"Pimping Out" Cars has been done. iPod integration, Mac Minis stashed in dash boards, 6-inch LCDs in headrests, and massive stereo systems - is there anything more that can be done? We think so.
For Macworld Boston 2005, Tech Superpowers decided that it was time that mobile computing really meant something - and we mean mobile computing. Why is it that computers in cars have to be so... useless? GPS is great, but Google is better. PS2 is fun, but Final Cut Studio is much cooler.
Our Geek My Ride® concept car is exactly that - bringing high-powered computing out of the data center and into the backseat.
Last year, for Macworld Boston 2004, we created the "World's Fastest Mac" - an Xserve setup with 3.5 Terabytes of storage as a mobile Final Cut Pro system, packed into a four-door Lexus. It was fast off the line and fast on the bench. We called it "30 fps HD @ 140 mph."
This year, we're going twice as fast - and we're teaming up with the folks at the Boston Final Cut Pro Users Group.
The 2005 Geek My Ride®; concept car is based on the same chassis - the Lexus IS300 and the Xserve, but it's the editors are twice as fast as last year - there's two of them! We've combined two Xserve G5s with Apple Xsan software to create an entire video production studio in a car. Xsan means that two editors can be working on the same footage at the same time - one doing effects and the other editing, for instance.
We've upped the storage to a massive 5.6 Terabytes. We've added your own drive-in movie projector, 2 x 19" flat screen monitors, Q-Logic Fibre Channel switch, and Bluetooth wireless capability, along with Apple's Airport Base Station. Pack it all in and you have the world's fastest Video Production Studio - ready to shoot, edit, transmit, and burn from the backseat.
The Specs
Two Apple Xserve Dual 2.3GHz G5 1U server with Dual Fibre Channel
Apple Xserve RAID 5.6 TB Drive Capacity
Q-Logic 16-Port 4Gbit Fibre Channel Switch
Apple Xsan Shared Storage Software
AJA IO capable of Analog and Digital capture of video in a variety of formats
Netgear 24-port Gigabit Ethernet switch, with integrated jacks in-dash
Apple Airport Base Station dome light
Dual LaCie 19-inch Displays
42-inch LCD Screen
Custom iPod in-dash integration
Bose QuietComfort 2 Noise-Canceling Headphones
Mackie 1602 Audio Mixer
3000 Watt Power Inverter
All completely self-contained
Built on a Lexus IS300
3.0-liter, twin-cam, 24-valve in-line 6 engine
Certified Low-Emission Vehicle (LEV)
215 hp @ 5,800 rpm, 218 lb-ft torque @ 3,800 rpm
Top speed of 143 mph
17 x 7.0-in graphite-polished alloy wheels with 215/45ZR17
Valentine One Radar Locator
Garmin StreetPilot 330c GPS Unit
Check out the photos from the show floor.
Related topics include: Geek My Ride® 2005 Pictures, Interactive Tour of "Geek My Ride® 2005" - Courtesy of Boston.com, Geek My Ride® 2004.
