iPhone Car Connection Solutions

Expert Article By Richard McKinsey Though we’ve reviewed hundreds of iPhone-compatible accessories since last June, there has not been a complete, turnkey solution for in-car iPhone integration that average users can go out and purchase with ease. The reason is simple: though the iPhone is supposed to be Apple’s “best iPod ever,” it actually doesn’t work properly with many of the iPod’s best previous car accessories, and the iPhone accessory development process has proved unusually difficult for even the best engineers out there. Ever since the iPod replaced the walkman and CD player as our means of playing music, the issue of how to play music in the car has never really been solved. The result has been a form of time-stasis – our cars have more archaic music setups than our grandparents’ houses. Tapes from the late 1990s, the odd CD from a few years ago – we usually resort to listening to the radio. Virtually all of our music is stored on the iPod or iPhone, and up until now accessing it in a car has been something of a chore. None of the in-car solutions have worked with enough success for us to whole-heartedly recommended them. Tape converters work but sound terrible, while FM transmitters can sound quite good, but rarely work in built-up cities like London. iPod integration is something that the car industry has dabbled with, but hardly got to grips with. Many new stereo systems feature 3.5mm minijack inputs enabling you to plug your iPod directly to your stereo via the headphone socket. This works but is hardly an elegant solution. Today, the major problem is that there’s no single accessory that charges, mounts, and performs all audio from an iPhone, so unless you want to hand-hold your iPhone while you drive—which is against the law in many places—you can’t just connect one cable and expect to safely use both its music and phone features. This is largely due to Apple-imposed software limitations, but also certain technical hurdles developers need to overcome. So for now, in-car use of an iPhone requires a number of different parts, and we’ve created this Complete Guide to iPhone Car Integration to help you choose the ones that are best for your vehicle and personal needs. The Budget Solutions What’s the least expensive way to integrate your iPhone into your car? Unless you’ve recently purchased a new car, it’s this one: the Budget Solution combination of an iPhone mount, a single cable that charges the iPhone and broadcasts its music to your FM radio, and a wired headset. This solution will cost you as little as $90—less if you shop aggressively—but can run up to $325 depending on the parts you select. Let’s start with the car mount. Though you can conceivably toss the iPhone into your lap or a cupholder and skip this part entirely, we’ve found that having the iPhone’s touchscreen handy for dialing and music navigation is a must for safe in-car use. The mount shown here is the best we’ve tested to date, ProClip’s Padded Holder with Tilt Swivel for iPhone, which sells for $65 including the cost of the iPhone holder and a mount that’s made to fit your specific make, model, and year of car. This mount adjusts to your preferred angle, and can even be tilted to let your passenger control the phone or use Cover Flow mode. But many companies offer cheap mounts that use suction cups, vent mounts, or other inexpensive ways to attach your iPhone to your windshield or dashboard; some may not be legal where you live. Our accessory guide includes other iPhone and device-agnostic Car Mount options; one of the cheapest we’ve seen is Griffin’s iSqueez, which sells for $10, and is about to be updated with a new version. Next, there’s the Car Charger, which is sold with or without an integrated FM Transmitter. This part is necessary to keep your iPhone’s battery juiced up on the road, and enable you to hear its audio through most car stereos. The FM transmitter broadcasts whatever music is playing on the iPhone onto a radio station of your choice, but again, it doesn’t do anything with phone call audio. (If you’re lucky enough to have a car with a line-in/aux-in port on its stereo, you can skip the integrated FM transmitter portion and go with a simple $20 iPhone charger such as XtremeMac’s InCharge Auto or Griffin’s PowerJolt for iPod and iPhone (shown). You’ll also need to connect a $10-20 iPhone-to-car audio cable such as