You see there are several issues which prevent this approach. There is no interface into the RNS-E which would support a communication protocol which could be used to transfer text.
Ok, now you will say wait a minute, what about the SAT receiver? True, but this is an option for the US units only (which limits the number of possible customers = less interest on the developer side).
Even assuming you target only the US customers, you would need to develop a custom IC which talks over the Audi Infotainment CAN protocol and emulates a SAT receiver. You would loose the SAT receiver functionality unless you add something which would allow to connect the OEM SAT receiver to your device and then trick the RNS-E to allow switching between both.
The more likely option is the following: The new A6/A8 MMI systems allow more than one device to talk over MOST (similar to CAN but higher speed whcih allows even audio). The MMI systems even support two CD changers plus a TV tuner. And it's available in Europe and North America which makes the audience much larger. I also think that eventually Audi will support features of today's MMI in the A4 (probably B8) and maybe even A3. Together with the announced support for BT audio devices in the far future, this will provide enough links into the OEM systems to develop custom devices.
Dension is rumored to develop the IceLink MMI for the A6/A8 which would be the first 3rd party interface available. There is also a group in Germany trying to develop a Linux PC based USB interface for MP3 player which uses the TV interface into the RNS-D. It's pretty quite right now in that area and issues not solved are missing RNS-E support and missing video in motion. Besides the price which is aiming at 1k Euro for the MP3 player (not including any storage).
What does this mean for today? I think unless you are a developer who can create his own little programmable IC, changes are close to zero that we will see and text enabled, fully integrated, external audio device for the RNS-E.
I would love to be wrong but I wouldn't bet any money right now on this...
Ok, now you will say wait a minute, what about the SAT receiver? True, but this is an option for the US units only (which limits the number of possible customers = less interest on the developer side).
Even assuming you target only the US customers, you would need to develop a custom IC which talks over the Audi Infotainment CAN protocol and emulates a SAT receiver. You would loose the SAT receiver functionality unless you add something which would allow to connect the OEM SAT receiver to your device and then trick the RNS-E to allow switching between both.
The more likely option is the following: The new A6/A8 MMI systems allow more than one device to talk over MOST (similar to CAN but higher speed whcih allows even audio). The MMI systems even support two CD changers plus a TV tuner. And it's available in Europe and North America which makes the audience much larger. I also think that eventually Audi will support features of today's MMI in the A4 (probably B8) and maybe even A3. Together with the announced support for BT audio devices in the far future, this will provide enough links into the OEM systems to develop custom devices.
Dension is rumored to develop the IceLink MMI for the A6/A8 which would be the first 3rd party interface available. There is also a group in Germany trying to develop a Linux PC based USB interface for MP3 player which uses the TV interface into the RNS-D. It's pretty quite right now in that area and issues not solved are missing RNS-E support and missing video in motion. Besides the price which is aiming at 1k Euro for the MP3 player (not including any storage).
What does this mean for today? I think unless you are a developer who can create his own little programmable IC, changes are close to zero that we will see and text enabled, fully integrated, external audio device for the RNS-E.
I would love to be wrong but I wouldn't bet any money right now on this...
