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You'll get bugger all out of me so you can go and take a running one MDN

Prior Prior art. I sent this idea to Apple as soon as the Dock connector iPods came out years ago. But I think that WiFi is going to make it all moot since you'll just connect wirelessly to any iPhone (or future iPod) in the car.
BFD. The Docking Stereo ship has sailed.

-c

ZUNE BITCH!!!!

(I just threw up in my mouth)

When I used to hard boot my old Pontiac, it left a dent.....

if this car-dock is made by MS.. I wonder if it will come with air bags ... you kno .. to protect it in the likely event of a crash !

There are so many design options for this type of device, it's a non-issue. When the timing is right, Apple will market their own device that will also iincorporate the iPhone.

As usual, Miocrosoft has it backwards - you need to offer the right mix of hardware and software compatibility first.

Maybe M$ could use the advertising slogan...

'The Sound of Brown right in your car.'

I'll only charge the 5% for usage rights...

Car makers would rather kill themselves than allow Microsoft, Apple or anyone to place such a contraption in their cars.

Look how many times Apple has changed the iPod dock. When you get a iPod Stereo it comes with dozens of these plastic adpaters, then Apple comes out with a new iPod that requires a new adpater.

Many car makers refuse to even place a simple universal stereo mini line input on the head. They do this in favor of selling subscriptions to SAT radio.

Apple has to fight tooth and nail for iPod integration, only to have it dashed in the next make of a vehicle.

A simple stereo line in, with optical for 5.1/video on the head is all that's needed. Any device will work, the technology changes the input remains the same.

Want to play a iPod video for the kiddies in the back? Want to use a Zen or a Zune? Go ahead, just plug it in and go.

OH NO!! Now Microsoft will sue everyone who uses an mp3 player with their car stereo. I guess BMW and all the other auto makers will owe money to microsoft for allowing an iPod to connect to their car stereo and be controlled thru the stereo or steering wheel controls.

Patents are getting out of hand. I here by claim the idea of music as any collection of sounds that are more than one single tone.

OK, now you all have to pay me for every song ever made. Right???

en

Microsoft: "we're falling so far t behind that we are now finding it useful to patent yesterday's ideas"

Idiots.

Does this mean that I will have to buy Virus protection for my car if I hook it up to my pc?

Does it mean that MS and MDN think the same way?

Jeff,

Does it mean that MS and MDN think the same way?

No. It means that MS reads MDN.

What I would like is a way to access my music playlists wirelessly in my vehicle no matter where I am and even if I am using a rental car or truck. That is, I could load my playlists onto a service (e.g. dot.Mac) and be able to access the playlists where a wireless network existed. This would be useful should my iPod die, is lost, or stolen. Problem: wireless technology probably doesn't cover all areas well.

From Local "Look how many times Apple has changed the iPod dock."

Actually they have only changed the connector once when they went from Firewire to the current dock connector. Form factors will always change, but a pocket/slot with a dock cord doesn't need a specific hard dock and self adjusts.

The point being... Standing an iPod vertically on a self supporting dock is different than a slot type mounting. There would be no need to change the dock every time from a 5g to a Nano. All that is needed is a dock cord and some soft clamping in the slot.

Buy shares in car windows companies - they'll need replacing when you leave your 'computer' in the radio slot.

I think I'd prefer the glove box with steering wheel controls. Think it through MS, think it through…

Actually they have only changed the connector once when they went from Firewire to the current dock connector

But they did change it and fast, too fast for the car industry where people keep their vehicles for a long time.

The car radio industry standardized on 8 tracks, then cassettes, then cd's. Adding a little support for Mp3 cd's.

Now comes along all these "devices", sure the iPod is a hit now, but maybe not in a few years, maybe it will change later into a phone with a different set of requirements.

My point is that car radio makers should just standardize on the best form of universal input, then as devices and tastes change, people can still hook up their devices to their car/move/radio many years from now.

This M$ patent will flop, MDN can forget "prior art" and all that.

MS R&D;: And here is the prototype of such device. We bought a Mitsubishi iCar in Japan and took its dashboard apart. Delay after delay finding yet another mount screws, we finally succeeded in taking the stereo unit out.

http://macdailynews.com/index.php/weblog/comments/9597/

@ Local Economy

They have NEVER changed the dock connector. They had FW in the beginning, and then added the dock. The only FW connectors that had come out before that were inelegant and a pain due to the little plastic FW cover. The dock connector has been standard ever since. The plastic flanges you get are cosmetic. The connector is not.