Belkin’s Mini-Stereo Link Cable or Monster’s iCable for Car (iPod/iPhone) to the iPhone’s headphone port for audio, then adjust the volume on both the iPhone and your car.) So far, there are only two FM transmitter and charger combinations we know to be really iPhone-ready. Belkin’s new version of TuneCast Auto (shown) is set to be the first official “Works With iPhone” FM transmitter and car charger, and sells for $80. For the same price, Griffin’s iTrip Auto with SmartScan (shown) currently lacks the Works With iPhone certification, but still works with the iPhone anyway; a fully iPhone-shielded version is forthcoming early this year. Worth noting: though Apple’s iPhone certification program tries to prevent cell phone interference from junking up connected accessories, it can’t stop the same interference from leaking into your car’s stereo and speaker systems, so you may notice beeps mid-music no matter what you buy. That said, these cables, and others that are Works With iPhone certified, will do better than most at shielding out those noises. The final piece in our budget solution is a wired iPhone headset. This is the least expensive way to take phone calls without holding the phone up to your head, or using speakerphone mode, which has its own issues. We call it a budget item because Apple includes one for free with every iPhone, called the iPhone Stereo Headset (shown) and sells replacements for $29, but there are now iPhone-specific options ranging up to $179, all reviewed here, notably including V-Moda’s Vibe Duo (shown). iPhone Car Connection Example:iPhone With Belkin’s Auto Kit for iPod/iPhone. Run a 1/8” mini-plug to your head and be done with it. You’ll still have to use bluetooth for call audio but at least you can make use of the superior line-out audio and charge up at the same time. This thing has a little amp built in that you don’t want to overdrive your system with (it won’t blow anything up but it’ll sound a little muddy if you crank it too far) The Auto Kit connects your iPod device to your car's power source and includes an exclusive Belkin cable that charges your iPod from your car's cigarette lighter. The Auto Kit also provides an adjustable amplifier and 3.5mm audio-out jack that lets you play your iPod through your car stereo or other audio equipment when using a Belkin TuneCast Mobile FM Transmitter or Cassette Adapter. You'll know your Auto Kit is properly connected by its illuminated LED indicator. The unit is also engineered with a replaceable safety fuse to protect from potentially damaging spikes or short circuits. Try use the Auto Kit with the specially designed Belkin Mobile Cassette Adapter or TuneCast Mobile FM Transmitter (not included) for high-quality audio through your car stereo. iPhone Car Connection Example: iPhone With SendStation PocketDock Line Out USB The SendStation PocketDock Line Out USB claims to be compatible with the iPhone, though they do not participate in the Apple iPhone certification. If it is indeed compatible, you could combine this with a USB A-B cable and a USB 12V adaptor, and you would have the charger and line-out. It’s a kludge but it should work. The SiK imp may work but it’s hard to tell. PocketDock Line Out USB offers an industry-standard 3.5 mm (1/8") stereo jack (right next to the USB port) that connects directly to the iPod’s/iPhone's line level circuitry — just like Apple’s Dock, but in a tiny, easy-to-carry package. This makes the PocketDock with Line Out an good accessory for well sound quality without interference and distortion from the headphone equalizer and amplifier circuitry. Contents: PocketDock with USB and Audio Line Out sockets, 2pcs. 6ft./180cm ultralight, ultra-compact white audio cables (3.5mm plug - 3.5mm plug / 3.5mm plug - stereo RCA), detachable keyring holder / dock connector cover. iPhone Car Connection Example: iPhone With Simple Camcorder A/V Cable. In the line out lack (aux) there is one more chanel for the microphone, is this possible to fit this kind of lack to the iphone and then wire the cables for audio, and connect to the third channel a microphone’ such as normal car kits. For example use this cable - 10-Ft. Gold Series Camcorder A/V Cable) and two end for the speakers, the third to a microphone ... iPhone Car Connection Example: iPhone With iPhone 3G dock. iPhone 3G dock costs $29 and free for original iPhone. Use Velcro Tape on the bottom of