Use extrenal touchscreen to control Touch Pro - Is it possible?
 

I am wondering if it is theoretically possible to use an external touchscreen with the right software to control a Touch Pro. The reason I would want to do this is for use as a carputer. If this was possible it would save me a lot of time and money. Hopefully someone out there with enough knowledge will eventually attempt this.

Re: Use extrenal touchscreen to control Touch Pro - Is it possible?
 

Re: Use extrenal touchscreen to control Touch Pro - Is it possible?
 

That is not quite what I a looking for. The idea is I want to control the Touch Pro directly from a touchscreen without a computer. However the fact that you can do what that link shows gives me hope that maybe this is possible with the right software.

Re: Use extrenal touchscreen to control Touch Pro - Is it possible?
 

Looking for the exact same thing. This would be a kickass yet cheap carputer... gps, music, movies, browser, etc etc all in your car :)

Re: Use extrenal touchscreen to control Touch Pro - Is it possible?
 

I was looking around and I found this: http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/inpu...advantage.html Maybe someone who has a touchscreen could try the method described using the following adapter: http://www.windowsmobilenow.com/us/p...66&t=technical or some sort of modified mini usb cable and the video out cable.

Re: Use extrenal touchscreen to control Touch Pro - Is it possible?
 

It is possible. Using a program like SOTI Pocket Controller, you can control just about every aspect of your phone on your touch screen. There are freeware alternatives out there too, but I can't remember what they are off the top of my head. I know I have seen them mentioned in the software forum here at ppcgeeks.

EDIT: Here's a Freeware alternative - MyMobiler

Edit2: You can also use Microsoft's free ActiveSync Remote Desktop - LINK

Re: Use extrenal touchscreen to control Touch Pro - Is it possible?
 

I use My Mobiler

Re: Use extrenal touchscreen to control Touch Pro - Is it possible?
 

Correct me if I'm wrong but don't all those methods require the use of a computer? I would like to find a way of directly controlling the phone with a touchscreen. If I were to use a computer that would defeat the purpose as I would not need the phone if I had a computer to use.

Re: Use extrenal touchscreen to control Touch Pro - Is it possible?
 

I misread your post. I saw you mention carputer and thought you already had that setup. These apps do require a PC.

The closest I've seen is something like the Redfly but you would have to mount it in you car and use the touch pad to control the screen. Going that route, it would be better just to get the $25 video out cable and use the TP as your touch pad.

Re: Use extrenal touchscreen to control Touch Pro - Is it possible?
 

Yeah um thats all i can think of really external..... touch screen..... get a Panasonic toughbook?

Re: Use extrenal touchscreen to control Touch Pro - Is it possible?
 

I don't think it would be possible...you'd need some sort of interface to the PPC for a "mouse" or your finger inputs. All touch screens that I've worked with interface not only with RGB/DVI, but also PS/2 or USB to actually send the commands of what your touching or "clicking". HTC would have to build a cable that plugs into the USB port and has RGB and USB for the monitor.

Great idea though!

Re: Use extrenal touchscreen to control Touch Pro - Is it possible?
 

The only crappy part about the Redfly is it's so damn expensive! You can get a cheap lappy for less than that. It looks awesome though. I remember when Engadget reported on it a few months back.

Re: Use extrenal touchscreen to control Touch Pro - Is it possible?
 

I have seen cables that convert mini usb to standard usb and I have also seen rgb cables with a extra mini usb port on them so the cable part of it should be possible. The only thing I am wondering is does the touch pro support the use of a mouse because if it does I may have found a solution: http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/inpu...advantage.html This involves using a .dll file from windows CE. If my research is correct WM is based off of CE. Someone correct me if I'm wrong about any of this. I would try this myself but I don't have a touchscreen and it would be a waste of money for me if this didn't work as I don't have the money to get a separate pc for my car. Hopefully someone with a touchscreen will be brave enough to play around with this.

Re: Use extrenal touchscreen to control Touch Pro - Is it possible?
 

You are dead on, I would like to know if that HTC advantage cable could be used on the touch pro at all. I have a nice 7" touch screen in my car from my old carputer, but its just sitting empty right now. If that cable worked, any time I had my phone I could just plug in and have GPS/movies/music etc

Re: Use extrenal touchscreen to control Touch Pro - Is it possible?
 

The more I research this the more I am convinced this is somehow possible. People on other message boards have been able to get their phone to recognize a usb thumb drive via a modified usb cable and as I posted earlier someone made a touchscreen work with a HTC Advantage using windows CE touchscreen drivers. The following is some links to some info I have found so far:

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=411905
Post at xda developers discussing usb host on the touch pro.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/show...89&mode=linear
Another post at xda discussing using a usb keyboard with a diamond

http://handheld.softpedia.com/get/Sy...er-35283.shtml
A link to software that claims to give you a mouse pointer on your USB host enabled PPC.

http://wmpoweruser.com/?p=490
An article about the possibility of usb host on the diamond.

