Windows CE = Car Edition?

[Jonathon Watkins]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://news.com.com/2100-1046_3-5419404.html' target='_blank'>http://news.com.com/2100-1046_3-5419404.html</a><br /><br /></div>Before I start this next post, I would like to make clear that any humorous response referring to 'crash' or similar excess jocularity, will probably result in hordes of moths attacking your monitor. There is <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=296852#296852">a precedent</a> here, so you've been warned. ;-) On with the post:<br /><br /><i>"Microsoft wants your next car or SUV to run Windows. It's no joke. The world's largest software company is revving up to position itself as the largest supplier of software to car manufacturers, with a custom version of Windows CE controlling everything from in-vehicle entertainment to satellite navigation."</i><br /><br />To be precise, the custom version of Windows CE is called Windows Automotive. The News.com made me smile by describing the cars of the future as GPS-tracked living rooms on wheels. Apparently General Motors say that software and electronics are already responsible for more than one-third of the cost of a typical car, with IBM predicting that the figure will be closer to 90 percent in five years time. And all you nervous passengers needn't worry, Windows Automotive does not share a network with the safety critical systems of the vehicle, so a software crash won't result in brake failure etc. Just watch out for those moths!

[felixdd]

Wow. Well I know Windows had an Auto PC that seems pretty dead by now (Link -- note last update is 1998 (http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/wce/evaluate/autofaq.mspx)). But operating the nitty gritty of the car? That's a new one.

[mcsouth]

Reminds me of a joke.....

After their flight was cancelled, three strangers discovered they were all going to the same place, and decided to share a ride. Unfortunately, on the way, their rental car died.

The driver pronounced that he was a mechanical engineer, and that the problem was probably in the engine somewhere, so he raised the hood, and quickly started checking things out. The second person indicated that he was a chemical engineer, and that the problem was most likely in the fuel system, so he pulled off his jacket, and quickly started pulling off fuel lines.

After a quiet moment, the third person suggested that they close all the windows on the car, and then open them back up again to see if that would help resolve their problem. After a few baffled looks, the other two asked what he did for a living......."Microsoft engineer!"

[feo]

hopefully the gas indicator will be more reliable than the alarms on my ppc...

[maximus]

So there is going to be more options when buying a car :

Lancer Evolution X - with Windows Automotive 2007
Lancer Evolution Xse - with Windows Automotive 2007 Second Edition
Nissan 350Z - with Windows Automotive 2006 Third Edition
Nissan 350Z SE - with Windows Automotive 2007 Second Edition

Cool. Do they have VGA screen ? :mrgreen:

[nirav28]

what happens if you get a bluescreen when driving down the highway at 70mph? Do you pull over and restart/reboot/softreset the car? :bad-words:

oops..I forgot..I'm not on slashdot.org right now.

[Ken Mattern]

I wonder how many times we see Windows CE and don't know it? Every time I get gas for my car I wonder if CE is running the gas pump? I guess that any time I see a video screen (the ATM, gas pump, display at Best Buy... you get the picture.) I wonder if Microsoft is behind the screen. I don't know if ubiquity reigns, but some days I wonder...

[Jonathon Watkins]

what happens if you get a bluescreen when driving down the highway at 70mph?

Embedded software is usually much more stable than 'normal' software because so may parameters and variables can be controlled. Remeber as well, this is for the 'toys' in the car, not the critical safety systems.

oops..I forgot..I'm not on slashdot.org right now.

:twak: And don't forget it! :wink:

[crashdau]

what happens if you get a bluescreen when driving down the highway at 70mph? Do you pull over and restart/reboot/softreset the car? :bad-words:

oops..I forgot..I'm not on slashdot.org right now.

