One of the best things about our Scion xB is its optional head unit with iPod interface.
You can hook up directly to an iPod connector that will charge your iPod as it plays or if you have another brand of music player, you also have the choice of using an AUX port.
The graphics in the xB's system mimic those on the iPod, that is, the older iPods at the time it was created. The navigation wheel is displayed on the screen...
I was interested to see how my new iPod would respond to the xB's iPod connection.
Well, both car and iPod were momentarily confused but the xB got over it. When I hooked up my iTouch, the Scion's audio system responded by telling me to check my connection. It took three tries of pushing the iPod button on the xB's display before it gave in and started to play music.
Likewise, my iTouch thinks that I hooked up an accessory to it, like a speaker system. It goes into accessory lockdown and I can no longer control music from the iTouch. I can still advance through songs from the xB display and steering wheel but I'm locked out of my iPod.
Donna DeRosa, Managing Editor @ 13,262 miles
zach101 says:
08:31 PM, 02/21/08
I love my iTouch!
It looks like a really neat system, but it's too bad that screen already seems outdated..
bemanix88 says:
08:51 PM, 02/21/08
How does the interface work? It looks like a touchscreen.
altimadude00 says:
08:56 PM, 02/21/08
Why buy anything anymore? It will be "outdated" within the month. I'm completely satisfied with my i-pod mini. I'm not going to lay down several hundred dollars to have the newest "in" thing just to say "I have mine...where's yours?" Hell, I still have my collection of cassette tapes and the Walkman I play them on. I still listen to FM radio.
I don't need to look like a Borg drone with a thing in my ear, and enough gizmos on my belt to make Batman feel deficient to operate in the modern world.
Then again, I don't live in LA, so maybe you do need touch screens galore at your belt, at your computer and at your car. Music in your phone, in your MP3 player and on the hard drive in your car, and beamed down from space. Watch movies on your phone and in your car. Watch TV in your car. Send text messages from your phone or through your radio while you're driving. Browse the internet on your phone. Instantanious communication with anyone to anywhere in the world.
Except me. I turned my phone off.
jerrywimer says:
04:57 AM, 02/22/08
This is exactly why I'm so against all the Apple iPod specific interfaces being the 'standard' that everyone wants in their cars.
What should've happened (and may be, with systems like Ford's Sync) is that there should've been a truly standard interface / control spec for *all* portable media players, with a standardized connection. Then you wouldn't be locked into a single brand of device when you buy your new car, or worse (as in this blog entry), to a generation of that single brand!
louiswei says:
10:00 AM, 02/22/08
Am I the only one in LA think that 6 CDs of mp3 songs (about 700 songs) and my favorite local FM radios is plenty enough?
The only way I'll give into iPod is when Apple releases the 3G-compatible iPhone with at least 20GB storage.
comp386 says:
12:32 PM, 02/22/08
I 2nd that comment about mp3 cds. I've never really found a need for anything else. Although if I got a car with sync, I could throw my music on my USB thumb drive.
I'll get an iPod when they stop forcing people to do everything their way with proprietary software, formats, and no way to change the battery.