ISTR that they'll throw you out of the app store if you mention that your app is also available for Android. Maybe they throw you out of the "Iphone compatible" programme if you mention that your hardware is also compatible with Android?

Peter

I second the Ford Sync system. It's a microsoft system, so I wish I could hate it, but it actually works quite well. It's slow to react to some button presses, and there are some features stupidly disabled while driving while other (more complicated) features are accessible, but despite those quirks, it works very well.

My only major complaint is that if you leave the radio in "bluetooth audio" mode, then it will start your iPhone playing automatically when you start the vehicle. You need to change to USB or Aux-In so it doesn't start your iphone playing. But it's pretty cool to be driving down the road and listening to streaming audio like pandora or public radio tuner apps over the cellular data connection. The USB port works as a charger for your devices, and also to play mp3 files off of a USB flash drive. It also has integrated Sirrus/XM, which is meh.

I miss the empeg, and I've considered installing it in my truck, but the sync + iphone is "good enough". But since it has a line-in, it would be very easy to connect the empeg, and I'll probably still do that some day.

Ford Focus is as good as any Japanese "hot hatch", and there is a reason why the F-150 is the #1 selling vehicle in the world. Having said that, I drove a new Explorer recently as a rental car and it's complete shit. So I think it really depends on the particular Ford.

The problem is that you can second and third it all you like, but unless I buy a new car AND that car is a Ford (or Mercury, I believe), AND you go for a model or trim level that has Sync, I have no way of obtaining it

For now, I think I'm going to give the Tunelink a try. I emailed to ask them about Android/iPhone model compatibility, and they responded saying that the Android App/Phones will work perfectly fine with the iPhone version, which is great because I wanted a blue LED instead of the green one Still, the puzzling thing is this line from their email: "In fact we recommend this unit to folks whom have an Android and and iPhone/iPod in the family." This seems to imply that the Android version is not as compatible with iPhones as the iPhone version is for Android devices. I find this curious...

I don't think he was suggesting Sync for you- just following the thread about Ford and how they've done better in this area than most.

Most of my experience was with the simpler first gen system in a friends car and some rentals. Experience there was flawless.

Amusingly, I managed to really freak out the newer second gen system in the 2012 Focus to the point it crashed. On the way back to the airport, I stopped for gas. Getting back in, I hit the voice command, said USB, and the system went bezerk. It said USB 2 or 3 times, the in dash screen cycled to radio but with no audio. Pressed the button, said USB again, and this time it tried to flip, went back to radio again, and stopped responding to any buttons.

Friend of mine in the car looked up how to reset the system to bring it back, and the information all pointed to pulling a fuse, or just waiting a day or two for the automatic scheduled reboot to kick in. So yes, there is still enough Microsoft fingerprints in there to hate

Hopefully some future updates solidify things a bit more by the time I buy a car again.

No Ctrl+Alt+Del on that system?

Yikes, this is the response I got from the Tunelink peeps when I asked about compatibility of the Android device with iPhones:

"Only the blue Apple version will work with both Apple and Android phones. Because of changes made with the release of iOS 5, the Apple version will not play on the Android version."

I guess I'll get the iPhone version, then. I wonder what the issue is...

As far as I'm concerned, we have a winner!

I ordered the iPhone version of the Tunelink, and so far it seems like an excellent product that fit the bill perfectly for what I need! Well done, sir!

I couldn't tell from the product photos what the size if the device would be, but was very pleased to find out that it's actually very modest. The part that sticks out of the lighter socket is about the size of a...cherry tomato? That's the best I can do right now I was also thrilled to see that it came with a 3.5mm stereo cable. I was actually having trouble finding a cable short enough for the distance between the Tunelink and my AUX in, which is only about seven inches, and the included cable was the perfect length! I still might try to find some right-angle adapters to make things look a little neater, but I love how this thing is set up. It looks a lot cleaner than what I was using before.

I'll need some more testing with the phone charging capabilities, but I have high hopes for that. It's billed as a 2.1A adapter, so it should even be capable of charging my tablet, let alone my phone.

As for ground loop, I'll also have to see how well it does after longer use, but it seems to not be an issue. At first I noticed a slight effect when people on a podcast spoke, like the sound of a snare drum rattling, if you know what I mean, but that went away pretty quickly.

Conclusion: well, I'll need some more time, but this thing looks like the solution! I love it! I can't wait to use it in my daily routine, and I think it'll do great!


Now I have one last product I'm looking for, and I'd like to see if the brilliant empeg forum members might know of something: a small bluetooth remote.

From what I've seen, unless it's a TV/home theater remote, nobody makes very small remote controls. I know it would be a pretty narrow market, but I'd still think there'd be something! I'm just looking for something that can pause and skip tracks! I've looked at the Jabra Street thing, and it's nice, but I don't want it to perform any of its headset/music duties. I'd JUST want the remote, and I don't know if it can do that. Does anyone know if the AVRCP profile can be independent of the music/phone profiles in phones that are able to separate them?

You can also wire and toss the whole thing in behind your console somewhere. Down low or in behind the factory stereo. Since it's BT, you might as well hide it.



