Apple revealed Thursday that it has inked deals with Ford Motor, General Motors and Mazda to integrate its iPod with OEM car sound systems. A simple plug-in interface will allow users to charge the iPod in the car, and to control the player with the car stereo's controls.
According to Apple, more than 70 percent of 2007-model vehicles in the U.S. will provide iPod integration, with GM offering the feature on all of its U.S. cars and trucks. Mazda will offer the feature worldwide in its cars and SUVs. Ford will roll out its version of iPod integration, called "TripTunes Advanced" early next year. GM's implementation, "Personal Audio Link," will debut in the Chevrolet HHR later this year, and should be available in all of GM's 56 models by the end of next year. GM will offer Personal Audio Link as a $160 (plus installation) option. No word as yet on the cost of Ford's TripTunes Advanced.
Our guess is that full iPod integration, like Ford's TripTunes Advanced feature, will roll out gradually for U.S. automakers, with many 2007 models making do with a simpler auxiliary audio input jack.
[Sources: Reuters, Ford, GM, Apple]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Opposite Lock @ Aug 3rd 2006 3:36PM
Boooo, there are other players besides iPod, many of which happen to be superior. ie: Creative vision:m
numike @ Aug 3rd 2006 3:40PM
oh my goodness another flip door thing
why are American car dashboards littered with little flip doors and illogical cubby holes
and this one shown is REALLY UGLY!
rwdmtparkingonly @ Aug 3rd 2006 3:45PM
Luckily the Yaris is here to protect us from the I-Pod invasion: http://www.slate.com/id/2144315/
Jeff the Baptist @ Aug 3rd 2006 3:53PM
"Boooo, there are other players besides iPod, many of which happen to be superior. ie: Creative vision:m"
Amen. Trying to find support for non-iPod mp3 players is annoying. It took me a month to find a decent car kit.
jm @ Aug 3rd 2006 3:53PM
As I'm sure others will mention all consumers want is an AUX adaptor. This is a cheaper choice (no licensing fees) and has the advantage of being compatible with ALL players on the market, not just ipod. Don't get me wrong, I own an ipod and it's a great player but wouldn't want to be limited to only ipods in the future plus my friends own others players that they would want to plug in.
apex @ Aug 3rd 2006 3:56PM
There may be MP3 players that some view as supperior. But the true superiority lies in how apple has integrated their product with every aspect of society (or maybe forced society to integrate itself with the product. Yea, there may be other products with better or more convinent features for a better price... but is the product better if it lacks 3rd party products / support?
Ryan @ Aug 3rd 2006 3:59PM
". As I'm sure others will mention all consumers want is an AUX adaptor. This is a cheaper choice (no licensing fees) and has the advantage of being compatible with ALL players on the market, not just ipod. Don't get me wrong, I own an ipod and it's a great player but wouldn't want to be limited to only ipods in the future plus my friends own others players that they would want to plug in.
Posted at 3:53PM on Aug 3rd 2006 by jm 0 stars"
-Who knows?! Mabye Apple will license it's "plug" to various MP3 makers. I love my iPOD integration kit for my stock Mazda 3 it works great and it is hidden in the glove box.
-Plus the iPOD has turned into the "honda civic" of MP3 players so iPOD is the new "walkman". I proud of apple, the underdog made a good product!!!
aaron bluestone @ Aug 3rd 2006 4:00PM
the audio quality of the ipod makes it very desirable. An aux in would be a decent way to go, but audio quality would suffer and you would have no interface control.
I would much rather see a protocol established with associated connector so that apple and others can build to a generic standard and still get full functionality and the highest sound quality.
john @ Aug 3rd 2006 4:03PM
no if GM/AC Delco and Ford/Motorcraft can only get rid of those awful blue/green-tinted displays on the radios. Reminds me of the displays from my parents' 1986 Olds Cutlass Ciera.
Elliott @ Aug 3rd 2006 4:04PM
Good to know that Ford and GM are bringing the option to their entire lineups. It's a trend that has been largely ignored by these two companies that need new, young customers to buy their low-end Focus and Cobalt.
I still remember a year ago when a Ford marketing exec said that MP3 players were not a trend, only a fad. They went on to market their Fusion at concerts and have a commercial featuring an iPod, but offered no aux line-in as a factory option.
Kowell @ Aug 3rd 2006 4:05PM
wouldn't it be easier tu just add a simple MP3 jack on the radio (like in the Caliber) so ANY mp3 players can be plugged in.......
Rob @ Aug 3rd 2006 4:16PM
i own an ipod but i agree tailoring cars audio inputs only for those types of mp3 players would suck...
for example, i also have a pda with a 2 GB SD card and audio player...what if i ever wanted to hook that up to my stereo and listen to some tunes?
i don't like being limited, dammit :)
Phydeaux @ Aug 3rd 2006 4:18PM
This is a Chevy HHR and it is just an AUX input jack which means you can plug in any audio input such as a cassette player besides an IPOD. I plug in my laptop to play sound through the speakers... do reporters actually do any research these days?
Lithous @ Aug 3rd 2006 4:23PM
Look at the bottom right corner of the radio in the Chevy in the pic for this article. That is an aux input. Most of GM's head units have that right now.
Hopefully they will still have that and also offer the ipod adapter. But the problem with supporting everything with the aux adapter is no way to flip through the menu through the steering wheel or alike.
Tony @ Aug 3rd 2006 4:33PM
This is a smart move by both Apple and the car makers. Apple get's to cement it's lead in the market and car makers get to offer something consumers are seeking. Consumer's these days are gonna start looking at these kind's of things and it will factor into a purchase decision.
For example, consumer John Doe has an iPod that he loves and uses daily in his current car using an FM transmitter. He goes car hunting for a new car and his choices come down to Car A which offers an integrated iPod connection or Car B without such a connection... which car do you think John Doe will choose? Now of course an iPod connection isn't the only reason to purchase one car over another, but my point is, it's a feature many people such as John Doe will be looking for and if you are a car maker, why risk losing a sale by not offering it?
glacia00 @ Aug 3rd 2006 4:45PM
As long as it's a non-bundled option and not standard. The last thing I would want is this eyesore in my dash that would never be used and yet nothing to plug my MP3 player into.
What does it benefit the car makers to try to lock customers into a single manufacturers music player? It would be like allowing people to only play CDs one distributer. But car makers being deer in the headlites when it comes to new technology comes I would bet they don't even realize it yet.
I can't wait to hear a car salesman try to explain what it is. I guarentee half of them will say "sure you can use it with any of them whatchaplayer things."
Presto @ Aug 3rd 2006 4:47PM
Crappy car on the outside. iPod friendly on the inside. What's not to like?
Travis @ Aug 3rd 2006 4:48PM
I have to agree with people on the AUX in, but on the other hand, I'd love the iPod support. The ability to display track information and control the player from the radio (and steering wheel) controls is a major plus to me. I spent $150+ to add iPod control to my wife's Altima, and that's far from perfect (it's the interface between the CD Changer controls and the iPod).
Aaron @ Aug 3rd 2006 4:48PM
Cool that they are offering software integration (being able to control the device through the car's interface) but I hope this isn't a proprietary cable.. does the iPod cable connect to a USB/Firewire port inside it's little compartment? It's pretty short sighted if car makers only support one proprietary device, when all other MP3 players tend to use generic USB connections.
Elliott @ Aug 3rd 2006 4:51PM
They should make it a USB-plug. You would have to provide your own cord, but you could use any MP3 player or flash drive. The firmware of the HU could be updated via bluetooth and any MP3 player could be integrated with the radio buttons. Oh, but now I'm just talking crazy.