CarPuter

I have my carputer mostly done.  Here's some pictures of it being built. I can hear you asking why I'd go to the trouble and expense of putting a computer in my Miata.  Below is a list of goodies it can do that I copied off the CentraFuse website. That is a very quick an dirty list but what makes the thing really shine in my opinion is it's ability to expand available functions via what they call plug-ins. I have a plug-in that automatically downloads and sorts the cheapest gas at all stations within a defined radius. A press of a button and the GPS software plots a course to the cheapest gas in town. Another plug-in automatically sets the volume of my radio/mp3 based on speed. Gets louder on the highway and automatically get quite on surface streets.
Web Radio is a plug-in that lets me listen to my favorite radio station no matter where in the world it is. One that I really like brings down weather reports and traffic reports.One plug-in that really sounds good to me, though I haven't done a track day since installing the computer, is a lap timer. It will automatically map the track and upload your times to a central database where you can compare your times and times of others.Of course there are plug-ins that I'll never use. Such as movie player, SNES emulator, appointment scheduler, the list goes on and on. Another integrates cell phones into Skype so you can talk free of charge to anyone. But I really do not like people talking on phones so I have not integrated this 'feature'.The computer is controlled by a touch screen.  No mouse, no keyboard.
Here's some screen capture examples.
 
MULTIMEDIA SUITE

• Play, Control & Manage Music, Video & Pictures
• Directly Control iPod and other Mp3 Players
• AM/FM/HD/Satellite Radio Tuner Controls
• Best-in-Class Audiophile Sound Quality

COMMUNICATIONS SUITE

• Hands-Free, Voice-Controlled Bluetooth Phone Connectivity and Control
• Email Access with Text-to-Speech Capabilities; Listen to Your Emails Being Read to You While Driving

NAVIGATION SUIT

• Get Real-Time, Voice-Guided Routing for North America, Europe, Australia, and other regions.
• Find Restaurants, Hotels and more with over +12M Available Points of Interest
• Avoid Congestion with our Real-Time Traffic Data

WEB SUITE

• Touch-Friendly Wifi Manager
• Full-Screen, Touch-Friendly Web Browser
• Live, Web-Driven Content Applications

CENTRANAV
Smarter Navigation with familiar path and favorite locations: Centrafuse uses a "smart routing algorithm" to analyze and assess routes by taking into account current road data - such as posted speed limits, number of turns to the destination, and can even consider traffic data, and recommends the most efficient path based on past and real time data.
CENTRAVOICE
Smart Voice Recognition with advanced voice recognition makes voice command easier than ever. Voice commands for A/V sources and other attachments like Bluetooth wireless-enabled cell phones are easy.
HANDS-FREE PHONE
Go wireless with Bluetooth. Allows you to take your hands off of your phone, calls can be safer using wireless-enabled cellular phones for easy, hands-free operation. To make calling even easier, you can store the phone book on the system’s contact list and access it by voice or the touch screen display.
CENTRASOUND
Centrafuse uses best-in-class sound reproduction, providing audiophile quality in the vehicle. No longer do you need to choose between the ease of availability of Mp3 files and cumbersome CD’s to get the best sound quality...now you can have both with Centrafuse.