“Car manufacturers love the iPod, and many of them have offered iPod integration as a feature on their vehicles. An FM transmitter can get the job done, and I’ve used one for the past couple of years, but it’s not perfect by any means, and the interference and lack of sound quality can really get to you after a while. When you’ve experienced this, you begin to understand why full iPod compatibility in an automobile is such a useful thing,” Brandon Watts writes for OSWeekly.
Watts writes, “Now that the iPhone is distracting some of the attention away from the iPod, there have been discussions taking place about how auto companies will utilize the iPhone in their vehicles. They’ve done a good job and made some real progress with the iPod, but the iPhone isn’t just about playing music. All vehicles have sound systems that are built for playing music, so the iPod is right at home in that situation. In contrast, with the iPhone, music is just part of the equation because phone calls and Internet functionalities are also very dominant features of the device. Therefore, how will car companies utilize the iPhone? Will they react favorably to it?”
Full article here.
Related article:
RUMOR: BMW to be first with full Apple iPhone vehicle integration – February 14, 2007
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bluetooth
I love the iPod integration in my Scion but at times I need to look up a phone number or check my schedule. I have to unplug the iPod to do so. I suppose a more expensive car could use a dash screen to access all the iPod menus? With the phone the music could fade and you could answer the call from a steering wheel button. You’d need a Mic somewhere.
Don’t drive and scroll. Or chat on the phone. Or watch videos. Or play games. Or surf. Or answer e-mails. Or voice mail. Or clip your friggin’ toenails.
Uncommon sense would tell people to let only a passenger do those distracting things. Or pull over. This goes for any big distraction like eating, putting on makeup, shaving, talking on phones or sex.
Just drive, dammit.
We need an updated “Blood on the Highway” movie and mandatory viewing for all licensees.
Yugo Announces TV Compatibly !
Now, you can stream old Capn Kirk episodes while youre stranded on a mountain road somewhere.. waiting for Triple A !
its the same dock connector
I would love to see the New Iphone become the only object you need. Hence In the car it could be placed center console. I mean it would be great to have the phone with built in Navigation to have in the car while it could play your tunes and be on the phone at the same time. That’s how Apple should go about it. One tool that does everything for the center attention in your car, and when you come hook it up to your charger where it will go Wifi straight to your applet.v to watch heroes…
brian
The real question in this article is how else can car manufacturers integrate the iPhone. Will the iPhone be able to share its internet connection (granted if the iPhone goes 3-4G)? That opens up a new ballgame of mobile computing!
People should not be using a phone iphone or otherwise while they are driving. It is too distracting. They are a danger for other drivers cyclists and pedestrians. If you want to use a phone while travelling, use transit.
Brandon Watts writes, “…but it’s not perfect by any means…”
This is a mighty forgiving assessment of iPOD integration into autos. I just bought an Accord, and I got without the iPOD dock because it didn’t seem like a very tight integration – sure enough I was right – integration was pretty much a case of the cure being worse than the ilness. I went so far as to check on 3rd party solutions, all fall very short of being with the cost of the product, or even my time if the product were free. I don’t know why no auto mfg. has yet provided real iPOD integration into their products.
The iPhone? Based on the iPod I’m not even sure I should hold my breath.
FM transmitters are garbage. Even the $99 ones.
There are lots of ways you can direct-connect your iPod to your car, even if you have a factory stereo without an AUX input on the front or back.
And here’s an interesting point I’d like to make…
What if you happen to drop your coveted iPhone on the ground or into some water, etc. Now all of a sudden, you’re out $500, out a phone, out an iPod, and totally disconnected to the fast-paced digital world in which we live. At least if you have ‘non-iPhone’ phone…you still have your iPod. The iPhone seems like overkill to me.
I don’t know…I’m not convinced about this iPhone, and especially don’t agree with the hype.
Talking to pasengers while driving is very distracting as well, perhaps just as distracting as talking to someone on a phone. I don’t think anyone would advocate banning conversations with pasengers.
