Hi,

This is definitely a noob question and it probably isn't even possible, but i'll throw it out there anyways.

I've been through a couple smartphones in the past few years, and now I have a tablet too. (All Android, but should be similar for those Apple people) I was looking at mounting my tablet in the car (a temporary mount for whenever i'm in it) just to be able to use it for GPS and stuff, but because it's kinda big it's hard to find a place for it where it does not cover the climate control (I have the auto on mine) and the CD player.

What I was thinking would be awesome would be a bluetooth interface that I could install in the column which could tap into all the column systems, especially the radio, but also Climate Control, so that an android app could be made to manage the climate control, radio, etc. with bonus points for integration into other car systems. The advantage of bluetooth would be that I could switch phones/tablets and still be okay.

I'm not a 'car' guy, but I am an electronics, computer, programming, etc guy. I have lots of friends who are great mechanics so I've kind of been wanting to understand car computers a little bit more. I have a decent budget for messing around with stuff like this and a pretty high DIY tolerance on the electronics side. I was just wondering if anyone had heard of a setup like this or know what would be involved.

Thanks!

 

This looks interesting: Torque OBD2 Wiki

Steering volume controls for an aftermarket stereo: DIY: Getting the Steering Wheel Controls to Work w/ Aftermarket HU (w/ PAC SWI-JACK)

Other Steering Controls: iPod Integration for your car and More by Pac-Audio - Connecting you to the future