Engadget reports on yet another innovation for the iPad as seen at this year’s CES – a car dashboard with an integrated iPad that controls not just your in-car entertainment and navigation, but also many other functions, including seat positions, climate controls and doubtless much more besides once it's fully up and running. The (deep breath!) Consumer Electronics Device to Vehicle HMI (human/machine interface) comes from Visteon, and fits into a dock on the dashboard. The iPad interacts with the vehicle via Bluetooth, with a specially designed app that Engadget got to spend hands-on time with, and which really does seem pretty amazing, interfacing with the radio, phone and navigation system, as well as displaying detailed information about the car’s performance, including the speed, engine performance, fuel pressure and so on.

If this looks like something you’d like to have fitted in your car right now, or available in a new car, you’ll have to wait a little longer I’m afraid, as Engadget says that Visteon has told them that the technology won’t be ready until approximately the middle of 2011.

Source: Visteon puts an iPad in a car dashboard, we go hands-on (video) -- Engadget

That's awesome. I would love to just eliminate all of the climate controls and stuff and just have one large screen to control everything that is normally there.

Some might say it's dangerous, because you would have to take your eyes off the road, but it's in the same spot that the climate controls and stereo normally are anyways. Also this leaves the possibility for them to add in a voice control feature as well. Just say a keyword to get it's attention (or press a remote button mounted on the steering wheel, and then the voice command, for example "Air Conditioning ON 32 degrees" or "Next track" or something like that.

I hope they come out with modules to interact with most new cars, but somehow I think this will be a very niche market and it will only be available for a few cars.

This is just one of a long line of "cool stuff" products that, if even making the light of day, end up niche market at best. This won't be any different. And who the heck would want to leave their iPad in the dash.... that you would have to remove rather than come back to it stolen. And if it's your actual everyday iPad, what if you forget it? Your car won't work?

I would be more than satisfied to have my iPad work in my hands alone a car, its down most days because of the crappy Wi-Fi.

Al

Haven't you bought that new router yet Al?

I have a good router Scott,it has everything on it Coax,DSL,USB,J-11,U-Verse,and of course wi-fi, my problem is that its in the basement where my phone line enters the house and I'm upstairs as far as I can get without entering my neighbors house.
I think I need to buy a repeater and that should fix my problem.

Al