There are a few more things I'll post later.

Re: Use extrenal touchscreen to control Touch Pro - Is it possible?
 

I don't see that being a problem since you can control a PPC through your PC with a few different programs that some people have mentioned earlier in the thread. So I would think it could take a mouse input or at a minimum understand what you're clicking on the screen to translate it to the PPC to execute the tap.

Re: Use extrenal touchscreen to control Touch Pro - Is it possible?
 

One thing that isn't being mention is those looking to make a carpc out of their TP using a touchscreen DVD or CD deck is that the deck must also be able to recognize and send signals to control the TP. I don't think this is possible. I have the video cable and a touchscreen in my car, but I haven't tried yet. Is there enough interest in this? I could try.

Re: Use extrenal touchscreen to control Touch Pro - Is it possible?
 

Redfly is only $200! I just bought two to try. It claims to have an 8 hour battery life, it is very compact also. Good in theory anyway.

Re: Use extrenal touchscreen to control Touch Pro - Is it possible?
 

Oh, they must have dropped the price. A few months back when it was released, it was $500.

Thanks for setting me straight! :)

Re: Use extrenal touchscreen to control Touch Pro - Is it possible?
 

I have a 7" VGA Touch screen,

There are two cables that come off of it, a USB for the touchscreen interface and a VGA cable for video.

So basically the touchscreen acts as a HID (human interface device) like a mouse, and the screen itself shows the video picture from the phone.

Re: Use extrenal touchscreen to control Touch Pro - Is it possible?
 

A couple people earlier in the thread are confident that they can accomplish it based on a few sites they posted.

Re: Use extrenal touchscreen to control Touch Pro - Is it possible?
 

My problem with the sites posted is there are no pictures confirming them working, just thoughts and connecting a few different ideas. A lot of assumptions for my taste, yet no proof. Anyone know where I can find the CE drivers that are being talked about? I will try this for everyone.

Re: Use extrenal touchscreen to control Touch Pro - Is it possible?
 

If you are referring to me I'm not "confident" that it can be done. I was just simply posting some links I found in the hope it would get people to look into this more. I think the possibilities of this phone would be greatly expanded if usb host functionality were made to work.

I don't know enough about smartphones to figure this out on my own (my touch pro is the first ppc I have ever owned). If someone can give me detailed instructions on how to make the usb cable described at xda forums I would like to try experimenting with a mouse. As for the CE touchscreen drivers I have no idea where to get them. Maybe try getting in contact with the guy on mp3car forums who got it to work on his HTC Advantage.

My original intention for creating this thread is that people smarter than me would look in to this and experiment with the idea of usb host capibilities.

Re: Use extrenal touchscreen to control Touch Pro - Is it possible?
 

Anyone know where to find the drivers? I will throw them on my phone now and then try this tonight. I have a new TP being sent to me, so I might as well try fun stuff now with this one that isn't working totally correctly.

Re: Use extrenal touchscreen to control Touch Pro - Is it possible?
 

I have spent some time over the past few days researching this more and have not been able to locate the drivers needed. Hopefully someone out there who is smarter than me will figure out how to have usb host on the pro (if it is possible). If someone finds the files necessary to do this I would be glad to use my phone as the guinea pig. I don't have a touchscreen right now but I have other usb devices to try out. Also if anyone actually knows how the custom usb cable is made please post detailed instructions. If someone could figure this out it would save me a lot of time and money but if not I still think the pro is a great phone (finally I found the "perfect phone").

Re: Use extrenal touchscreen to control Touch Pro - Is it possible?
 

The custom usb cable used is quite simple. Hook up a female USB-A port to a mini-usb male plug. You have to provide your own external 5v power to the port, however.

Re: Use extrenal touchscreen to control Touch Pro - Is it possible?
 

The multi-function cables from HTC that already work on the TP use a USB hub driver in order to support multiple devices off of the same port on the bottom.

The HTC Advantage cables are 16-pin while the ExtUSB on the TP is 6-pin/11-pin.

Another thing to remember is that if you are going to build a solution that the screen will need to be the same resolution (VGA) as the TP so that the touchscreen maps correctly to the display. If you goto EarthLCD, or other part recycler, you can probably build a 1280x800 (WXGA) screen and then get a capacitive touch panel at VGA resolution to go over the LCD panel. This would be trick though as touch input would be less accurate.

You'd have to see if the TP can output at resolutions higher than VGA over the TV-out cable.

But this is a very interesting project that I think would be worthwhile. I'm going to bookmark this one.

EDIT: Of course the first link I find when looking for ideas on this gives me a concept phone that makes me absolutely drool. Too bad it'll likely never be made:
http://www.intomobile.com/2008/06/21...-keyboard.html

Re: Use extrenal touchscreen to control Touch Pro - Is it possible?
 

What multifunction cables use USB hubs? All the ones I've ever seen are straight through connections, considering sound, video, etc go over extUSB, not USB. All you have to do is split off your video and audio signals from the usb line.

