Pods Unite 381
burgburgburg writes "Apple has released the QuickTime video of the new commercial they made in conjunction with Volkswagen. The connection between the two? Buy a New Beetle. Get a new iPod. Take a look at video.
It's the 15 GB iPod and all the accessories needed to hook it up to the new Volkswagen." It uses a casette adapter, which is really lame. Of course, I use a casette adapter with my iPod, but I am not a German engineer.
calling clueful car manufacturers (Score:5, Interesting)
Would it kill these guys to put a mini-jack on the dash (or somewhere) and an AUX setting on the stereo.
Bueller? Anyone?
Hedley
In Car Firewire or USB ? (Score:4, Interesting)
BTW I think this will be better than those in car removable hard drive solutions from 2-3 years ago
A good thing... (Score:4, Interesting)
German engineer? (Score:2, Interesting)
Integration (Score:5, Interesting)
I wonder if the car can control the ipod - i.e. fast forward, rewind, etc. The older-style remote protocol is documented here [maushammer.com] so that you can build an interface to anything you want. It includes nice pictures & working source code!
iTrip (Score:4, Interesting)
The website has been stating "shipping soon" for a very long time now. At any rate, this could be an easier connection than a tape cassette, except for the possible trade-off of sound quality.
They used to... (Score:3, Interesting)
Just a crappy cassette adapter? (Score:5, Interesting)
Depending on what kind of stereo you've got, you may be able to get an auxiliary input cable adapter. I got one from XMFanstore [yahoo.com] for the OEM stereo in my car, which has an unused aux connector for a CD changer-- the adapter I bought just ends in female RCA jacks, so you can hook up pretty much any audio input to it. Maybe one of these days I'll be in the mood to take the center console apart and pull the stereo out to connect that cable. Until then, I'm using a crappy cassette adapter.
Another product I'll be getting when it's available is this RF iPod remote control. [engineeredaudio.com] I plan to run the cable to a storage compartment in the console, so the iPod will be out of sight/the way but I'll still be able to control it.
I agree with the "Why aren't they putting God damned input jacks on car stereos yet?" sentiment. What we really need are car stereos and MP3 players with Bluetooth, so they can connect that way. Of course, then you'd have short battery life without plugging the MP3 player into an auto power adapter-- but at least pretty much every car has someplace to plug one of those in.
~Philly
Comment removed (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:calling clueful car manufacturers (Score:3, Interesting)
The other option is if you aren't using a trunk CD player and the head unit has RCA inputs, have an RCA to Mini adpater hanging out of your dash- then just plug and play.
About the cassette adapter... (Score:2, Interesting)
no thanks (Score:2, Interesting)
cassette adapters are a joke.
Weird (Score:1, Interesting)
Re:Really really bad sound quality... (Score:1, Interesting)
1) My 1997 VW Jetta "Jazz" came with a 10 speaker Bose system. Gorgeous sound.
2) 2002 VW Jetta 1.8T w/ Monsoon Stereo (8 speakers), this car had sucky sound, pretty dull. Car got slammed by a ricer 9 months after I bought it.
3) 2003 VW Jetta 1.8T w/ Monsoon Stereo... gorgeous sound, very tunable... almost prefer it to my old Jetta Jazz. Speaker positions could be a little better, but they're not bad where they are.
Re:iTrip (Score:3, Interesting)
Why doesn't apple make... (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:calling clueful car manufacturers (Score:1, Interesting)
PhatBox is one of them
www.phatnoise.com
kinda high on the price, but for the compatibility and integration into my new beastie...why not
SO dissapointing... (Score:3, Interesting)
Instead, its a lame combination of just a generic casette adapter, a generic cigarette lighter slot charger, and a bumper sticker, which they're ALWAYS out of. Instead of buying a beetle with this lame system,
I think that I can build my own. All I need is a spare iPod dock, that kit that you can use to connect to the RCA ports behind the radio, and the charger that plugs into the dock. Then, I simply attach the dock to a drink holder or something, and there is a MUCH better solution than the one that Apple/VW is offering. All I would have to do is plug the iPod into the dock, instead of messing with wires.
Re:My iPod is super! (Score:4, Interesting)
The girls I know like clean cars with luxurious acoutrements. Past a certain point, they don't care about how fast or loud or covered with chrome and decals it is. These are people who like SUBTLETY, who obsess over details, safey and cuteness. That's the beetle for you.
Besides, the volkswagen beetle is a nice car. It's comfortable inside, surprisingly roomy despite its apparent size, and there are lots of really nice editions out there. My personal favorite is the 1.8 turbo with the two tone leather interior, sunroof, sport suspension, rims painted to match the paint job...I've got a friend who drives one of these in jet black, and he gets more bumper than a body shop (to quote the film Airheads). In fact, of all the members of his rockabilly band (with their requisite 1960s chevrolets), his car gets the most attention. Could also be the drumming. Chicks dig a drummer.
Re:calling clueful car manufacturers (Score:3, Interesting)
I noticed that problem with an iRock transmitter on a trip to Phoenix...the four frequencies on which it transmits are all in use down there. Here in Las Vegas (or on the road between here and there), there are a couple of frequencies with which it works well enough. The factory radio in my S10 picks it up with no problems if the device playing the music (usually a Palm Tungsten T nowadays) is in the center console and the iRock dangles off to the side. (Don't know how it works with the Sony in my car, but since that has a tape deck, I'd just use a tape adapter there.)
A head unit with a line-in jack would be nice, though. (Come to think of it, there's an outboard tape deck (installs in the center console) available for most Chevy trucks that works with the AM/FM/CD head unit. (My parents have one in their Tahoe.) This would imply that there's some sort of input (preferably line-level) on the back of the head unit. If there were a way to bring that out to a mini-jack into which you could connect an MP3 player, that'd get the job done.)
Re:I still think the PhatBox is the best thing goi (Score:3, Interesting)
unofficial ogg for the ipod is found here [sixpak.org]