"My point is that car radio makers should just standardize on the best form of universal input, then as devices and tastes change, people can still hook up their devices to their car/move/radio many years from now."

And this is exactly why they will standardize on WiFi. No physical limitations to deal with at all.

From Escaport
"...Form factors will always change, but a pocket/slot with a dock cord doesn't need a specific hard dock and self adjusts. .....All that is needed is a dock cord and some soft clamping in the slot."

My wife has a dock that self adjusts and has soft clamping.
Works quite well.

"My wife has a dock that self adjusts and has soft clamping.
Works quite well."

I'd have to agree.

Doesn't BMW (another "niche" player) have such a device installed? MS should know that you cannot patent something once it has been "sold to the public" - even if you invented the idea years ago! Ask anyone who was around DEC (does anyone remember DEC?) thirty-something years ago when they applied for a patent on something related to the PDP-8 - after it had ben on the market for a month.

DLMeyer - the Voice of G.L.Horton's Stage Page Pod-Cast

MW="hear" ... MS, I can't hear you!

I'm hoping for what would essentially be a car stereo version of AppleTV with a display. Park your car in your driveway and wirelessly sync up with your computer. This needs to happen. I doubt Apple would do it, but that's my wishful thinking for it to get done right.

The patent sounds awfully vague describing what most docking ports do now with car stereos and MP3 players including the iPod. I wouldn't doubt this is a ploy by Microsoft to sue other companies making docks for MP3 players if they get this patent approved.

Hmmm, image the embarrassment of driving round with a turd on your dashboard. F**k that!

Zune.....also available in brown....

In as far as I am aware, there are several companies that already manufacture under the made for ipod licence scheme products that do exactly what the patents say mostly in parts, so for example: Scoshe, Gadget Accessories,XtremeMac LLC, Belkin, Maxell, Brighton Net Co Ltd, Digital Lifestyle Outfitters, ezGear, Sik inc. to name a few, get the idea?

Some gadgets operate on FM, others adapters, Cigarette lighter adapters and so on.

When M$ actually get round to producing hardware, they may find themselves at the end of several lawsuits or at dead end.

All that withstanding, several top of the range car makers in collaboration with Apple are in the process of creating some form of cradle for the iphone, take one moment to figure this out...

An iphone is both a transmitter and reciever encompassing all methods of transmission, ie. Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and mobile telephony, therefor by default, whatever cradle is developed, M$ will find that they will be unable to circumvent that.

But suppose they do? Too late...car stereos will be a thing of the past as the iphone will deliver the entire Worlds internet radio stations directly into your car.

So once more,....where does that leave M$ and its Zune?

Prior art only counts if you actually sell the product / make it available for sale. Just talking about it doesn't invalidate a subsequently filed patent.

One interesting point that everybody missed, I think. The iPod has created an entire cottage industry that creates accessories for it. Apparently, the Zune has been doing so poorly that Microsquish has to pick up the slack when it comes to its accessories.

@SG
Sounds like a great idea if you get kicked out of the house but in general wouldn't it be easier to go inside and watch something from your couch?

Don't 70% of 2007-model cars in the US already offer iPod connectivity as an option?

MS can patent it, but no sane automaker is going to implement it.

How many of MS's "MP3 player(s) or other handheld device(s)" have iPod's following, and, let's admit the reason for this, the ability to sell dock-equipped cars?

MS, you're obviously not an automaker. They don't create features for every imaginable customer, or continue supporting long-dead technologies.

Why the hell would I want a docking station for anything other than charging? The whole idea is so yesterday; a sure sign when MicroSoft wants to do it too. Apple is moving rapidly toward seamless wireless interconnectivity on all their devices. Just be anywhere near your car and everything on your iPhone/iPod will soon be automatically accessable inside the vehicle.

Actually, after the recent Supreme Court ruling in KSR v. Teleflex, I think the better way to challenge this patent would be "obviousness". Your 2003 post could be used as evidence of that claim.

@ Brau

Wrd.

Wifi is not the magic bullet, guys. If you'd done your homework, you'd know that some people are extremely sensitive to it. And if a lifetime of exposure to microwave radiation is not good for you, how about the cumulative effect of microwaves + cell phones + wifi? Hopefully Apple won't do the wifi thing.