the dock and attached it to dashboard so you can see and reach it while driving. Have the power cord running to the cigarette adapter (cost $20-$30). Then you use an mini cable from the aux input on the car stereo to the dock. For phone audio, you can actually use the speaker phone function on the iphone but it is hard to hear at highway speeds. You can Using a bluetooth headset to keep charged in the car (jawbone $100). iPhone Car Connection Example: iPhone With Peripheral iPhone Interface in 2004 Scion xB. Peripheral iPod Interface with 2004 Scion xB, work with iPods and iPhone. It’s not certified, but have not any interference problems. Simply dismiss the “This device isn’t compatible...” message every time then connect. The device provides line out sound directly to factory stereo, allows me to change tracks using the dash controls and seems to charge my iPhone just fine. Since you plug it in almost every time you is in the car, you rarely have to worry about my phone’s battery running down. It sold through Crutchfield (www.crutchfield.com) or through eBay. Installation take about half an hour. The Obvious Solutions The next solutions we look at here is called “Obvious” because it’s not the cheapest around, but is extremely common for users of Bluetooth cell phones such as the iPhone. It offers one advantage over the Budget Solution: phone calls come directly into your wireless earpiece without forcing you to keep a wire dangling down to the iPhone’s headphone port. But it also has two consequences: you really need to keep your Bluetooth headset and the iPhone charged. We’ve reviewed a number of Bluetooth headsets for the iPhone over the last six months, including the $100 Plantronics Voyager 520 and $150 Discovery 665 shown here. They both do well both indoors and outdoors, though a noise-filtering headset such as Aliph’s Jawbone will sound the best to your callers if you’re in noisy environments such as a sportscar or older, less noise-dampened vehicle. Many other headsets we’ve reviewed can be found here. Pairing a Bluetooth headset with your iPhone is relatively easy. You go into the Settings menu, pick General, then pick Bluetooth. Turn Bluetooth on, then follow the instructions that come with your headset to initiate Bluetooth pairing mode. The iPhone will generally discover the device instantly at that point, and require you to enter a PIN number found in the headset’s manual. Once that’s done, the devices are paired. If you’ve purchased a Bluetooth 2.0 headset, the iPhone will typically find it immediately when you turn both the headset and iPhone Bluetooth feature on; otherwise you may need to press a button on the headset to let the iPhone know it’s there. But both devices will drain battery power more quickly when Bluetooth is on and being used for calls, so look for a headset with a convenient included charger, and make sure whatever iPhone charger you’re using is guaranteed to fully power the iPhone when Bluetooth and phone features are being used. The picks we’ve mentioned above feature that guarantee; other chargers do not. The Tape Deck Solutions The Tape Deck Solution is different from the Obvious Solution in two ways: your iPod is connecting to an in-car tape deck rather than the FM radio, and so you need to supply a cable and/or adapter that will work with the iPhone. This unwieldy connection of parts requires the most work to assemble, but will sound better than an FM transmitter cable in your car when you’re listening to music from your iPhone, and will still enable you to charge the iPhone and take calls wirelessly from a Bluetooth headset. The total cost of the tape adapter and iPhone adapter cable will be under $25. Our top-rated adapters, Philips PH2050W, and Sony’s CPA-9C still sell for under $15 and are the best around, but neither has an iPhone-compatible headphone port plug. Monster’s iCarPlay Cassette Adapter has the right plug, but doesn’t sound as good. So you’ll need a headphone port adapter: we’d recommend ifrogz Fitz, which sells for $8. iPhone Car Linkage With Tape Deck Downside. iPhone Car Cennection works fine, most of the time. You occasionally may get complaints of an echo when some calls are made but it’s usually because the volume up to high. In the tape mode, calls interrupt the music playing and it resumes after the call is over. If you get an adapter from Radio Shack, you may talks on his phone the