Yeah...you'll need to do a softreset, but, you'll have to jack the car up, climb under the transmission and reach around to the top of it to get at the reset button. :D

[Jonathon Watkins]

Yeah...you'll need to do a softreset, but, you'll have to jack the car up, climb under the transmission and reach around to the top of it to get at the reset button. :D

Now, now, play nice. I'm sure a reset wont be needed. As Ken Mattern said, there's every chance that you are interacting with plenty of embedded WCE machines without knowing it. This isn't 1996 you know. Things have moved on. :wink:

[jasondearyou]

this is a conspiracy by microsoft to take over the world. One device at a time. 0X

[sgyee]

Actually, the BMW 745 series vehicles use Windows Automotive 3.5 in it's iDrive system.

Bear in mind that the iDrive system is very hated in the automotive world. It's not been widely published that it's run by a Windows based kernel.

More information: http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2002/mar02/03-04BMWpr.asp

[Jonathan1]

Wow this is actually a pretty old news item. I think this was on news.com a couple weeks ago.
At any rate I will say what I said on several forums around the net.

No way in **** will I ever purchase a car with Windows in it. I’m well aware that the systems that are integrated with CE aren’t car critical but even then absolutely NO.
I want a proprietary close system for my car something that:
1. Won't have security that any 2 bit script kiddy or hacker might know about.
2. Isn't well documented on the net so some smuck can easily figure out how to hack my system. E.G. Hacking the BT stack so they can mess around with my car's settings.
3. I'd rather not have to do soft rests for my car's computer system (even if it isn't tied to the cars critical computer systems.)
Thanks Microsoft but I don’t want some script kiddy parking next to my 2006 Prius and hacking the system to display uploaded porn on the LCD when I next turn on the car.

I can honestly say that having a Microsoft OS in a car would actually shy me away from purchasing a car from that manufacturer. When I jump into my car power on the Nav system and turn up the tunes I want to know that it will just work. Period. Windows CE is OK. But even at the best of times every so often you have to soft reset or reboot it to shake out the cobwebs. I do NOT want to do this in my car no matter what functionality it gives me.

[dean_shan]

Let the jokes about your car 'crashing' begin.

[farnold]

And all you nervous passengers needn't worry, Windows Automotive does not share a network with the safety critical systems of the vehicle, so a software crash won't result in brake failure etc.
Whenever I go to the service station and need something fixed they point out it would be a problem with the electronic... So there is by far more electronic in there than we really see - just it doesn't have the average user interface when we start talking about a computer. I would say that in a few years time we have Windows Automotive controlling also the safety critical components and a crash report may state that a blue screen caused the problem...

[gorkon280]

So there is going to be more options when buying a car :

Lancer Evolution X - with Windows Automotive 2007
Lancer Evolution Xse - with Windows Automotive 2007 Second Edition
Nissan 350Z - with Windows Automotive 2006 Third Edition
Nissan 350Z SE - with Windows Automotive 2007 Second Edition

Cool. Do they have VGA screen ? :mrgreen:

Yes and when next years OS comes out you will have to buy a whole new car because the manufacturers will not flash it even if we want to pay them! ;)

[milkman]

Before I start this next post, I would like to make clear that any humorous response referring to 'crash' or similar excess jocularity, will probably result in hordes of moths attacking your monitor. There is a precedent (http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=296852#296852) here, so you've been warned. ;-) On with the post:

"Microsoft wants your next car or SUV to run Windows. It's no joke. The world's largest software company is revving up to position itself as the largest supplier of software to car manufacturers, with a custom version of Windows CE controlling everything from in-vehicle entertainment to satellite navigation."

To be precise, the custom version of Windows CE is called Windows Automotive. The News.com made me smile by describing the cars of the future as GPS-tracked living rooms on wheels. Apparently General Motors say that software and electronics are already responsible for more than one-third of the cost of a typical car, with IBM predicting that the figure will be closer to 90 percent in five years time. And all you nervous passengers needn't worry, Windows Automotive does not share a network with the safety critical systems of the vehicle, so a software crash won't result in brake failure etc. Just watch out for those moths!

