Quote:
Originally Posted by Calspeed
I was wondering if I would be able to use the new Android Nexus 10 by Google as my GPS. It has WiFi only.
Miguel
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I also have been thinking in this direction (and so have auto makers).
I have a very good Chinese tablet with Bluetooth (I wouldn't get a tablet without it), and I got a surplus TomTom bluetooth GPS module for it for $10. Effectively, this is like having a tablet with a remote GPS antenna installed where you will have a good view of the sky. You can get a navigation app with maps from several sources known to work with an external Bluetooth GPS, so you don't need Internet access to use it. I haven't worked out some of the practical mechanics involved, like the tablet and GPS turning on with the car. This might involve some (rather ugly and irreversible) hacking to both units, wiring, and some kind of external microprocessor control.
SOME Bluetooth dongles connected by mini-USB are reported to work with Android tablets with varying degrees of success.
Some practical problems with using a tablet (possibly built into the) car would be that most good tablets have capacitive screens, and won't work with normal gloves; also, LCD displays get slow and washed out at low temperatures, and most all of them don't like high temperatures. The LCD's built into cars are designed for wider ranges of temperature and might be installed where it will be "shady" or might actually have controlled heating elements behind them. So, YMMV.