same way. To charge you may use a cigarette lighter charger. You can also use bluetooth headset on occasion, when it charged and ready. The Optimal Solutions The biggest problem with the solutions above? They require you to connect a lot of cables and create a messin the process. That’s why we’re excited about the Optimal Solution, which is cleaner, simpler, and offers the best phone calling experience, too. It replaces the Bluetooth and wired headset options with a relatively new type of car accessory that mounts on your car’s visor. And it uses a single bottom connection to charge the iPhone and output its music to your car stereo. The only issue? This solution can be expensive. iPhone Car Connections Examples. Both the iPod and iPhone have line-out capabilities, however, they both depend on accessories to convert the Dock Connector’s pins into an aux/line cable-friendly port. Unfortunately, no accessory currently exists that simultaneously enables line-out functionality and properly charges the iPhone with its required voltage. Plenty do this for the iPod, so Belkin and other companies are working on iPhone-ready versions of those products, as well as new ones. For all those w/ line-in on their stereos: iPhone Car Connection With Bluetrek/Contour Design SurfaceSound Compact. Bluetrek/Contour Design SurfaceSound Compact, adds a Bluetooth 2.0-enabled microphone and flat panel NXT speaker combination to your car visor. Contour plans to sell it for $100, but stores are already showing a street price for the SurfaceSound Compact through Bluetrek of $65. In our testing, the system does a superb job of utomatically connecting to the iPhone when both are turned on, screening out in-car noise while you’re driving, and enabling both you and your passenger to hear and talk with callers. Pairing works just like the Bluetooth headset instructions above, and SurfaceSound Compact runs for 15 hours of talk time—21 days on standby. It comes with a car charger and cable to let you recharge the battery when you’re on the go. Using SurfaceSound Compact makes the calling part of using an iPhone substantially better in your vehicle. iPhone Car Mount Via Geeky-Gadgets. The iPhone Car Mount Here’s a useful accessory for your iPhone, the iPhone Car Mount. Your iPhone clips in securely to the bracket on the front with room to access the dock connector and headphone jack. However, the best feature is the ability to easily rotate your iPhone 90 degrees into portrait or landscape mode. This makes it easy to watch videos on your phone since Apple insists that movies can only play in widescreen orientation… not that you should be watching movies while driving of course. Unfortunately the iPhone car mount does not work with the new 3G iPhone’s but I am sure they will have a compatible version out soon. The iPhone Car Mount is available to buy online for $12.99 from Think Geek.... iPhone Car Connection with Alpine CDE (9827) Alpine CDE (9827) have controls iphone menu and playlists from stereo. Alpine cable plugs into bottom jack of ipod/iphone. The other issue is that when you are playing music and a call comes in, if you take the line out of the headphone jack, you can’t hear the caller and vice versa. You would think apple would fix this asap! or at least let a 3rd party fix it. All they need is an adapter with a built in microphone from the headphone jack to the stereo...kind of like the stock headphones. When a call comes in, the music would fade down and you could take the call while driving. The voice over the car speakers and the microphone picking up your voice. iPhone Car Connection With DLO VentMount. The DLO VentMount allows you to position iPhone in your car for hands-free access – especially convenient for drivers with bluetooth headsets. You can easily rotate VentMount vertically or horizontally for quick-glance viewing of coverflow, maps and driving directions. With models available for iPhone and for iPhone 3G, VentMount's unique car-mounting system is a must-have product for all iPhone users. It features a secure mounting device that is hooked onto the car's AC vent. Even while mounted, you'll find easy access to the side controls as well as the dock connector – so you can plug in and charge your iPhone without removing it from VentMount. With models available for iPhone and for iPhone 3G, VentMount's unique car-mounting system is a must-have product for all iPhone