Why the new AppleTV should be in your car
When Apple's low-cost Mac Mini computer debuted, it wasn't long before industrious hackers took advantage of its small form factor to create some incredible in-car installs. There have always been some major limitations, however, to installing a Mac Mini in your dash, the most significant being how to interact with it. Driving around with a keyboard and mouse in your lap isn't very ergonomic. Enter the new AppleTV, a device that despite having only been on the market for a week or so has become the most hacked Apple device ever. It has not, however, been installed in a car yet. Here's why it should be.
The AppleTV is a device that's designed to be used in conjunction with a Mac or PC running iTunes, which, let's face it, most computers do. It connects to your desktop via an 802.11 wireless connection and syncs video and music purchased from the iTunes Store onto its own 40GB hard drive. In essence, it acts much like a screenless Video iPod that syncs wirelessly with your computer. Instead of connecting it to an HDTV as it was designed, one could easily envision hacking the video input of a car's in-dash screen to accept the video output of an AppleTV. If successful, you could theoretically pull into your garage and wirelessly sync the video and music on your desktop computer to your car (assuming the range of your wireless network reaches the garage). Once on the road, all of the AppleTV's functions are controlled via a tiny Apple Remote, so there's no need for a keyboard, mouse or other exotic input device.
The AppleTV is even smaller than the Mac Mini, so finding room in a glove box or even behind the dash shouldn't be a problem. Third-party companies have already come up with pre-modified AppleTVs that feature hard drives as large as 120GB. There's even a USB port on the box that, while disabled by Apple from the factory, has already been opened up by hackers.
OEMs are already offering in-car entertainment systems with built in hard drives, the Infiniti 9.3GB Musix Box and Chrysler's 20GB MyGIG are but two examples. The problem with factory-offered solutions is that while they'll accept music files all day long, none have an operating system sophisticated enough to play back video files stored on their hard drives. The AppleTV is literally a small computer that, while not as powerful as your Intel Core 2 Duo box, has more than enough muscle to display episodes of Sponge Bob Square Pants all day long.
Listen up automakers, 'cause this is good advice. Give Steve Jobs a ring, offer him any amount of money to license the AppleTV for use in automotive applications. Don't worry about getting exclusive rights, because Jobs won't give them to you. You just want to be the first to offer the technology of the AppleTV in the cars you sell. The hackers will beat you to it, but their success will serve to prime the public on how much better this technology is than anything being offered.
The real reason why the AppleTV would be a killer auto application is because it syncs with iTunes, where so many people keep their music, video and podcast collections. Basically, the first automaker that can say its cars will seamlessly sync with iTunes on their home desktop... well, that's a tough trick to beat.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
akintz 12:13PM (4/02/2007)
"So when are we leaving?"
"In a few minutes... my car has to finish syncing my music."
"What?"
"Oh ya, and my South Park episodes."
"Huh? WTF kind of car is this?"
"An awesome one."
Ya, it would certainly be interesting... probably not for me yet though. I keep my iPod in my car as it is, but don't really do anything with any type of video in iTunes yet... so the iPod does the job just fine.
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Matt Dell 12:14PM (4/02/2007)
Amen!
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AJB 12:16PM (4/02/2007)
It seems like a great scheme: pull into your driveway, sync up your iTunes music and movies with your car, leave on road trip with 120gb of entertainment. BUT the appletv is not an all-weather device that could sit in your driveway overnight while temperatures drop to -10 or +105 (an actual range for the outskirts of Boston over the last year). Also, no shock-proofing on the appletv, operation by remote only, limited to hdmi/component connections . . . does the scheme seem to be falling apart here? These are some reasons why good automobile entertainment systems are customized for the car, not simply hacks of home computers.
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dtrapp 12:23PM (4/02/2007)
http://www.heycool.com
I've seen some pretty cool mobile media apps with the mac mini, not so sure about the apple tv though.
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chop 12:30PM (4/02/2007)
not only could you sync it, but you could use the appletv as a full blown carpc, if this post from engadget holds any truth:
http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/31/apple-tv-running-full-version-of-os-x/
a carpc would be perfect with that. super small form factor and full blown os/x on that thing
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cheezwiz 12:35PM (4/02/2007)
...or you could just plug your ipod into your car's entertainment system and get the same benefit without having to mod the dash.
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Will 12:41PM (4/02/2007)
I suggest a modded Ver 1.0 XBox running XBox Media Center. Using this hardware/software combo, you have HDD space limited only by your budget, ability to play EVERY format and contain out there (play the second audio track on an Apple TV, dare 'ya), and an interface that's controlled solely with the MS DVD Remote.