I can tell you right now that one doesn't exist. I've been looking for the better part of a year for numerous reasons.



I think it would be an enormous market myself. There are other applications beyond the car if the remote is designed well.




Yes. The early specs actually support only a basic set of transport controls - strictly remote control, nothing else.

That's a shame! I'd really love to be able to control playback without having to use my phone. It takes too much time and I want physical buttons so I don't have to take my eyes off the road.

I'm wondering if the Jabra BT3030's has the remote control profile separated, or if my phone is capable of that. I'd be willing to buy one if I could specify that I only want it to have remote control ability...

I'm assuming you're using your iPhone version with your Android phone? Did you notice any connection issues? I've read about some people reporting connection problems between the Google Nexus and this device, so maybe other Android phones experience this too?

I am using the iPhone version with my Galaxy Nexus. Now you're worrying me I did have an issue with connectivity yesterday, and had to reboot my phone to connect it. After that, though, it seemed to work fine!

Hey, if it works...

Edit: don't worry, it seems I've misread. The reported problems were with the Nexus One, not the Galaxy Nexus. Sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable.

Heh, don't worry! I knew my initial impressions might not hold over the long term, so I'm going to come back with my impressions after a week or two. I do a ton of driving during the week, and I look forward to seeing how the Tunelink fares. I already have some minor concerns, but I'll talk about them after I've looked into whether I can fix them.


I've now contacted Jabra and asked folks on GDGT in an effort to see if the BT3030 can be used for ONLY its AVRCP profile, but I don't have high hopes.

Matt, I suppose it's too late now, but I had completely forgotten about a product that may have worked well for you. We've brought it up in at least one other thread a long time ago, the Parrot BT hands-free/music kit.

Their MKi9000 is a box you wire into your car's stereo system in behind the dash. This can be accomplished in a few different ways, including through aux connectors, splicing, adapters, etc. Depending on the model of car/head unit you have. Then it also comes with an included remote you can mount to your steering wheel or dash. There's also a mic you can mount in various places in the car.

The hidden unit does all the BT stuff with your phone, including A2DP and AVRCP. The remote talks to that unit using proprietary RF as far as I know.

The net result is integration of your BT phone with your factory audio system. It also allows voice dialing because the unit can load the contacts from your phone using another BT profile. You can also answer and hand up on calls in addition to the regular music/audio controls from the remote.

If you have steering wheel controls, you can also add another adapter to patch those into the Parrot unit.

Thanks, Bruno. That looks like a pretty great device. Maybe something for the next round. I could give my wife the Tunelink and upgrade I'm a little concerned with the installation costs (since I don't want to do it myself).

Opto-isolators, probably.

I may be picking up one of those Parrot MKi9000 units myself. We'll see. Still don't have the car I'd want to install it in, but that might change in the next few days.

Matt, I thought I'd run another product by you again, but let me get something straight before I do.

On your phone/OS, can you specify which external BT device will be used for AVRCP and A2DP even when you have two devices that support both, or one device that supports both and the other only A2DP?

I have a small A2DP/AVRCP device that was pretty cheap ($13) that you might be able to use as a remote if you can set it up for only its remote use. It's about the size of an iPod shuffle and has the same type of buttons on it. Play/Pause and then 4 directions for track changing and volume.

http://www.dealextreme.com/p/bluetooth-2-0-a2dp-avrcp-stereo-music-receiver-and-handsfree-black-8422

If you're actively listening to music through it, the battery only lasts for around 2 hours. I don't have any clue how long it would go just using it as a remote.

Unfortunately I couldn't say! I'm guessing that wouldn't work, but it's a great idea. Heck, for $13 I might give it a try!

I emailed Jabra to see if I could do the same thing with their BT3030, which is essentially the same kind of device. They didn't officially provide that kind of support, but anecdotally she had someone in the office with an Android phone check out the bluetooth settings, and it appeared to only show phone and music profiles. It wouldn't show a separate AVRCP profile.

I don't know if my phone or any phone will separate that profile from the others or not. At this point I'm guessing it wouldn't, given the complete lack of devices that do remote control only. I'd imagine Google or Apple wouldn't bother supporting them if there were.

I think that's a little exaggerated; they don't like you mentioning android compatibility *in your app's description on the apple app store*, but outside that you're fine.

My suspicion is the compatibility issue could be related to extended metadata transfer which is an extension; why they couldn't manage to make that compatible with android is a bit baffling though.

Was it here that I read someone saying that there were reports of the Galaxy Nexus not charging on some car chargers? I thought I read that here but I couldn't find it in a search.

Anyway, it looks like this is true. If I'm driving around and realize my phone's battery is low, when I plug it into the Tunelink, the charge indicator doesn't come on. It's hard to say if it's actually not charging or if it just isn't indicating it. I'll have to drive around like that for a while and see if it's the latter.

I mentioned this to Tunelink support, and they were familiar with the issue. Their app even has a place in the settings menu where you change the charge mode to "Android," which is weird. He also suggested that I plug in the phone before the Tunelink has power. I've found that I have to do both in order for it to charge. Very strange...

