http://www.tweaktown.com/news/7190/index.html

For those of you who are into the SFF (small form factor) PCs, Shuttle is making one strictly for cars! This looks very promising.

Somewhat OT: Anyone able to figure out how to wire the steering wheel controls with their CarPC interface? I searched, but couldn't find anything.

 

It looks real nice. I am very interested in this product.

 

What's the price? I bet it will be big $$$ cuz they're using intel.

 

what is the purpose of wired ethernet in a carpc?

 

I'm sure they have a really low-cost mobo they're using, and the ethernet connector is native on that board. no sense in re-engineering everything, when something already exists that has _at least_ the features needed.

 

plus you can have impromptu LAN parties in random places

 

It can be used elsewhere as well, not just in cars. This would be an awesome way to save space in office buildings and stores that do not need graphics cards.

Heck, it can be put in walls with a flat screen for a kids room or hooked up to a HUGE plasma and act as a Tivo/Mediaserver. The possibilities are endless.

Plus, it is easier and will be better for cooling and mounting in a car.

On a second thought, if one pays for a data cell phone line, you can get a cord that you can attach to your computer and go online anywhere the network is. If it uses a USB than oh well, if it uses an ethernet adapter (which is unlikely) then that works.

 

does anyone have any estimates on how much this would cost?

 

I dont know how much this would cost from Shuttle. But my CarPC only cost me around $1,500 for the computer, amp for speakers, touchscreen, and all the wiring. Did the install myself, but I would think that would be really expensive.

Car comptuers are'nt really all that new, and I'm suprised that the article on CeBIT has so little knowledge on CarPC's. I keep mine permanetly in the car and use it for music, internet, videos (when i'm stopped of course...) and to pull data from my ECU to show my cars data.

Mp3Car.com is a great site for all things related to Carputers, just read around there and you can learn everything you ever wanted to know about carputers.

To the OP: there are devices that take wires and can be plugged into a usb device. I have one in my car, but you have to program it on the computer, depending on which one you get, some have graphical interfaces, some require some coding knowledge. An article on Mp3Car will help FAQ: Hacking Your Steering Wheel Buttons to Control Your PC ...