users. It features a secure mounting device that is hooked onto the car's AC vent. Even while mounted, you'll find easy access to the side controls as well as the dock connector – so you can plug in and charge your iPhone without removing it from VentMount. iPhone Car Connected to '08 Ford Pilot USASpec Bandwagon. iPod installed in ‘08 Pilot USASpec bandwagon work well. Installation was easy, everything hides away securely when not in use, and it directly interfaces with stock deck - none of that crappy FM tuner stuff...just pure AUX IN! As a bonus, the thing works perfectly with iPhone. Charges, plays music, fades on incoming calls or SMS. You can also purchased a hands-free bluetooth speakerphone from Jabra. So, you can keep the bluetooth connection on when iPhone is plugged in (and not lose any charge) and when a call comes in the music is faded and you can talk. iPhone Car Integration With The Pioneer AVIC-D3. The Pioneer AVIC-D3 is a iPod controlling, bluetooth phone working dual-din touchscreen head-unit that can replace your car stereo. This one device works great with the iPod and handles both audio playback and phone functionality. Its not cheap, but its also a GPS unit too - so if money is not a problem, this is good solution. iPhone Car Connection With Help Of ‘08 Ford Focus Microsoft SYNC. iPhone works perfectly with it wrt iPod and Bluetooth phone functionality. SMS text functionality is not yet supported, but SYNC is user upgradeable, with new features due out this fall. It’ll be a free download from syncmyride.com. The new features, btw are automatic emergency dispatch calling (when airbags are deployed, with a 10 second window to verbally cancel the call and a prerecorded message played to the dispatcher, if you are unable to talk), and automatic maintenance reminders using feedback from the vehicle’s onboard computers. You will be impressed with the voice recognition, which requires no voice training, is 99.9% accurate and after one month is hard to live without: “Play artist Dave Matthews,” “Call John Doe on cell,” “Play playlist Funky Mix,” or “Call Dad at home,” etc. Each time the iPhone connects to SYNC, SYNC’s iPod index and phonebook index are updated. And everything, including the emergency dispatch and maintenance reminder upgrade this fall, is free; there’s no monthly subscription. iPhone Car Connection With Mercedes-Benz iPhone Cradle. Luxury auto maker Mercedes-Benz has announced its new Apple iPhone Cradle. The cradle, which mounts in the center console, is designed to allow for full integration of the device with the car. It connects to the audio system via the optionally available Media Interface or the retrofittable iPod Interface Kit, and enables the car’s multi-function steering wheel controls to activate both phone and audio features of the iPhone. Information about phone status and music functions such as the device’s phone book or currently playing track, album title, and artist appears on the vehicle’s display, and the cradle also charges the iPhone while docked, and ensures the best reception possible by connecting it with the vehicle’s own antenna. Compatible with C-Class, E-Class, CLK-Class, CLS-Class, S-Class, CL-Class, SL-Class, M-Class and R-Class vehicles, the Mercedes-Benz Apple iPhone Cradle is now available in Germany for €249. iPhone Car Connection To VW Passat 06 iPhone/iPod connector. Connect iPhone to the car stereo and a bluetooth adapter for the integrated car phone. So iPhone connects wired to the car stereo and via bluetooth for phoning. You can answer calls by pushing the phone knob on the steering wheel. Downside is : To make a call you have to take the iPhone in hand to dial. iPhone Car Linking with GROM Audio Inexpensive Adapter. For factory stereo (fits inline w/ your headunit) which allows iPod/Touch/iPhone operation via headunit or iPod itself. Very cool, great deal. You can find them on eBay, as well, via the GROM Audio store. The Grom iPod/iPhone Adapter* is specifically designed to be paired with an Apple iPod/iTouch/iPhone. Installation is relatively easy, equivalent in difficulty to the typical permanent installation of any of the other adapters in this comparison. It can be controlled directly or from the head unit and charges the iPod/iPhone. It does not have an additional input, but should definitely be considered by iPhone users because of its confirmed iPhone compatibility.

