Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Automotive Grade Linux Platform Debuts on the 2018 Toyota Camry

automotivelinux.org

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

81–90 of 113 posts

Re: Automotive Grade Linux Platform Debuts on the 2018 Toyota Camry

#81

Post by colemickens »

sircastor wrote: post #26

Infotainment system developer here, A number of people have mentioned preferring/wanting Android Auto/CarPlay in their infotainment systems, and that it would be preferable to many of the systems that exist in current vehicles. I have a couple of thoughts. The Infotainment system is one of the most user-facing components of the vehicle. It's something that can reflect the brand identity of the vehicle, and most OEMs…

Have you or your employer ever had a customer say "oh thank goodness, I really needed BRAND's tech in here instead of just a convenient way to access the same software I already use for hours every day?" In any sort of user study or feed back? Or really ANY indication that NIH for infotainment systems is a good investment?

I don't think those... um, infotainment systems are a differentiator other than the ones that are so bad as to rule out the car entirely. I've never heard anyone, anyone say they liked their car infotainment system. Ever.

To be honest, I really hope they don't actually think of those systems as an important extension of their brand. Or if they do, they realize that Android or iOS are much better user facing tech companies and brands than any car manufacturer...

Re: Automotive Grade Linux Platform Debuts on the 2018 Toyota Camry

#82

Post by whipoodle »

b1daly wrote: post #48

This just reminded me of my personal pet "first world problem." The move from hardware based interfaces to touch screen interfaces is an astonishing regression in usability. Older car "audio" systems could be controlled with simple knob and button interfaces. This would allow the user to fine tune the audio playback, as well as find radio stations, without having to look at the device. Asside from picking the music,…

Yes, older cars are so much better in this way. These interfaces are garbage, the hardware is laggy and the whole thing is ugly and filled with latency, but it hardly matters because physical controls will always be better.

Re: Automotive Grade Linux Platform Debuts on the 2018 Toyota Camry

#84

Post by justin66 »

b1daly wrote: post #48

This just reminded me of my personal pet "first world problem." The move from hardware based interfaces to touch screen interfaces is an astonishing regression in usability. Older car "audio" systems could be controlled with simple knob and button interfaces. This would allow the user to fine tune the audio playback, as well as find radio stations, without having to look at the device. Asside from picking the music,…

> In my current run of the mill, screen based, "infotainment" system, doing this without endanger myself and others, requires stopping the vehicle, and undertaking a series of awkward and unresponsive controls, none of which are accessed on the same screen!

Toyota, the automaker under discussion here, offers steering wheel controls that are pretty decent. The main weakness of such systems is that the interface between stereo and phone has such little functionality, and that is where many people will be playing their music. Eventually you're going to be poking at a phone and a badly-designed app unless you're happy to simply play everything from a long playlist.

Re: Automotive Grade Linux Platform Debuts on the 2018 Toyota Camry

#85

Post by post_break »

tw04 wrote: post #25
mark212 wrote: post #22

They all suck. BMW, Ford, Honda, Infiniti are all ones I've had ample experience with over the past year and they're all horrible. I've gone back to headphones and it's glorious (I use maps very rarely, just audio content)

Ford supports both Android auto and apple carplay with the latest generation of sync. The interface is extremely responsive to boot. I'm not sure I'd call that horrible.

Yeah we've got two fords with Sync 3 and it's fantastic. The fact that I can use my android and gf can use iPhone is amazing. Ford did it right by saying, you want Nav? We've got it but you can also use your phone if you want.

Re: Automotive Grade Linux Platform Debuts on the 2018 Toyota Camry

#86

Post by blub »

rothbardrand wrote: post #7

I've been a loyal toyota buyer for over 30 years. But I will not buy another car, unless it has first class CarPlay support. (and it should support the android equivalent as well) Having to interact with the phone while driving is a safety problem and Apple (and presumably android too) delivered a great solution several years ago-- no excuse for not implementing it. Especially given that auto makers really suck at th…

Be careful what you wish for, I heard that Google is aggressively gathering information about ones driving through Android auto.

