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Volkswagen Debuts 'iBeetle' With iPhone Integration and Special Badging

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macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
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30,714



Volkswagen has introduced a new version of the Beetle that "integrates" the iPhone into the vehicle. However, that integration amounts to little more than an iPhone dock on the dash, a Beetle app, and iBeetle badging on the car.

004-volkswagen-ibeetle.jpg
Autoblog is unimpressed with the iBeetle, hoping for more from a car that VW says is "one of the first cars in the world to have a genuine integrative interface for the iPhone that was coordinated with Apple".
This is the kind of kit we expect to see as a bullet point on an option sheet, but instead, VW has made this dock+app an entire model by including special "Disc" wheels and iPhone-matching color schemes. The iBeetle will land on dealer lots in the US in 2014, but you can probably make something similar yourself today with an aftermarket dock and an iTunes gift card's worth of third-party apps.
Click to expand...
The app does offer some unique features because it talks to the car while docked, getting information such as oil and coolant temperatures, a G-meter, and more. The iBeetle app allows users to send map-based postcards and to measure driving times and fuel economy to determine the best route to a destination.

The iBeetle will be available at the beginning of 2014 with preorders beginning in October.

Article Link: Volkswagen Debuts 'iBeetle' With iPhone Integration and Special Badging
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2013/04/22/volkswagen-debuts-ibeetle-with-iphone-integration-and-special-badging/
nutmac

nutmac

macrumors 603
Mar 30, 2004
6,053
7,313
If a car wants to be closely associated with Apple, the least it should have is Siri Eyes Free and AirPlay video mirroring. And it would help to have interior design that is more Apple-sque.
 
J

J400uk

macrumors regular
Apr 3, 2008
181
0
I don't understand the point when we can see in the picture the car also has VWs top of the range RNS 510 navigation system fitted. Surely there will be a lot of feature overlap between that and the iPhone?

It would make more sense to just have an iPhone dock in an entry level Beetle with a basic head unit lacking the Nav system.
 
jayducharme

jayducharme

macrumors 601
Jun 22, 2006
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The thick of it
I wonder how much of a premium this is going to put on the car. It really is a pretty sorry implementation.

All auto manufacturers need to do is allow for bluetooth connection to their built-in system, so that any enabled device can work with it. Have a USB charging port available and a place to stow the device. Why is that so difficult?
 
S

SpinThis!

macrumors 6502
Jan 30, 2007
480
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Inside the Machine (Green Bay, WI)
Special badging, just for thieves.

I'm betting there has to be more at work here. Short of Apple getting into the car business, I wonder if Apple isn't simply going to start making head units for other makes and models. People already embed Apple TVs and iPads into the system so it seems like a logical move to offer it to manufacturers as a add-on.
 
C

carlgo

macrumors 68000
Dec 29, 2006
1,806
17
Monterey CA
Apple shouldn't have even allowed this. Embarrassing. A New Beetle? No, no...arrrggghh...such a weenie-mobile to be associated with.

Better would have been for Apple to develop the ultimate car accessory, an iPad with phone capabilities, phone being too small to be idea for this use. Then any car company could incorporate it into their design. Customers could choose their own nav system and carrier, data plan, etc rather than rely on the car companies.
 
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GoCubsGo

GoCubsGo

macrumors Nehalem
Feb 19, 2005
35,741
153
Terrible placement. It should be more seamless than a dash-mount for your phone. Not to mention, what happens when the iPhone changes shape? Surely people keep cars longer than phones, no?
 
L

lawrie1947

macrumors member
May 13, 2010
63
0
Marginally less useful than the flower holder.

It looks like it has a rns 510 sat nav system which can do all the navigation guff the iPod can do plus hold 30GB of music.

VW have just released the new Golf MK7 with an ipod connector that needs a lightening adapter to work with the 5S. The 'infotainment' (?) system in that is pretty neat, however, incorporating cover flow on the 8" media display and other 'apple' like features.
 
FirstNTenderbit

FirstNTenderbit

macrumors 6502
Jan 15, 2013
355
0
Atlanta
Mr. Chewbacca said:
Would have been pretty cool if it used an iPad mini as the cars built in stereo.
Click to expand...

Wired has a pretty good article that highlights the difficulty of doing just what you recommend. The product development cycles are just too disparate between automobiles and mobile tech.

http://www.wired.com/autopia/2013/04/siri-eyes-free-roadblock/

Although I think the idea is novel, I'm not sure I would want to be an early adopter. My main concern: longevity. People are keeping their cars for longer periods of time. Would the infotainment be updated over a period of 2 years? 5? 7? My secondary concern involves said updates. If OS is fully integrated with the car, would a glitch in the update turn the car into a driveway lawn gnome? Too many unknowns.
 
KdParker

KdParker

macrumors 601
Oct 1, 2010
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Everywhere
What is with all this intergration? Facebook, and now iBeetle. This seems like the my choices to use my phone my way are being limited.

Phone integration is not a factor when choosing my next car.
 
B

bdkennedy1

Suspended
Oct 24, 2002
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Anything less than a double-din head unit, I'm not interested in. The iPhone isn't the center piece of the vehicle, the head unit is. Unless this is some sort of test like when they added iTunes to a Motorola Rokr.
 
W

WisdomSeed

macrumors newbie
Oct 25, 2012
26
0
bdkennedy1 said:
Anything less than a double-din head unit, I'm not interested in. The iPhone isn't the center piece of the vehicle, the head unit is. Unless this is some sort of test like when they added iTunes to a Motorola Rokr.
Click to expand...

I was thinking alonk those same lines, with the Rokr, it was like a beachhead moment, sort of like this is. Its not the music or the mapping that is the bid deal to me, it is the data from the automobile about the automobile itself, while currently, the data is not all that impressive, getting data straight from the car for maintentance purposes without having to crack your back is good business. I'm sure one day, pretty soon, you will be able to send data about your car, from your phone to you/your mechanic.

Well it can only get better from here.
 
alfonsog

alfonsog

Contributor
Jul 17, 2002
532
527
Cape Coral, FL
jayducharme said:
I wonder how much of a premium this is going to put on the car. It really is a pretty sorry implementation.

All auto manufacturers need to do is allow for bluetooth connection to their built-in system, so that any enabled device can work with it. Have a USB charging port available and a place to stow the device. Why is that so difficult?
Click to expand...

My 2013 Beetle TDI works with the bluetooth just fine the way it is, this new dock thing takes away the dashboard meters.
 
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