Sony has a new aftermarket head unit with an iPod connector–first of it’s kind. This is basically what BMW and other have already done. It seem plasible that the high end car manafacturers like BMW and others, who have onboard phone systems, could integrate with the iPhone the same way. My money is on BMW being the first to do this – again.
Don’t “flick” and drive?
Studies have shown that driving with passenger is not nearly as dangerous as chatting on a a cell phone.
While a conversation with a passenger can be distracting, the passenger is also concerned with their own survival and will hopefully know enough to shut up in dangerous situations. A passenger can also warn the driver about approaching danger and make sure the driver does not fall asleep. A passenger can also do things like change a CD so the driver can keep their attention on the road.
I would imagine that the iPhone would need to quickly develop a hands-free/verbal commands/speakerphone type of system to be able to be utilized with automobile manufacturers.
With the way that anti-cell phone while driving laws are popping-up all over the country and the world, this is something that will need to be developed for automobiles. Probably more like an OnStar or some of these verbal GPS systems that are in cars now.
Apple should really consider this or get a third-party developer on this kind of development right away. This is a market that will be in great demand in the next few years and not the beautifully graphic system that Apple is making.
The studies have shown it is the act of talking with someone on the cell phone that is the distraction. Hands free phones are no safer than non-hands free. If you need to talk while travelling, use transit.
Bluetooth would be a great way to communicate with the sound system just as phones work in cars now. Not sure if the sound quality will be good enough for music. It’s great for a phone.
Otherwise the dock connector is ideal. Most people will want to charge the phone anyway so that would kill 2 birds with one stone.
Unfortunately, add on system that replicate the iPod display are expensive and most manufacturers simply have a line in jack for sound. It would be good if something better and cheaper came along.
I’ve struggled to find a decent Pod holder that positions the unit close to the steering wheel. If you are going to change songs whilst driving, it’s better to have the screen closer to the line of driving sight.
Integration with the steering controls would also improve safety.
“A new study by the U-M Transportation Research Institute shows that drivers who have conversations with passengers exhibit similar levels of driving performance as drivers who use cell phones. For example, the study found no statistical difference in terms of keeping in the correct lane or using proper steering behavior between people talking on a cell phone or those conversing with a passenger.”
http://www.umich.edu/news/index.html?Releases/2006/Feb06/r021306
“Passengers Know When to Shut Up” – I certainly hope you don’t expect people to take your “studies” seriously.
“While a conversation with a passenger can be distracting, the passenger is also concerned with their own survival and will hopefully know enough to shut up in dangerous situations.”
– The same is true for cell phone users. They know enough to stop talking when in dangerous situations.
“A passenger can also warn the driver about approaching danger and make sure the driver does not fall asleep.”
– Talking on a cell phone can also help the driver to stay awake.
“A passenger can also do things like change a CD so the driver can keep their attention on the road.”
– Talking on a cell phone makes a CD unnecessary, thus enabling the driver to keep their attention on the road.
realist…
does the person on the other end of the phone know if your about to crash?
does the person on the other end of the phone know if your about to crash?
Yes, when they hear my passengers screaming.
Actually, I’m the only person in the world competent enough to drive without distraction. The rest of you will need to stay off the roads. All of them. Right now. Shoo.
Well folks. It happened to me. I was scrolling my IPod and didn’t pay attention in a parking lot and drove into a car. No one was injured, but I could have just as easily run over and killed someone.
I’m not making this up. It really did happen.
Please be careful! Cell phones while driving are dumb. Hands-Free does not help! IPod scrolling while driving is probably dumber.
Maybe we Aussies are pretty dumb. But we tend to think it is kinda stupid to use a mobile phone while driving. What the hell is so damn important that it cant wait to get home. We recently had an accident were a car veered into the path of a log truck (according to witnesses). You only veer into things when you take your eye off the road. The problem will only get worse with a phone that you can’t feel what your doing (flat touch screen).
Good way to bump someone off that you don’t like. Wait for them to leave work, give it around 5 to 10 minutes, to give them time to get right in the thick of the traffic, then give ’em a call.