on my PocketPC. Does that mean Windows Mobile still sucks and is useless for hackers?
What? Windows mobile sucks, yet is not useless to hackers, and has not been since about WM5, where they introduced GPS sharing.
As you sort of suggest though, I think the best platform for what he wants to do is a PocketPC device with Garmin XL. Garmin XL is only $99 on MicroSD card with the USA maps. You can get a reburb PocketPC with GPS for about $200 if you look around.