I'm interested in seeing how far we can push the processing power once it's installed in the car and have quite a few ideas I'd like to work on with a view to implimenting. The main problem I envisage is communication with the device, since I'm assuming that ttyS0 has the control/upload/download software. It strikes me that some Ethernet options would be excellent, and one of the ideas I'm toying with is wireless LAN which would require a PCMCIA bus. Is it likely that we will be able to deploy PCMCIA (or other Ethernet devices) on the empeg car? Both offer fast flexible means for uploading MP3's.

Armed with Ethernet, PCMCIA and serial interfaces my ideas to-date include:
1) Wireless uploading of MP3's when it's parked in the garage
2) Wireless (GSM or radio) connectivity to car systems such as locks, ignition, climate control, convertible hood etc. The idea of being able to protect my car by requiring my SecurID authentication through the empeg car to allow it to be started appeals.
3) distributed.net client access to my nearest proxy
4) Connectivity to a GPS system to allow the display to be shared with current positional information
5) Climate monitoring hookup to report to the LCD the current ambient climate details (I know there's an on-board temperature guage)
6) Mobile 'phone monitoring to pause/mute tracks when the telephone rings
7) Important SMS messages (i.e. mail headers) could be flashed on the screen as they arrive

Is anyone else interested in these sorts of modifications? Are the empegs likely to support this sort of functionality in a future upgrade? Am I just mad?



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Christopher Sharp