No software crashes on the critial systems, eh? Don't forget the drive-by-wire initiative:

Everything--including the car's steering, throttle and brakes--are operated through a handheld device called an X-drive. It's "sort of like a Nintendo unit," explains Burns.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/automotive/auto_technology/2002/8/hy_wire_hybrid/

[Yorch]

well, let me be the one that defends Microsoft for once. :lol:
As a future Car Pc user, I want to have one device where I can watch DVDs, MP3, GPS, and etc, I have a computer that I want to set up to do all that and more. having a WI-FI card,so I can go wardriving and catch the internet to do something, really quick, or else, having bluetooth, I can connect through my phone, and get GPRS access, to check my email and stuff. This principle is very doable and is very possible, others enthusiast have done it with very good results. even using Windows XP.
Having the car pc Voice activated, is something that others car pc user have trouble doing, cause there is no really good software to do all that.
I watched the videos at http://www.microsoft.com/Automotive gives you a really good feel on how the system works.
Imagine, having the car pc system loaded with all your collection of MP3s, or Movies, and you just park it on your garage, and can upload from your desktop any specific song, movie or file to use it in your car pc, the car pc can also reads files for you, read your rss news, etc. the possibilities are endless. Of course the Windows CE device won't crash on you as much as your desktop, cause I won't have any additional software added on, (or at least not that much), Windows CE devices are less likely to crash like jonathan said, and these are for the "cool factor" in your car, is not like is going to take over your car and drive it

[ctmagnus]

8O I hope these Windows CE-based vehicles don't suffer the fate my iPaq just did: spontaneous rebooting in a pristine system. :worried:

[k1darkknight]

Everything--including the car's steering, throttle and brakes--are operated through a handheld device called an X-drive. It's "sort of like a Nintendo unit," explains Burns.


Hmmm...that reminds me of a certain scene from Men In Black II...

Chris, aka "Agent C "

[k1darkknight]

As a future Car Pc user, I want to have one device where I can watch DVDs, MP3, GPS, and etc, I have a computer that I want to set up to do all that and more. having a WI-FI card,so I can go wardriving and catch the internet to do something, really quick, or else, having bluetooth, I can connect through my phone, and get GPRS access, to check my email and stuff.

...

Imagine, having the car pc system loaded with all your collection of MP3s, or Movies, and you just park it on your garage, and can upload from your desktop any specific song, movie or file to use it in your car pc, the car pc can also reads files for you, read your rss news, etc. the possibilities are endless.

Well, that got me thinking...let's see...well, first off, saftey features would have to prevent the driver from actually trying to surf the web, while driving, allowing input only while stopped...maybe not that exactly, but something along those lines, to avoid turning it into yet another driving distraction. But for useful features...it could calculate your mileage, figure out how much gas you'll need for your trip, based on your average highway mileage, and even let you set a speed that if you go over, it'll beep at you. And cool features...
if nothing else, they could incorporate some form of text-to-voice technology that would allow you to have it read the latest Pocket PC Thoughts forums to you! (ok, I know...I'm a suck-up...) Oooh, just thought of one more...once e-books get more standardized, it could even read your e-books to you, so that you don't have to stop "reading" just because you had to go to work! :D
It does seem that there are some security/safety issues, but overall, this could REALLY add some productivity to your commute, or give you just a little longer to not have to think about work...


Chris, aka Mr. Gadget Geek

[Steve Jordan]

Crash cracks aside, the only way I see something like that being practical, is if voice control and voice response is PERFECT. Getting info, checking on traffic or weather, answering e-mails, surfing the web, sounds like Outlook with a GPS upgrade and cell access. But no way am I going to try to manually operate Outlook while I'm driving. From what I've seen, iDrive bites. I want to talk to it like Dave talked to HAL, and it better talk back at the same level of sound quality... not sounding like a vox box.

Tell you what: Give it to me in a standalone box, that I can plug into the car system like a car stereo, completely independent of the rest of the car's systems. For that matter, add the stereo components to it, so it's all in the one box that slides into the dash. Then give me the interactivity of HAL, and I'd try it. If it sucked, I'd yank it and put in Sirius.

Wait: Better idea. Give me all that in a POCKET-SIZED HANDHELD, and to Hell with messin' with the car!