RSS feeds, e-mail, browsing, Shoutcast streaming, and (natch) Apple Movie Trailers are all available in the stock build of the software, and can be expanded upon using plug-ins.
I have 3 of these consoles littered around my home, to the various HD monitors in it, connected via wi-fi. My last car had one as well, using only an inverter and an IR repeater for the remote, to feed the monitor in dash, and the auxilliary monitors installed around the cabin.
So, to sum up, for a third of the price, with a better interface, better media handling, better user support, why go with the Apple product?
http://www.xboxmediacenter.com/
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Gyp Joe 1:21PM (4/02/2007)
Why turn Autoblog into another I-crap commercial - we have EVERY other blog for that.
In-car pc's have been around for years - with wireless syncronization.
Quit making it look like crApple invented the concept.
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starlightmica 12:56PM (4/02/2007)
Discussion thread at:
http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/maccar/94744-apple-tv-what-head-unit.html
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Gautch 4:00PM (4/02/2007)
Um... OmniFi Has been doing this for years.
Though its not as cool as the Apple stuff.
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scott 1:01PM (4/02/2007)
How the hell are you going to fit an Xbox into any part of a car. He talks about using the Apple TV because its tiny Xbox's are huge plus what normal person wants to mod an Xbox just to do what the Apple TV already does. You made a shameless plug and not a well thought one.
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White Goodman 1:17PM (4/02/2007)
Apple sucks. Anyone with a brain can build something 10x better for less money instead of paying out the wazoo for some proprietary white POS box using old PC components.
The iPhone sucks too.
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Will 1:19PM (4/02/2007)
@9 Didn't realize I was plugging, in that I'm not involved with the stuff except as a user. As far as where the unit is going to be located, even the ATV is going to have to be isolated into a storage area, (such as the truck or large glovebox), just like the Xbox.
And as far as not well thought out, what CarPC do you have in yours? I'm running Meedio on my 300C's touchscreen... Hope to see your project soon ;)
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Sam Abuelsamid 1:22PM (4/02/2007)
John, the only problem with this plan is that while the apple tv is only half as tall as the mini, it's actually wider at 7.7 inches square vs 6.5 for the mini. Apparently the top surface which acts as the heat sink for th processor gets rather hot as well. If you can find a spot that fits and allows for some airflow and access to the IR port for the remote, it could still be a good option.
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Nick 1:35PM (4/02/2007)
They'd need to do some significant reengineering to make sure it could survive in all possible climates if they wanted to support this as a automotive peripheral. I'd say it isn't likely- the inside of a car is a rough place to be.
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John Neff 1:49PM (4/02/2007)
I think if an OEM were to license the technology, it wouldn't be a matter of fitting the AppleTV's box somewhere. Different components that were more shock and weather resistant could be used and housed behind the dash in whatever way was necessary to ensure they operated under all conditions. The real score would be the AppleTV software combined with the wi-fi, which would allow your car to sync with iTunes in your house. That's the key here. It doesn't matter if the car you sell has a hard drive or can even play video, syncing wirelessly with the most pervasive media application, iTunes, is the clincher.
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White Goodman 2:57PM (4/02/2007)
The real advantage of a car-maker licensing this is not in the wireless syncing. Adding that feature to any ICE system regardless of manufacture is trivial at best. I could build such a system for anyone for $300 with significantly more capability than the CrApp[y]TV.
No, the real advantage in licensing this is the "instant cool" that the Apple brand would bring to whatever car into which it is placed. Dealers would be inundated with mindless hipsters thirsty for whatever bleached white and chrome POS hardware that Apple builds. GM should license it and slap it in their new Saturns, especially the Green Lines and the Astra. I bet sales would go up at least 25% immediately.
"Impress your friends with your cool new Apple Mobile Media system and your environmental awareness!"
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akatsuki 5:05PM (4/02/2007)
Without a touchscreen, GPS-nav, and BT-phone integration it is probably not worth it yet. If I was a car manufacturer, I would probably try and get an Apple exclusive, but it really needs a bit more work.
Could definitely see something cool coming out of it for hackers with a combination of Growl alerts for GPS directions and phone alerts.
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Moorey 7:49PM (4/02/2007)
It's definitely thinner, but not smaller. The footprint's a little bigger than of a Mac mini.
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Sonburn 8:50PM (4/02/2007)
I am thinking of getting the Pioneer AVIC-D3 double-din head unit which has a composite a/v input. If aTV could connect to this, and the picture was sufficient, why not throw one of these under the seat of the car? Now you’re car is connected to your wireless network and media library! I have seen one of these old converters on close-out for as low as $160. Then you could get a cable that converts the VGA cable. Also found this converter which is available from the UK… looks like they just threw the box together to tap into this market. Not sure how safe it is :/
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