Adapting the Nexus 7 for a double DIN car dashboard opening

making-nexus-7-fit-in-double-DIN-dashboard

It turns out that the Nexus 7 Android tablet is the perfect size to fit in a double DIN opening. DIN is the form factor of a single CD head unit for an automobile. Many models have room for a double DIN, which is defined as 4" high by 7" wide. Once [Meta James] figured out that the dashboard bezel for his Subaru framed the Nexus 7 perfectly he set out to fabricate the mounting system for an … [Read more...]

New IOIO is faster, cheaper

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For the last few years, [Ytai] has been working on the IOIO, a device that connects your Android devices to the other homebrew peripherals. There's a new version of this really cool board out now that includes a few much-needed features like USB-OTG and a lower component cost that is passed on in savings to you. A few months ago, our own [Mike Szczys] caught a glimpse of this new IOIO board. … [Read more...]

XBMC workaround for Android hardware video acceleration

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An unofficial, but fully functional release of XBMC should make the uber-popular media center software work with almost all Android devices. About six months ago the developers of XBMC announced that it had been ported for Android. That was true, but there was one caveat. The port was made functional on one specific Android device. The hardware company Pivos paid for the devs to add support for … [Read more...]

Turning a Game Boy into an Android gamepad

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[Chad] has been messing around with emulators on his phone, but as anyone with a smart phone knows, even the most advanced touchscreen controls are terrible. Wanting something that pays tribute to the classic systems he was emulating, he decided to turn a classic old school brick Game Boy into an Android gamepad. After gutting an old DMG-01, [Chad] set to work turning the D-pad and buttons in … [Read more...]

Bubble wrap cure for Nexus 7 speaker distortion

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[Home Brand Cola] is quite happy with his Nexus 7 with the exception of the built-in speaker. It produces fairly good audio quality until he reaches about 50% volume level. Anything above that produces distortion. He figured out how to fix it using a small piece of bubble wrap. The eureka moment came when he was using his Nexus 7 and discovered he could fix the distortion by gripping the top … [Read more...]

Is entropy slowing down your Android device?

[Lambgx02] got tired of his Android device getting bogged down and decided to dig down to the cause of the issue. His investigation led him to believe that entropy is causing the slowdown. He believes that his workaround reduces 90% of the lag on the average Android device. So how is it possible that entropy is causing the problem? It seems there is a bottleneck when an app requests a random … [Read more...]

How to used an Android device with a shattered screen

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This screen is not just cracked, it's devastated. We can all agree that you're not going to be carrying this around with you anymore, but it might still be useful in other endeavors. [Mr Westie] wanted to use it for the camera which is undamaged. The issue is how do you control an Android device with a broken screen? He knew there are apps out there that let you control your device remotely. … [Read more...]