Re: Use extrenal touchscreen to control Touch Pro - Is it possible?
 

Does anyone know where to get drivers to make this work? I have spent hours looking and can't find anything.

Re: Use extrenal touchscreen to control Touch Pro - Is it possible?
 

Any progress?

Re: Use extrenal touchscreen to control Touch Pro - Is it possible?
 

Can't progress any further without the drivers needed. If anyone knows where to get windows ce usb drivers let me know.

Re: Use extrenal touchscreen to control Touch Pro - Is it possible?
 

I may have found a possible solution:

USBInput

If someone has a touchscreen and the cable needed please try this out. You may need to use a powered usb hub for it to work (if it does work). I would also be interested in knowing if a mouse and keyboard would work on the pro with this app. As soon as I get the cable needed I will try a few things out.

Re: Use extrenal touchscreen to control Touch Pro - Is it possible?
 

Wanted to let all know... we are interested in doing this also.

Re: Use extrenal touchscreen to control Touch Pro - Is it possible?
 

Heres a video of somebody using the touch pros tv out to watch slingbox on a kenwood head unit.

He still has to control it through the pro but it is an option and perhaps a step in the right direction.

Re: Use extrenal touchscreen to control Touch Pro - Is it possible?
 

This should be pretty easy. As long as your TV/DVD receiver in the car has AV inputs it can work for anything; but again, you must control it with the phone (or whatever else you are using). To ultimate: Controlling it via the touchscreen in the car. ;)

Re: Use extrenal touchscreen to control Touch Pro - Is it possible?
 

Hi to all. I'm new to ppc's and new to this forum, and this is my first post ever on the site. In other words I'm a newb to it all. I've been exploring this site for a few hours and came across this topic. Hopefully my thoughts will spark something to this thread, because I think it would be kickass! This is a similar project that I'm interested in, but with a slight variation. I was interested in a carputer but I came across a head unit that might be a cheaper alternative called the Eonon E1015 $230
http://www.eonon.com/?controller=Default&action=ProductDetails&pid=83
First of all I think the price is pretty good for what you get, and 2nd, because it has everything I want in a head unit except GPS which they do offer in other models, but why not use my phones gps and save like $200. I know I can get my phone to display on the head unit, but I want to be able to control it from the Eonon. They have another model Eonon E1022 $320
http://www.eonon.com/?controller=Default&action=ProductDetails&pid=110# sc
With a bigger screen and supports iPod functions. So it is possible to control an external device from the head unit. I have a Touch Pro if I forgot to mention. From what I gathered from their forum
http://www.eonon.com/?controller=Def...Details&pid=83
The Eonon Operating system is Windows CE 5.0 Core? Or something like that?
They said the operating system in the head unit is a core system and could not be modified. Not sure what that means? Can it be hacked? Couldn't you put new skins on their prehistoric looking interface? 3DtouchFlo would look great on there! Or could software be written to use your phone on the head unit itself plus play cds/dvds with windows media player. Wow, what about about ripping cds right on to your phone or micro sd card of the phone or to the SD slot of the head unit. How about Pandora radio in your car? I don't know? I just thought I'd throw a few ideas out to anyone interested or have knowledge in anything I spoke of? They sounded good in my head. Much better than the voice I hear :twisted: Thanks in Advance.

TheCsource

Re: Use extrenal touchscreen to control Touch Pro - Is it possible?
 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but couldn't you just use a bluetooth mouse to control the Pro? Be a lot easier then trying to use the touch screen on the Pro while it is connected to the car's screen. Of course operating the Pro from the car's touch screen would be ideal, however, this might be a feasible alternative.

Re: Use extrenal touchscreen to control Touch Pro - Is it possible?
 

Another alternative may be the Logitech diNovo Bluetooth keyboard/trackpad: http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/ke.../3848&cl=us,en

From what I've read doing a quick, unexhaustive search, you should be able to pair it up with the TP, though it may not have all the functionality you need. I use one to control a netbook attached to my HDTV at home; works great. I haven't tried it on my TP, though.

BTW, while searching for posts on the diNovo for use with Windows Mobile, I came accross a product called GRemote, with which you can control a PC from the TP (I know it's not what the OP requested). Here's a page with a video demo, which I thought was worth sharing: http://www.isyougeekedup.com/using-s...-with-gremote/

Re: Use extrenal touchscreen to control Touch Pro - Is it possible?
 

I have that keyboard. I use it for my carpc, xbox media center.

I tried it and the keyboard's key works. Multimedia button doesn't work. It needs to be mapped. I forgot to try the mouse/trackpad. I'll try it and report back.

Re: Use extrenal touchscreen to control Touch Pro - Is it possible?
 

I would be very interested in this as well. I am watching this thread :-)

Not to hijack, just a slight off-topic question, I wouldn't mind using a very old IBM ThinkPad 2635 as a carputer in this setup. I have to overcome the fact that it doesn't have USB ports. Any ideas? Not something I've researched.