“MP3 and iPod integration might just be the Holy Grail on the audio side of the industry. Many solutions are out there, though few offer fully navigable and sensible integration of the most dominant personal MP3 player industry – the Apple iPod,” Fourtitude reports.
Fourtitude reports, “Audi currently offers iPod integration for A3, A4, S4 and RS 4 models. Limited on the number of usable playlists, this current offering makes the most of the system with which it is mated, and is typical of other iPod integration kits available on the market today.”
“With MOST based MMI cars including the A6 and S6 (C6), A8 and S8 (D3) and the new Q7, optical cables are used allowing for better communication within the audio system’s architecture. Additionally, MMI’s own navigation processes with its enter and return functions are much like the iPod’s own play and menu functions, allowing for simply the best iPod navigation via head unit control we’ve seen on the market today in the form of the new Audi Music Interface (AMI),” Fourtitude reports.
Fourtitude reports, “Recently in Montreal, Audi had some of the first S8 and S6 models on hand equipped with their new AMI system. Intrigued, we sat down in a parked Bang & Olufsen and AMI-equipped S8 for some time with Audi of America’s Product Planning Manager Filip Brabec to learn more about the system, then took the S8 and another S6 with the system out for a test drive to get a better handle on the new system.”
Full article with much more, including many photos, here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “KenPen” for the heads up.]
Related article:
Apple iPod integration the hottest new car option for 2006 – January 13, 2006
Not bad. I got the Alpine system in my car, and the main gripe I got is the limitations of the UI – if you got a lot artists or albums, its damnably hard to get to what you want.
they need to stop trying to make the iPod fit in the glove box and use the iPod as the remote. setup a wireless plus in a la Nike+ and have it send the current song and info to the streo which plays it and displays the song.
Where care makers get into trouble is trying to make an interface to replace the iPod – WHY???? – the iPod is small and intuitive…just USE IT AS THE REMOTE!
Hmmm, just a question off this article. Apple iPod is set up to work with 70% (?) of the new 2007 autos built in the USA.
Is the commection a direct iPod one? Will the Zune, or other mp3 players play in these automobiles????
It would be interesting to know.
Just curious!!
N.
Well, the Zune needs to be released first, and then someone actually has to buy it. Then, maybe, you might be able to use it in a car.
Just be careful the car doesn’t self-destruct in three days.
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I just got the Pioneer implementation and must say it’s the best I’ve seen out of a lot of the car audio companies.
me:
The biggest problem with most all the UI’s (and the iPod as well) when using them in a car is what they call “Head down and stupid” in the aviation community. Ideally you want the display for the UI up as high and close to your line of sight out the windshield as possible, so you don’t rear-end that dump truck when you’re “head down” and fiddling with the scroll wheel or something.
The biggest problem with the iPod in this regard is finding what you want. I get nervous if I’m head-down more than a couple of seconds looking for a song. Playlists are your friend…
WTF, the Audi R8 will not be supported?! The R8 is the coolest car Audi ever built. Okay, not as cool as that Saab Aero (whenever Saab’s gonna release that thing) but still, the R8 kicks arse.
Um.. yeah playlists because you care. buckle up and use a playlist people. now move along nothing to see here unless you want an audi. I personally hate audi. had one and that pos wouldnt stop breaking down. never again.
MW: consider as in consider a BMW instead
I put the Kenwood head in my car. Having used it for 3 months now, I can honestly say that I despise the unit. Yes the connectivity is a step above the stock Ford stereo it replaced, but the interface is a step backwards. Unfortunately, only Kenwood and JVC make units that are both iPod and Sirius compatible. And the Kenwood display was less annoying than the JVC unit. I HATE, blinky flashy stuff. And blinky, flashy was all I could see with the JVC unit.
The retards, who obviously don’t own iPods, at Kenwood have it designed to go in the glovebox, but thanks to the miracle of velcro I’ve attached my iPod to my dash. To play something, I set the song, book, podcast, or playlist I want to listen to on the iPod and then plug it in to the stereo and attach to my velcro holder. Kenwood plays the songs in order and has the worst controls ever for playing. As “me” said the best thing to do is use the iPod as a remote.
The retarded Kenwood designers also only give me one line of information. I can display:
In iPod mode: Clock OR Artist OR Song OR Album OR Song Time, not all of the above nor any combo of them, nor anything useful. I leave it on Clock, it’s less annoying.
In CD mode: Clock OR Artist OR Song OR Song Time, not all of the above nor any combo of them, nor anything useful.
In AM/FM/Sirius mode: Clock OR Station. NO RFID?!?!?!?! Huh? Hello? McFly? Is anyone home?
Oh, and the worst mistake? The tuner is a joystick, not a knob. Sure I can set an s-load of presets, but a joystick? Are you f—ing kidding me?
The iPod integration kit in my Mercedes only works with iPod. And specifically only an iPod with a doc connector. The iPod display shows up on the dash and you control it with the steering wheel controls. Haven’t turned on FM radio since I got it a year ago. You can get many radio shows as podcasts and listen to them commercial free on your iPod in the car.
I guess I’ll just have to buy a 2007 Audi TT so it will work with my iPod.
On a related note, late today, Kia announced they had just signed a co-development deal with Microsoft which calls for MS to pay them $500 for each Kia Rio which rolls off the assembly line painted Zune brown.
MS Officials stated today that they were pleased with their new partner and hope to expand their brown incentive to 70 percent of auto manufacturers next year.
MS officials reported their marketing efforts were prompted by new internal research which leads them to believe that brown is the new black, and they were thrilled to be ahead of the curve in trendsetting color.
WHO DARE use the HOLY TERM “Holy Grail” in VAIN?
INFIDELS!!!!!
<zim>now i must sever heads for REVENNNNGE</zim>
(joke reference to the m*cca thread)
Looks like it won’t be made an option for my A3. Seems to only fit in the huge Audis…
I think that to receive the loans from creditors you must present a good reason. But, one time I have got a short term loan, because I was willing to buy a house.
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