My car has pretty basic integration: calls, music. I have access to the phone book and playlists on the car display and I don't need nor want more integration.

Re: Automotive Grade Linux Platform Debuts on the 2018 Toyota Camry

#87

Post by blub »

captainmuon wrote: post #67
sircastor wrote: post #26

Infotainment system developer here, A number of people have mentioned preferring/wanting Android Auto/CarPlay in their infotainment systems, and that it would be preferable to many of the systems that exist in current vehicles. I have a couple of thoughts. The Infotainment system is one of the most user-facing components of the vehicle. It's something that can reflect the brand identity of the vehicle, and most OEMs…

No offense, but I have yet to find a infotainment system that I liked. They reflect the brand identity of the vehicle, yes, but badly. The majority of in-car-entertainment systems are clunky, slow, and look outdated. The hardware is already at release a few years behind, and you can't easily replace it. (This also applied to smart TVs, and to some extent to in-flight-entertainment). What I would love is a simple stan…

Actually, that is very hard and also without any benefit for car manufacturers.

Re: Automotive Grade Linux Platform Debuts on the 2018 Toyota Camry

#88

Post by FussyZeus »

b1daly wrote: post #48

This just reminded me of my personal pet "first world problem." The move from hardware based interfaces to touch screen interfaces is an astonishing regression in usability. Older car "audio" systems could be controlled with simple knob and button interfaces. This would allow the user to fine tune the audio playback, as well as find radio stations, without having to look at the device. Asside from picking the music,…

I disagree somewhat, the issue isn't that the infotainment system is a touch screen based series of menus, the problem is they are almost universally shit. They often use resistive screens which have been utter shit since the day they were invented, and only support single touch, making them useless for gestures. The software is slow, the refresh rate of the screen/GPU is brutally slow and primitive, etc.

I don't know if capacitive screens and proper GPUs are just somehow incompatible with cars, or what the engineering problem is to get solid framerates with solid responsive time in a good looking screen, but no car manufacturer other than Tesla seems to have been able to solve this problem.

Now that doesn't address everything you're pointing out here, which several of these are legit points. I'm just saying if my car's touch screen felt more like an iPad and less like an Android tablet from 2006, it would be a metric fuckton easier for me to use.

Re: Automotive Grade Linux Platform Debuts on the 2018 Toyota Camry

#89

Post by abpavel »

mark212 wrote: post #20
interfixus wrote: post #9

Can someone explain to me, honestly, why I would want an 'entertainmaint' system built into my car? I do long commutes, I drive a lot, I am an occasional truck driver, I have crossed Australia east to west more than once - and I still don't get it. My car is the one place in the world where I stand a decent chance of escaping the all-pervading goddamn film and music industry.

Podcasts? Audiobooks? I've had some really great experiences on long drives listening to thought-provoking non-fiction audiobooks. Recommend it highly. (Of course a pair of headphones and your device of choice can probably do just as well if not better.)

Headphones in a car is generally a bad idea, as you wouldn't hear car horns, sirens, and other important audible signals that might prove critical.

Re: Automotive Grade Linux Platform Debuts on the 2018 Toyota Camry

#90

Post by wyager »

rothbardrand wrote: post #7

I've been a loyal toyota buyer for over 30 years. But I will not buy another car, unless it has first class CarPlay support. (and it should support the android equivalent as well) Having to interact with the phone while driving is a safety problem and Apple (and presumably android too) delivered a great solution several years ago-- no excuse for not implementing it. Especially given that auto makers really suck at th…

I don't trust car manufacturers to implement anything more complex than a Bluetooth module that has only power and analog audio integration. I don't want all this stuff. I love my old land cruiser because it's well designed in almost all aspects, which cannot be said for any infotainment system.
Post reply on HN