This is a good place to drop general and weird news, entertainment, and general show prep material that might be interesting to air talent or producers. Hot dog threads ALWAYS welcome.
The next evolution in automobile consoles. Virtually everything in the car is controlled by the center touchscreen.
It's really worth it to visit the site and browse through all the pics of the console... But I found one of the radio interface that was interesting.
Among everything else, including Sirius, it appearantly has integrated HD Radio with song tagging capabilities... It's also the first time I've ever seen a station with four subchannels.
I do like the simple preset screen on the right that displays the frequencies.
Just a friendly reminder that radio is rapidly becoming one choice among many in its dominating frontier -- the automobile.
Other auto manufacturers probably won't be too far behind with similar technology.
Christ... give me an "on-off" knob and a tuner. And being an old fashioned guy, I prefer my DJ tell me what I'm listening to if I don't already know. This to me is leaning too uncomfortably close to automation again.
The one thing that bugs the hell out of me is the fast that they're still using CD players.
Think about that:
Motors and lasers that grow weak and skipping and spinning platters and mechanisms for transporting disks in and out. What's wrong with solid state technology that has absolutely no moving parts? They could have easily gone to a Flash Card reader years ago, just like a computer. Instead, they place a stupid plug on some new units for an IPod. I suppose that for now it's OK to keep installing these dinosaurs, but for Gods sake add a simple reader to radios.
"I know I've got a lot against me: I'm White, I'm Protestant, I'm hard working. Don't you have an Amendment to protect me"? Archie Bunker
CoolBreeze wrote:Christ... give me an "on-off" knob and a tuner. And being an old fashioned guy, I prefer my DJ tell me what I'm listening to if I don't already know. This to me is leaning too uncomfortably close to automation again.
The one thing that bugs the hell out of me is the fast that they're still using CD players.
Think about that:
Motors and lasers that grow weak and skipping and spinning platters and mechanisms for transporting disks in and out. What's wrong with solid state technology that has absolutely no moving parts? They could have easily gone to a Flash Card reader years ago, just like a computer. Instead, they place a stupid plug on some new units for an IPod. I suppose that for now it's OK to keep installing these dinosaurs, but for Gods sake add a simple reader to radios.
Call me old fashioned, but I'd rather have a cd player. I know, cds are bad enough compared to vinyl, but a compressed mp3 flash drive or comparable just sounds too squashed and tinny for my ears. And I've never had a cd player yet that didn't outlast the car.
There's "compression" and then there's "COMPRESSION". You can actually make a decent sounding song if you use the least compression. And if you're REALLY finicky, save as a WAV file. I do that often.
"I know I've got a lot against me: I'm White, I'm Protestant, I'm hard working. Don't you have an Amendment to protect me"? Archie Bunker
Ibiquity is beginning to roll-out the software that allows for HD-4. Also, Latin-America is pushing them to produce software to squeeze-in an HD-5!
No joke. It was expained as, "...they just want the extra channels, they don't care how it sounds".
Many areas are trying to get texting on cellphones and even non-handsfree cellphone usage outlawed. I think this much distraction in the center-console may be just as bad.
Odd, though. The text-messaging interface on this system has a QWERTY keyboard, but the GPS application lays-out A-Z.
Last edited by Cameron on Thu Jan 07, 2010 2:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.
------------------------ Cameron Smith - CSRE®
Senior Member - SBE 68 Birmingham
Senior Technical Product Manager - JD Sports U.S.|Hibbett Sports
OK. So now you have everything on one touch pannel. When button #238 doesn't work, your dealer will tell you you have to replace the whole thing. Touch screens are not cheap! Any idea what this repair would cost? I can remember a back light bulb for a digital speedodometer costing $1,200 for a friend to have replaced. (They had to remove the dash)
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I have to admit that even though I'm a tech geek, I was somewhat intimidated upon first glance. But after taking it in for a couple minutes, I could get used to it really fast... However, the final cut of this system would have to be more simplified for the average person. I've never seen more buttons on a steering wheel...
Many of the functions, such as video and the web, are not usable while the car is in drive.
I did wonder what the long-term reliability of this stuff is, since most cars are on the road for 10+ years... One short circuit would make the car pretty much inoperable. I guess the system would periodically get software updates as well.
I do like the concept of in-car apps that make the vehicle more personalized, though. It kinda sucks that people pay so much money for vehicles and they can't even change the color of the dash lights.
Ford needs to set this up as a box that can be added as a dealer installed option to older SuperDuty trucks, F150s, and panther platform cars. I would be at Holman in no time at all to have it installed in my car.
The first step in a successful revolution is to defeat all competing revolutionaries.
And being an old fashioned guy, I prefer my DJ tell me what I'm listening to if I don't already know. This to me is leaning too uncomfortably close to automation again.
