More on Apple, BMW and Others?

[nsb3000]

Apple and Smart Cars in UK

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.

This is interesting. It seems that if you buy the car, you get a 20 gig ipod with it, and they are only 150 aviable in the UK..Talk about limited supply!
But, if you look at the end of the article, you can also buy it as an add on. It looks a whole lot nicer than the BMW version.

From Apple's website:

Just like Apple, DaimlerChrysler’s smart brand is always a step ahead. So when these two innovators decided to collaborate, the outcome was bound to be special. Presenting the smart fortwo edition i-move, a sporty smart fortwo cabrio with a difference: a perfectly integrated 20GB iPod in a custom-designed cradle. Road music has never sounded so good.

iPod and smart: Technology In-Sync
With its 20GB hard drive, the iPod is big enough for your whole music collection and compact enough to take with you everywhere, especially on the road. And easy listening takes on a whole new meaning with the i-move’s integrated iPod cradle, which is linked to the smart audio system. Get in, put the iPod in its cradle, switch on the car stereo, turn up the volume and listen to your favourite tunes for hours on end. Best of all, when you get out of the car at the end of your journey, your iPod will have more charge than when you started — because the iPod charges automatically when it is in the cradle.

There’s Just One Rule: We Change the Rules
The smart brand attracted plenty of attention when the fortwo coupé and cabrio started rolling off the production line. smart discarded conventional ideas and surprised the automotive world with innovative solutions. The focus was on being different, but above all the challenge was to meet the mobility needs of urban people today. For the past 25 years, this constant quest for innovation has also been Apple’s trademark. With beautiful design and attention to detail, both brands set standards in their respective fields.

smart fortwo edition i-move: a smart Full of Ideas
When it comes to design, engineering and advanced technology, the i-move pulls out all the stops. The second generation smart fortwo offers more comfort, more functions and more safety than ever before. Likewise, the third generation iPod has revolutionised the way we listen to music and set new standards in usability, product design and innovation. In fact, you could say the pairing is a match made in automotive heaven.

The smart fortwo edition i-move is a strictly limited edition model: only 150 will be available in Europe. Please contact your local smart dealer to arrange a test drive.

If you already own one and not the other, 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 for all smart fortwo coupés, smart fortwo cabrios, smart roadsters and smart roadster coupés. Contact your local smart dealer for pricing and availability.

 

[feeze]

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.

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.

Which site are you guys talking about, because on the http://www.ipodyourbmw.com web site it says ipod mini under "how to ipod your bmw -> ipod"

It also say's it on the Apple web site.

 

[gothamac]

mini

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.

So that's why the site went down yesterday. Mystery solve.

 

[appleface]

Which site are you guys talking about, because on the http://www.ipodyourbmw.com web site it says ipod mini under "how to ipod your bmw -> ipod"

It also say's it on the Apple web site.

you can use mini ipods in bmws, but apple no longer states on the site that the ipods (and mini ipods) are going to be made compatible with MINI coopers although apple's site did originally advertise the compatibility.

 

[jocknerd]

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.

Maybe that will be the "and one more thing" at WWDC!

 

[SiliconAddict]

Screw luxury cars. Lets see this show up in cheaper domestic and foreign. Heck get this integration into the Toyota Prius and have the HUD show song title, album, track number, and coverart!

 

[Veldek]

Which site are you guys talking about, because on the http://www.ipodyourbmw.com web site it says ipod mini under "how to ipod your bmw -> ipod"

It also say's it on the Apple web site.

It’s about the car. Don’t you know the Mini?

 

[g4cubed]

I didn't realize that the iPod was this big

I see that you live in Norway but I still think you would know about the ipod. Come on Norway isn't in the dark all the time, but I guess you are. lol

 

[j33pd0g]

An Apple-branded in dashboard cradle for your iPod would be cool... you know replace your entire auto stereo system... They could add a AM/FM tuner to it. You slide your iPod into the dash right where you would normally slip in a CD. That's it... and your good to go. I have a CD player with removable face plate... same idea... only with your iPod.

 

[gekko513]

I see that you live in Norway but I still think you would know about the ipod. Come on Norway isn't in the dark all the time, but I guess you are. lol

Well, I know about the iPod. I even own an iPod. I'm just a bit surprised that it such a big phenomenon that special contraptions are made to make it possible to integrate in a particular car. I know there's a market for iPod add-ons, but it's more costly to do R&D for such specialized products.

My surprise is that the intersection between BMW customers and iPod customers is so large that it justifies the cost and that it's advertised on Apple's front page.

Of course I think it's a good thing. Surprising but good

 

[sinisterdesign]

I've got the iPod - now I only need the car...

i've got the car, now i just need a 3rd gen iPod (2nd gen 20GB, currently).

i saw a short piece on Headline News this week about this deal. they said the adaptor was going to run $150 and [professional] installation would run another $150. if that's true, that sucks. anyone else seen prices on this?

.

 

[SiliconAddict]

i've got the car, now i just need a 3rd gen iPod (2nd gen 20GB, currently).

i saw a short piece on Headline News this week about this deal. they said the adaptor was going to run $150 and [professional] installation would run another $150. if that's true, that sucks. anyone else seen prices on this?

