Autoblog

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.

We've reported in the past about hacking one's Prius in the search for higher mileage, but what about what about diving into the hybrid's matrix of bits and bytes in search of a more enlightening computing experience? (In the interest of full disclosure, I'm blogging this on a Powerbook G4, have an iMac G5 in the other room and am at the mercy of no less than three iPods.)

Regardless of your operating system preference, one has to appreciate the hack job of Jeremy Kusnetz, a systems architect from Leesburg, VA. Kusnets states his original motivation was to devise a way to take his entire iTunes library on the road with him and have and also for his young daughter to watch DVDs on long trips. I won't embarrass myself by attempting to explain how he did it, but the result is a Mac Mini installed in a cubbyhole of the Prius's center console. Not content using the Apple Remote to control the interface of Front Row on the Mac, Kusnetz programmed the Prius's touchscreen to handle commands for the computer.

You can check out a video of the MacPrius in action here on the designer's website.

[Source: Kusnetz.net]

Who knows why DeLoreans often find themselves the canvas upon which mad scientists paint their insanity? Doc Brown and his flux capacitor notwithstanding, Ryan Brandys decided to take Apple Computer to task and think different when it came to building a custom carputer.

As we all know, the invention of the Mac Mini computer resulted in a renaissance of custom computer installs in automobiles, but all have been limited by the tiny 7-inch or so LCD screens that are able to fit in modern day dashes. Brandys came up with the ingenious idea of using a projector to cast a 37-inch diagonal screen on the underside of the DeLorean's open hood. While surfing the net becomes a difficult task while driving, one that might results in certain death, all of OSX's visual glory can be much better appreciated on the oversized screen.

Follow the jump for a shot of the entire vehicle and video of Brandys' DeLorean in action as a computer.

[Source: DoLoreanMacMini via Digg.com]