Friday, July 26, 2013

Upgrading a Honda fit with MediaLink head unit and a Google Nexus Tablet for Waze.


I completed my latest project. This is a receiver with mirrorlink. Anything you can do on the phone you can also do on the stereo. There is some lag so movie viewing isn't worth while but apps, search, navigation, and music are ideal. It required a hacked Italian version of the samsung software and a grounding the safety circuits. I can also control apps like google play and pandora via bluetooth. The solution isn't ideal but beats any new car tech except radar proximity detection. I have a Nexus 7 with Waze running on left as well. This doesn't obscure my vision at all. I sit much higher than the pictures indicate. The picture of the tablet holder is at night so it looks a bit dingy but it matches the dash exactly and is actually suctioned to a rounded surface. The dash holder cost $12 and has absolutely no vibration. The airbag isn't obstructed. For it to be unsafe in a accident I would need to be hit from behind. It isn't as safe as nothing at all but doesn't concern me any more than a phone mount or a GPS.







Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Amazon Prime Video on Android

There are 2 problems with watching Amazon prime videos on Android. The first problem is that Amazon doesn't supply a app. This is most likely because any other Amazon product directly competes with the Kindle tablets.

Secondly adobe flash won't natively install on android 4.0 or higher. Now you know what it feels like to own a Ipad or Iphone.

The solution is to browse Amazon prime in full mode in your browser. The Amazon page opens up into a mobile version on your phone browse. Simply scroll to the bottom of the page and select the full website view or from the menu in chrome you can select desktop website. I'm sick of tablets with better than my PC resolution showing me a mobile page first. There is a fix for this but it doesn't always work.

Secondly you need Adobe.
Use this link:
http://helpx.adobe.com/flash-player/kb/archived-flash-player-versions.html

The scroll down to get to the android versions. If you have the Amazon store on your machine than the security setting to install non playstore apps is already set. If you you don't have the Amazon store than get. You can get a free app of the day that offers up a new paid app for free everyday that changes at midnight pacific time.

With both the flash player and the web site you can now watch your Amazon prime movies or TV. There will be issues with screen timeout and if the movie stops for too long a period to queue up then you can use the option to close full screen mode and refresh from the browser bar.