Dude how much do people spend on a BMW? $300 more is a drop in the bucket. It’s a luxury car anyone who can afford to drop 30 grand or more on a car can afford $300.

 

[macridah]

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.

That's sweet. If you could get that cradle and have that integrate with you car stereo, then that would be a perfect ipod car stereo integration.

I'm also interested in the alpine aftermarket car stereo. Anyone know when that will be released?

 

[joemama]

I'm still waiting for Alpine to make good on their promise from January.
iPod compatible car stereo headsets.

http://www.alpine-usa.com/company_info/press_release/010804_ipad.html

and

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/71562/

Hopefully not long to wait.

So when is this head unit coming out? ANyone know????

 

[sinisterdesign]

Dude how much do people spend on a BMW? $300 more is a drop in the bucket. It’s a luxury car anyone who can afford to drop 30 grand or more on a car can afford $300.

$300 is a mere drop in the bucket for the price of a CAR, but i'm not talking about adding new rims here. this is an ADAPTOR for an MP3 player that could likely not cost that much to begin with (mini).

i love my 330CiC, but i'm certainly not going to shell out $300 MORE for a quasi-integration w/ my iPod. i've got my iPod running into the AUX IN connection in my BMW right now. the iPod sits in the ashtray, right in front of the stick shift so i can click the 'next' button easily. it's not as clean as this solution, but if that price is true, i'm very disappointed.

 

[obiwan]

I'm also interested in the alpine aftermarket car stereo. Anyone know when that will be released?

Check out the link I posted before - I think what you're after has already been done.

http://www.ihavetohave.it/acatalog/ICE-Link_Alpine.html

 

[Pablo]

Some guy integrated his iPod with his Infiniti G35. It required quite a bit more work than if you let BMW do it, but it seems to be the best solution for those without BMWs.

I'm just hesitant to pull my dash completely apart, or else I'd consider this.

 

[ccuilla]

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.

Now you are thinking. This would be really a cool solution.

 

[Mr_Ed]

OK, I'm waiting on a Porsche-iPod solution but I suspect they might try to get car makers with higher sales volumes set up first

 

[ITR 81]

I figure in couple of yrs or so some car man. will start giving you a handsfree iPod solution with an include 15-20GB iPod...as an option on your car.

Get them on the Big Three and all the euro brands and the Japanese mans will follow.

 

[ITR 81]

The Smart car aka city car/k-car will see US sales by 05' according to what I read awhile back in Autoweek. So far they've met all the EPA and crash stds. Now they just need to play with the option packages.

I believe Smarts would sell well in Big Cities..and also probably Med. sized Cities as well.

 

[g4cubed]

Gekko513
First, just havin' a little fun with ya. Second, I m not sure what you were refering to

My surprise is that the intersection between BMW customers and iPod customers is so large that it justifies the cost and that it's advertised on Apple's front page.

Not sure what you mean by "intersection between BMW & ipod cust." As for justification of cost, I don't think someone that has the money to buy any of these cars will notice the increased cost of this. And that most new innovative auto ideas are usually tried on the higher end cars, then makes it's way to the general consumer.

 

[technocoy]

Alpine...

OK people, for the last time...

the iPod solution is not the head unit itself, but an accessory that will cost $100.00 it will be released in early fall. it works with any 2004 alpine head unit with AInet compatibility. It hides away anywhere you can fit it and then plugs into the back of the head unit. the dock connector then runs from that to the iPod. Also, the icelink does not compare to the alpine set-up, since the alpine set-up pseudo replicates the file menu of the ipod and you can view artist, album, song, and do simple searches and such. it also charges the iPod. it is by far the most elegeant solution so far... even better than the apple/BMW offering. I look forward to buying this and integrating a dock into my vehicross, since isuzu is leaving the US i doubt there will be an apple solution short of an apple head unit. not to mention that most people have never even heard of my car, not even the dealerships (which says alot for isuzus customer service dept.) lol!

hope this is informative.

 

[funkym]

Not a new thing, integration with Car Audio Systems

Hi all..

In reply to this latest news from Apple about integration with BMW, a company called "Dension USA" has been doing this for some time now. I purchased the IceLink kit for my 2000 Audi A4 and it works perfectly. I paid around $200 for the kit. Check them out at www.dension.com.

Cheers
Hope you alll find what you are looking for.

 

[sinisterdesign]

The Smart car aka city car/k-car will see US sales by 05' according to what I read awhile back in Autoweek. So far they've met all the EPA and crash stds. Now they just need to play with the option packages.

I believe Smarts would sell well in Big Cities..and also probably Med. sized Cities as well.

i think they would have to use a mini-pod in those, a regular iPod would take up half the dashboard! kidding, that i-Move is a really slick integration, much better than the BMW. but i'm guessing they had a little more leeway w/ the Smart cars' interiors than BMW (not as many existing gadgets/accessories). still, my 300Ci and i are a little jealous.

those would be fun little cars to tool around in especially the roadster, but people drive like IDIOTS here in atlanta, so i would be weary of driving one around here.