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Apple's Borchers Talks iPod Car Interfaces

Monday, July 17th, 2006 at 2:05 PM - by

Bob Borchers, Apple's senior director of iPod worldwide product marketing, wants his company to improve iPod integration in car stereos, rather than leave users with an "inelegant mess of cassette adaptors and wires," according to CNET UK's Crave Web site. Mr. Borchers added that Apple isn't interested in producing its own car stereo, preferring instead to work with third parties to improve integration.

"What Apple really wants you to buy is a car that's designed from the ground up to interface with the iPod," the Web site said. "The 30-pin connector on newer iPods can transmit all the information displayed on the iPod screen to a remote display. This lets car manufacturers display track information on the dashboard."

Mr. Borchers also told the Web site that he "was delighted by the efforts of Mac users to retrofit the Mac min into cars."

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jimothy said:

member since 04 Jun 2004 with 611 posts, unranked , send him a message or view his profile

Mon Jul 17, 2006 2:44 pm

Chrysler was supposed to release an iPod interface in Spring 2006. It's summer, and to my knowledge, this has never been released. Anybody know if this has been released, or if there is something on the market for an '06 Charger with navigation and rear-seat DVD player? (I can run RCA cables from the iPod to the read-seat system, but it's the sort of inelegant solution Borchers and I would like to avoid).

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A guest said: (hide)

Mon Jul 17, 2006 5:18 pm

The "Honda Music Link" should be an example of how NOT to implement an iPod interface. It did not transmit all the information displayed on the iPod screen to a remote display. Instead you had to load software which would go through your iTunes library and "read" all of your albums, playlists and songs converting them using text to speech into new tracks with the identical names. Of course to make this work you have to turn off automatic iPod updating.

Oh, and if you did update the songs on your iPod the software then has to go through your library again.

Then once the iPod is in the car it will announce the letters of the alphabet. When you get to the letter you want and you pressed a button it will then announce the songs, albums or playlists. What?

Don't buy it!

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Bosco said:

member since 03 Jun 2002 with 1001 posts, unranked , send him a message or view his profile

Mon Jul 17, 2006 5:19 pm

Although it's getting more difficult, as manufacturers are starting to integrate important vehicle information display into their stereo units, I'd strongly suggest skipping the factory stereo and going with a nice Alpine aftermarket unit. The 2006 lineup has iPod integration across the board, needing only a $30 cable. My only complaint with a 2005 model I have is that it is difficult to navigate long lists. That's not a connection issue, it's a head unit UI issue. At any rate, you can get a 6 speaker + sub system, top of the line head unit, and amps for about $1200. Pay a professional installer $300 to put it in, and you're still ahead of premium factory stereo price from all the auto manufacturers.

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Biff said:

member since 08 Apr 2004 with 1479 posts, unranked , send him a message or view his profile

Mon Jul 17, 2006 5:49 pm

Holy crap! Congrats dude! You just contributed something to a discussion! And it was actually pretty good too.

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A guest said: (hide)

Mon Jul 17, 2006 5:55 pm

What we really want is the iPod interface - in particular rapid navigation through vast lists of artists, albums, and songs - in a car stereo. Most existing systems are a pale imitation of the iPod interface and are horribly slow at scrolling through long lists.

I suggest having an iPod-style click wheel or a spring-loaded knob which accelerates based on displacement. That is, as you turn it farther to the right or left, the scroll rate accelerates rapidly.

Quality iPod integration, satellite and HD radio should be standard, built-in features, but instead they're expensive, clunky add-ons.

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Bosco said:

member since 03 Jun 2002 with 1001 posts, unranked , send him a message or view his profile

Mon Jul 17, 2006 7:54 pm

My apologies to everyone else who doesn't understand what Biff is alluding to. He is alluding to the fact that with his job as an assistant pizza maker at the local Dominos, he will actually be able to afford to buy the Alpine system I mentioned in about 5 years. This takes into consideration the free food and soda he gets on the job, the generous $125/month he pays his Mom to rent her 11' x 9' basement, and the $90/month bus pass he used to get to and from work.

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A guest said: (hide)

Tue Jul 18, 2006 3:12 am

What's wrong with making pizzas?

Seriously, what is needed is a lower-cost solution than the high-end Alpine (although their midrange with the 2-line display is slightly better), with:

1. A clear, readable display showing the title, artist, and album of the currently playing song.

2. Easily accessible fingertip controls for *rapid* navigation through long lists of albums, artists,

etc.

Things have a long way to go. One nice feature that I've seen on Xm (I believe) is a line on the display showing the *next* song that is going to be played - this is a nice feature that the iPod could use as well!!

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