On the last Apple special event, Steve Jobs was almost bragging about the fact that 70% of new cars sold in the US this year had (optional!) iPod “integration” available…
Obviously, he didn’t talk about the rest of the world. But most of all, what Steve didn’t tell us, is how crappy the existing “integration” solutions actually are!
At the very same time, I was at Apple Expo 2006 in Paris, checking out what the car manufacturers had to offer…
iPod & Audi TT
Audi was showing off their new TT. Nice car. Wanna check the inside? You gotta ask the blonde to unlock it for you…
Get inside. The blonde would not let me connect my own iPod filled with 7000 songs. She insisted she was only allowed to connect her own nano with 40 songs on it… What was she afraid off? That my iPod would spread a virus to the Audi TT?
Guess what! I did not manage to connect my own iPod to the TT, but last year, at Apple Expo 2005, I could connect my iPod to a BMW Z4. And the catch is here: the integration works pretty fine with a few dozens of songs. But with a seriously loaded iPod like mine (I had about 6000 songs last year), the whole thing gets insanely slow and barely usable. It would take hours – literally – to scroll down to the artist you want.
Worse: See the screen on the picture? All it says is “Track 4”! You can’t see what you’re listening to.
No need to say, no way to browse through your podcasts and choose what you want to listen to.
Nice new Audi TT but old outdated iPod interface.
Note: I got to talk to the manager. He said they are currently still using Dension OEM equipment but they are now partnering with Apple in order to come up with a better solution of their own.
iPod & BMW
BMW wasn’t at Apple expo this year. But last year they had approximately the same system, with the added ability to browse though artists which would display on an extra screen. No way to listen to podcasts though.
It seems that BMW has greatly enhanced their iPod interface since (including podcasts). A shame I could not see it.
iPod & Mini (the car!)
See the picture? Get the picture? “TR02” is the only visual feedback you’ll get. This is the typical “CD changer” interface again.
Most iPod car “integration” solutions work that way: they pretend to be a CD changer. So all you can do is select one of 6 playlists and then skip to next and previous tracks within that playlist (which is seen by the head unit as a CD).
Crap.
iPod & Dension
Dension offers after market iPod integration products. For a long time all they had was the crappy CD changer interface used in the Audi TT and the Mini above…
On some models though, you can disable the CD changer interface and use your iPod’s native control interface, so you can scroll easily to all artists or podcasts. While this gives you better control, this actually boils down to a $179 audio cable between your iPod and your head unit.
A little more interesting is their new FM tuner interface. This one, you don’t connect on a CD changer port on your head unit. Instead, you insert it between your antenna and your head unit. When activated it will shut out FM radio stations and emit from the iPod as if it was an FM radio station.
Again, you use the regular iPod interface for control (it’s the only option here). The plus is that the track name gets broad-casted by RDS so that it displays on the head unit. The downside however is that the sound quality falls down to FM quality. Good FM quality, but still…
iPod & Kensington
Kensington has a similar RDS enabled offer except that you do not connect the device to the head unit. It transmits over the air. So you get constant interference from actual FM radio stations. Plus, emitting on the FM band without authorization is illegal in many countries.
Nice device though. (Nicer than the dozen other similar cheap solutions you can find at your local retailer…)
iPod & Pioneer
Back in summer 2005 I bought a Pioneer head unit for my car because they were one of the first manufacturers to offer an (overpriced) iPod add-on. It looked like the same technology as the (old) BMW interface already mentioned above.
Painfully slow. Impossible to use with more than 200 songs. Impossible to use with podcasts.
After showing them how crappy it was, I had the retailer take it back.
Note: Neither Pioneer France, nor Pioneer Europe cared to answer to my email inquiries back then. :( Needless to say, I’ll never buy Pioneer again…
My personal recommendation
I could go on and on with other iPod integration solutions, but really, most of them are pure crap. The only thing they get right is charging your iPod while you drive!
However, if you seriously care about listening to your iPod in your car, if you want to listen to podcasts and not to the same old playlist again and again, I think the only effective solution today is to use the iPod’s native interface and get the analog sound out, either through the headphone jack, or through the dock connector with an adapter.
You can then pump the audio into your car stereo in several ways:
- A cassette adapter (bit quality sound won’t be that good)
- A jack connector on your head unit if you’re lucky to have one
- RCA connectors at the back of some head units (you can get an optional box from some manufacturers, like Pioneer…)
Then of course, some kind of docking system to have your iPod accessible at a convenient position can also help, compared to leaving your iPod on the passenger seat.
If you can’t live without charging your iPod while you drive, then the Dension RDS solution may be the best deal.
Anything more “advanced” is currently a waste of money. It’s good for demos and showing off. It’s useless for daily use.
BMW’s new system may be the first usable iPod car integration solution… but, unfortunately, I could not check it out yet.