• 1. Ease of installation - Relatively Easy
• 2. Will the oem head unit control the device? - Yes
• 3. Does the adapter charge the device? - Yes
• 4. Compatibility with iTouch/iPhone - Both advertised (Not compatible with iPhone 3g)
• 5. Additional Output - No
• 6. Cost - US$75

Summary - Reportedly excellent sound quality, easy to install, and solid in most categories. Best for someone who only wants to connect their iPod and nothing else. Not intended for non-iPod devices. A serious contender for the title of "Best iPod Adapter". *When ordering the Grom iPod Adapter, DON'T order the M-BUS cable for the NSX. Specify the 8-pin CD changer cable. iPhone Car Connection with IO Play. IO Play connects to iphone (or any other bluetooth phone) to car stereo via bluetooth for handsfree, at the same time the ipod function can be enabled with a seperate ipod/iphone plug in that doesnt need any wiring between your ipod/iphone to the car sterero - basicaly a bluetooth solution for all. the only problem is the installation which needs professional job. DICE iPod/iPhone Integration Kit iPhone Integration Kit was maked by DICE Electronics, one of the leaders in iPod and HD Radio integration. On selected radios that support text, you will have full text display of what is playing on your iPhone. You can change songs, playlist, albums and even audiobook chapters from your head unit and steering wheel. With the unique feature of the DICE integration kit you will have unlimited amount of songs and playlists available from your iPhone. You can still use the phone to make and receive phone calls while listening to music. The kit will pause the music while you are on a call and then resumes when you hang up. Best of all, if you are already a proud user of a DICE iPod integration kit, you can use the iPhone right away, no new hardware is needed! DICE kits are now available for selected models of Acura, Audi, BMW, Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, Honda, Hummer, Lexus, Mazda, Mini Cooper, Pontiac, Scion, Toyota and Volkswagen. check out the CarDomain fit guide to find a solution for your ride. iPhone Car Connection With Griffin RoadTrip. Griffin RoadTrip have simple and clean designs, and looked to have a relatively high build quality. Griffin's product offering is quite large, so we thought we'd start out with the most common iPod devices for the car: the charger and the wireless FM transmitter. Our first test drive is the Griffin RoadTrip, a slick-looking iPod charger and wireless FM transmitter combo. This little guy features a very bright white display, simple design, fully adjustable gooseneck and swivel display, and an audio/video output jack. The RoadTrip is compatible with the iPod Classic (80GB/160GB), Touch, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th generation iPod. I was fairy impressed with the functionality and simplicity, and the swireless transmitter's sound quality was pretty strong and clear. Check out the full review after the break for detailed product photos, installed photos in a couple different cars, and our thoughts on the functionality and features. The piano black finish gives the RoadTrip a nice high-quality appearance and the buttons are not too big, not too small, just about perfect for quick fingertip access. The adjustable stalk is beefy enough to resist vibrations and bumps, and we later found it to withstand the numerous potholes around Seattle. iPhone Car Linkage To 01 Firebird USASpec system with the ProClips Holder. The USASpec system work perfect with the phone over the cars AUX/CD Changer input and you still keep full steering wheel control (Next/Previous/Mute/Vol +/-). For is hands free calling and for mentioning use the parrot ck3000. Just a thing to note, with the new 3g phones charging is no longer supported by the old USASpec dock cables, you will need to purchase a new cable that supports charging when they are released by USASpec. iPhone Car Connection With Mopar IPod/iPhone Kit. Worked perfectly with iPod and have great integration with iPhone. The music integration side of things and it will even pause music while calls come in. It doesn’t charge because of the voltage issue and you must use a bluetooth setup for calls but at the moment it’s the best possible scenario without all the wires and cables. We would seriously recommend getting this for any iPhone because when you need to charge your iPhone just switch cables and listen to the radio for a while. Bluetooth is still crappy with the iPhone no matter what device you have. We was tried about 4 devices after researching a lot and there really is no optimal solution until the cable that can plug in the bottom of the phone does everything and integrates it with the stereo. C’mon apple get your together. Note what thru the Mopar kit use only iPhone version lower 1.1.3, unfortunately the Mopar kit doesn’t recognize the iPhone 1.1.3 and higher. Final Thoughts As “optimal” as the solution above may be, it’s not “ideal”—we’re still waiting for end-to-end, single-connection accessories that will enable most iPhone users to enjoy music, telephone calls, and charging without having to cobble together parts. For that to happen, Apple will need to give iPhone the power to wirelessly stream both phone calls and music through Bluetooth, or handle phone calls through its Dock Connector, or both. Until then, iPhone car integration will require most users to purchase each of the parts we’ve mentioned above separately, choosing the ones that are best-suited to their existing cars’ needs. We’re continuing to watch for better iPhone mounting, charging, and audio options, and of course, you’ll see them on iLounge as soon as they arrive.