I have a generic car USB charging adapter, and it charges my phone just fine, albeit if the GPS is on, the charger can't keep up with the power draw. This remains the case even if I have the screen off.

The question is whether this an issue that there's simply not enough power available over the USB charging port, or if it's something more complicated, like the phone might be asking for more power but the USB adapter isn't smart enough to provide it.

I think that's a different issue than the one I'm talking about. I'm talking about the Galaxy Nexus simply not realizing it's plugged in at all, so it won't charge. Apparently this has been happening with some car chargers. I've been fine with most of the ones I've used, but when I connected the Tunelink I got zilch.

What's the amperage on your charger, Dan? Could it just be a little weak? Still, I recall that with my Nexus One, I was able to drain the power while charging when using the GPS. It also got super hot. Perhaps dedicated GPS units still have their place?

Dan's seeing the issue I saw reported in many reviews. Essentially the phone's power draw is higher then what the chargers can provide, due to the LTE, CDMA/GSM and GPS chips all being active.

Generation one chips for new cellular data standards are typically very power hungry. In the past, this was hidden because they went into dedicated data only devices like the USB adaptors for laptops. Now they are being crammed into smartphones, before a second or third generation can come along with power optimizations.

I have no idea what the amperage is since this thing is literally nothing more than white slab of plastic with a USB connector inside. I got it at a local electronics shop for cheap.

For what it's worth, I've seen similar behavior with a number of other car chargers.

Still, the USB charging standard seems to allow for increasing the voltage:
The core question is whether (a) anybody makes a car charger adapter that does this properly and (b) whether my phone would take advantage of this or not.

What mode does your phone show when connected to the charger? AC or USB?

As with so many things, there are multiple levels of 'standards' involved with USB charging.

At the core the problem is that the basic USB 'standard' was built around a 500ma max current per USB device. That is only 2.5 watts. Not enough for many devices and the reason for so many work arounds and extensions to the standard.

Some of the details were recently discussed in this iPhone related thread

Some USB chargers implement the Apple specification signaling and available current levels. See the other thread for details. Essentially Apple style dumb USB chargers come in three versions;
500ma max (older iPods and such)
1000ma (iPhone 5 watt USB charger)
2000ma (iPad 10 watt USB charger)
Apple devices will properly charge from chargers that can supply the required milliamperes or more. The device will simply consume what it needs, as the charger will never force more current that the device is willing to consume. So an iPhone will happliy draw about 1000ma from an iPad charger.

Correspondingly an iPad will limit its power draw from an iPhone charger to 1000ma as it can tell that the charger is limited to that capacity. It will simply charge more slowly than if it was connected to a proper iPad spec charger.

Connect an iPad to a powered USB hub or non-Apple style charger and it will limit itself to 500ma power draw. That is actually less power than the iPad needs when the display is active so an iPad in that situation will augment the 2.5 watts from the charger with some power from its own battery. The iPad will simply run down more slowly, and will display a Not Charging notice beside the battery icon.

Note that USB charging from computers and other 'smart' devices is done differently than from 'dumb' chargers. The signaling for allowable current levels is done via USB message protocol when charging from smart power sources.

Non-Apple style dumb USB chargers implement one of the non-Apple 'standards' of which there are several. Going from memory (and typing on an iPad);
500ma with D+ and D- pins open
500ma with D+ and D- pins shorted
500ma with D+ and D- pins resistor linked to indicate 500ma current available
1800ma 'China new standard' (there may be confusion here with a similar 1500ma China spec charger)

There are USB chargers that can supply other maximum current levels but they may not have the necessary D+ and D- pin signals to allow a given device to know the extra power is there.

And of course there will be cheaply made chargers that lie about their current capacities and/or just confuse the device that is trying to charge itself.

Motorola (among others) had/has their own proprietary flavours of USB charging specs, some of which conflict with the other 'standards'. This is why a USB charger from Nokia may not charge a Motorola phone or vice-versa, for example.

The recent European micro-USB charging standard is an attempt to fix the problem. I have not looked at how that specification handles USB charger current capacities in excess of 500ma.

I don't know if Android manufacturers have coordinated their specs for high power USB charging (greater than 500ma) or what those specs may be. Just haven't looked.

It is unclear to me whether there is any mobile/car charger (or even a charger spec) that can actually supply all the power required to fully satisfy an active LTE high end smart phone when all features are singing and dancing and at the same time charge the battery.

It just says "charging" without additional useful details. Other owners seem to indicate on various forums that they see an indicated difference, so I need to do some experiments.

EDIT: if you go to Settings -> Battery, it tells you "USB" or "AC" charging. From this, I can see that the three different chargers I've got at home report "AC". (Well, one of them *sometimes* reports AC and sometimes reports USB.) I'll later try out the car chargers.

Meanwhile, if you do a suitable Google search, several vendors advertise "high power" car chargers. I might need to give one of these a try, but then there's the question of whether I'm getting the Apple (non-)standard or what.

There are some battery widgets that show the charging state. You'll have to short D+/D- either with a cable or on the charger to get AC charging which is 1A. I've found that old Palm Pixi wall chargers provide AC charging, and they are cheap. The Griffin 2A car charger I bought needed the pins shorted.