Control VGN from another device?

[Capitum]

Hi everyone-

new to this forum, hope this is the right place to post this question. I searched online but signal:noise prevented me from finding relevant results (I'm not even sure I'm using the right search terms).

I have an old, double-din car stereo that I need to replace. I was looking at some of the nice touchscreen options with GPS, MP3, etc, and thinking "my phone can do everything here except play CDs"... and I don't need CDs, I use MP3.

So instead of spending hundreds on a new stereo, I could just use my phone, but I want to avoid using a cheezy dash mount and the screen is kinda small anyway. I was wondering if there are any DIY or reasonably priced aftermarket solutions that are just a double-din-sized touchscreen that connects to the device with bluetooth, so the phone screen is mirrored on the car screen, and controlled by it (so I could leave my phone in my pocket). Audio (2 channel) could also go across bluetooth and just be hooked directly into the car speakers (I guess a small amplifier would be needed).

Can anyone point me in the right direction for posts, forums, threads, whatever where this has been done? Can it be done? (e.g., can the VGN be set up to be controlled by an external touchscreen?)

Thanks all!

 

[zkSharks]

As far as external touchscreen control, the closest you're likely to get is mirroring the screen using MHL. But even then, you obviously won't have external touchscreen input. I do remember reading about something similar a while back, I'll try to dig it up again.

Controlling music playback from an external stereo device isn't hard. You just want a stereo that supports the AVRCP Bluetooth Profile. This is the same profile that allows speakers like the Jambox to control your phone's music via the buttons on the wireless speaker. Almost all new cars with stock Bluetooth-enabled stereo systems include it (as it's a standard Bluetooth profile), so finding one shouldn't be hard.