More on Apple, BMW and Others?

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Earlier this week, Apple officially announced their partnership with BMW to provide iPod integration. Meanwhile, iPodYourBMW.com also went live to promote the new product.

Perhaps more enticing for non-BMW drivers is hints that Apple will be continuing this push with other manufacturers. According to Phil Schiller, "We are beginning a really big push into a world we all spend a lot of time in -- our cars".
 
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https://www.macrumors.com/2004/06/24/more-on-apple-bmw-and-others/
this rocks... hopefully they'll make kits for toyota, gm, ford, chrysler, etc... to make it easier for the rest of us.
 
It appears that Apple has removed the reference to the BMW adapter working with MINI's (the car). I was sure it originally mentioned it. :mad:
 
i'm thinking car stereo with built in harddisk and WiFi. Most garages are within wireless range anyways, why not sync your library to a car stereo device? It kind of vibes with all of the wireless iPod rumors. . .

Edit: Good timing on this article about one such device. From today's news.
 
DOKTOR said:
It appears that Apple has removed the reference to the BMW adapter working with MINI's (the car). I was sure it originally mentioned it. :mad:
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You're right-- Was there, now gone.
 
BornAgainMac said:
I want to use my existing car with my iPod so that I can use my cash to buy more Apple stuff!
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The problem is interfacing an iPod with the existing stereo in your car. How do you input tunes to the car's stereo without losing quality? FM transmitters and tape deck adapters suck.

I have a auxillary audio-jack on the front of mine, but that's only OK. It creates a mess of wires, and i'm afraid of using the iPod while driving. The screen is too small.
 
rikers_mailbox said:
i'm thinking car stereo with built in harddisk and WiFi. Most garages are within wireless range anyways, why not sync your library to a car stereo device? It kind of vibes with all of the wireless iPod rumors. . .
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Or, a different line of thinking... how about a car stereo with an iPod-sized 'cassette drive' and an iPod dock connector inside. You just slot the iPod in and then control it using steering wheel controls like the BMW, using the status display on the dashboard as the iPod display.
 
Knox said:
Or, a different line of thinking... how about a car stereo with an iPod-sized 'cassette drive' and an iPod dock connector inside. You just slot the iPod in and then control it using steering wheel controls like the BMW, using the status display on the dashboard as the iPod display.
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Apple likes to change form factors too much to settle into a standard iPod sizing necessary for a 'cassette drive' . . . but i like the idea. The BMW glove compartment "dock" was a half-a**ed attempt at something that could have been awesome.
 
DOKTOR said:
It appears that Apple has removed the reference to the BMW adapter working with MINI's (the car). I was sure it originally mentioned it. :mad:
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woah! i know it was there, too. the site said the MINI connection was going to be released later this year, unlike the currently available bmw connections. maybe the 2005 MINIs will offer docks instead of pod-in-the-box. maybe apple just took it off the site because they want to make a big deal about listening to your mini in your MINI.
 
As I mentioned in a previous thread:

the *real* solution would be a WiFi equipped iPod feeding the built in tuner with music and being able to control the iPod through the tuner..
 
Another idea

Why doesn't Apple team with someone (VW?) and just make an Apple-edition car (i.e. - Eddie Bauer/Ford) that is full of cool stuff like an Airport, iPod, bluetooth, DVD players, etc.
 
i haven't seen anybody mention this, and it's right off apple's own site!
http://www.apple.com/uk/hotnews/articles/smart/

and i quote, "[...] the in-car cradle (designed to fit existing 15 and 20GB iPods and the second-generation 10GB model) will go on sale later this summer[...]"

btw, that article was out before apple and bmw went public this week.
 
appleface said:
i haven't seen anybody mention this, and it's right off apple's own site!
http://www.apple.com/uk/hotnews/articles/smart/

and i quote, "[...] the in-car cradle (designed to fit existing 15 and 20GB iPods and the second-generation 10GB model) will go on sale later this summer[...]"

btw, that article was out before apple and bmw went public this week.
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That car is made by Mercades. Don't you get it in the US?
 
hvfsl said:
That car is made by Mercades. Don't you get it in the US?
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no, the smart cars aren't in the US because the US population, as a whole, consists of fat lazy people who would rather drive big suv's that get 14mpg than a small smart car which gets 60. they're out in canada, though. the smart website says that smart will come to the US in 2006, but it'll only be an SUV by smart instead of their other cars. i'd love to own one of the cars, but that doesn't look like a possibility anytime soon.
 
This is good news, but I live in the UK and drive a Citoën car.

I really doubt the European brands like Citoën, Peugeot, Fiat etc. will be top of the list.

Maybe an Apple stereo for the car, or a collaboration with a stereo manufacturer would be better.

Neil
 
Rod Rod said:
this rocks... hopefully they'll make kits for toyota, gm, ford, chrysler, etc... to make it easier for the rest of us.
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Right, I just hope the solutions for other cars will be more elegant than the BWM version. I am not crazy about having to put my ipod in the glove compartment. I think there should be a dock in dashboard type device..
 
five04 said:
consists of fat lazy people who would rather drive big suv's that get 14mpg than a small smart car which gets 60.
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I know this is off topic but you brought it up. The whole "SUV" gripe is lame. People claim they suck down tons of gas yet they don't seem to look at any 6 or 8 cylinder cars or trucks that get the same or less milage. And there are a lot more of these vehicles than SUVs. My Jeep Grand Cherokee gets 26 hwy/18 cty. That's not bad at all. Please stop complaing about suv's as the gas guzzling theory doesn't hold. I do have a VW Passat TDI for 45 mpg just to make people like you happy. Kidding, it makes me happy.

Ok, sorry about that. Back on topic. Having an the reciever control the ipod doesn't do the trick. You really need to have access to all the features of the ipod. Having an external cable come out of the stereo and into the ipod is the best bet for now. Personaly, I would like to have a wi-fi ipod and wi-fi deck. That would be the ultimate solution.
 
mrzippy said:
This is good news, but I live in the UK and drive a Citoën car.

I really doubt the European brands like Citoën, Peugeot, Fiat etc. will be top of the list.

Maybe an Apple stereo for the car, or a collaboration with a stereo manufacturer would be better.

Neil
Click to expand...

That's a good point. If they could build some sort of general solution, they would have a much larger market than if they continue to make deals with individual Auto manufactures for individual cars. This, unfortunately, does not seem to be the direction they are heading. :cool:
 
ICELink for iPod

I saw a company who was developing these kind of adaptors for iPods, which worked on older generations of iPods too. They had a range of different cars on the list that it would work with, and worked in a similiar way to the BMW/Apple partnership, by tapping into the CD Changer port of the built in stereo allowing you to change the tracks from the steering wheel remote.

They were at the UK Mac Expo and I was pretty impressed! - I would have bought the system there and then if I wasn't thinking of changing my car soon! Here's the weblink: http://www.ihavetohave.it

It's called the ICELink. I can't see much difference to the BMW system except it works on more cars!
 
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