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Ford, GM, Mazda Add iPod Support

By BetaNews Staff, BetaNews

August 3, 2006, 12:31 PM

Apple said Thursday that it had struck agreements with Ford, General Motors and Mazda to offer seamless iPod integration in 2007 automobile models. In Ford and General Motors cars, a majority would provide the feature, while Mazda has decided to include the feature across its entire lineup.

"Now more than 70 percent of 2007-model US automobiles will offer iPod integration, with General Motors alone making it available on all 56 of its models, representing millions of cars and trucks," Apple marketing vice president Greg Joswiak said. The Cupertino company also said it had sold more the 58 million iPods since the product's launch.

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By tokyowalker

edited Aug 14, 2006 - 11:30 PM

http://www.japanbestcars.com
JAPAN BEST CARS - we export japanese used cars to evry country on the globe. a huge stock list updated every day. toyota, nissan, mazda, honda, subaru ....

Score: 0

By ds0934

posted Aug 4, 2006 - 1:10 PM

I can't wait to see the first round of law suits claiming that the iPod feature is a distracting nuisance that causes accidents. I'm sure it will happen.

Score: 0

By Desides

posted Aug 3, 2006 - 8:14 PM

And thus, the iPod ecosystem became self-sustaining, and the Zune went nowhere.

Score: 0

By school1012

posted Aug 3, 2006 - 3:09 PM

Thanks but no thanks. I will continues to use my creative MP3 playsfore sure player. Until GM, Ford and the others allow me to use my player in their car (and not that over price crappy iPod) there is no incentive for me to buy a new car.

Sorry

Score: 0

By Jordanr05

edited Aug 4, 2006 - 6:04 PM

Most 07 GM models have an AUX input on the front of the head unit - you could plug your Creative into there.

(I know other manufacturers have this too but my Chevy has it so i'll endorse it).

Score: 0

By school1012

posted Aug 6, 2006 - 3:50 PM

Intersting to bad they don't advertise that ANY MP3 player can be connect.

Score: 0

By fewt

posted Aug 3, 2006 - 5:55 PM

LOL

So you aren't going to buy a car because it doesn't support a music player?

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

That was the lamest thing I've ever heard.

If that's the reason you won't buy a new car then I really question your priorities in life.

You must still be in 10-12. ;-)

Score: 0

By school1012

posted Aug 4, 2006 - 4:23 PM

No, it does not encourage me to buy a new car if it supports apple's iCrap.

Score: 0

By fewt

posted Aug 4, 2006 - 4:44 PM

There are so many used cars that don't have "iCrap" support that I see your point oh wise one.

HAHAHAHA

Score: 0

By school1012

posted Aug 6, 2006 - 3:51 PM

My point was NEW CARS

HAHAHAHA

Score: 0

By fewt

posted Aug 6, 2006 - 6:27 PM

Which I bought *2* of not too long ago.

OMFG, THEY DIDN'T HAVE **** CONNECTORS!

Score: 0

By myk04l

posted Aug 3, 2006 - 2:50 PM

oh my God. this is just gonna be like the 8tracks and the cassetts. after mp3 integration cd players are gonna go.

Score: 0

By domino360

posted Aug 3, 2006 - 4:22 PM

If you want to achieve an 8-track audio quality with an MP3 player, you’ll have to use a player that doesn’t use DRMs and lots of memory is required (at least 30 Gb). Big name players such as Apple, Sony and Samsung, all use DRMs. Part of that it’s because of recording studios, and the rest is just a brand mark up. I wouldn’t be surprised if Zune by Microsoft is forced to use DRM. And if it doesn’t, there has to be a catch and you’ll need to read the small print from the online music store MS will heavily promote. DRM free players with good audio chipsets are hard to find.
At home and work I use iPods. But for my car I use a GoGear by Philips. To achieve an 8-track sound, I 1st burn the CD to HD in *.wav format. If you want to get a bit creative in mixing, after the burn you could use Sound Forge and then export the finished mix in *.mp3 format at 128Kbps quality (expect very large files). It works for me, and if you have a good car stereo this will be as good as 8-track sound that we used to have in the old days.
Of course, an alternative to mixing yourself is if you know a pro DJ that doesn’t mind doing you a favor in *.mp3 format.

Score: 0

By Pdj79

posted Aug 3, 2006 - 5:07 PM

Um, my iPod consists of about 85% LAME-encoded 256kbps mp3s...no DRM for those. As for the rest, they're either ITMS files I got from free giveaways or podcasts. Face it, not everyone uses an iPod for strictly Itunes.

Score: 0

By domino360

posted Aug 4, 2006 - 6:42 PM

That's a good point.
Thanx Pdj79!

Score: 0

By mshulman

posted Aug 3, 2006 - 2:29 PM

This was a pretty significant factor in my getting an iPod over other devices. Integration into my Prius. Granted it cost me about $300 for the adpater to do so, but it's fully integrated and I use it all the time, so it was well worth it.

Having it available as a factory add on just sweetens the deal.

Score: 0

By domino360

posted Aug 3, 2006 - 2:20 PM

First I heard of iPod player input was with BMW. After that VW, Honda and Toyota. At last Ford, GM and Mazda follow suit. Of course, this is considered as an extra accessory and the price for a Honda starts at $214.

Car manufacturers only use the name iPod because they know there are more people using Apple MP3 players than from the rest. I wish Microsoft all the best with their new Zune gizmo. Before MS even gets to Apple, they’ll have to fight Sony, Samsung, Creative, Scandisk….. On top of that, another front is with the online music stores which is not that lucrative because of too many competitors.

Personally I couldn’t care less about Ford or GM. I say that because after you watch a documentary titled "Who killed the electric car?" you leave the cinema really bitter about the American car manufacturers. It makes you wonder if you ever want to buy a Ford, GM or Chrisler.

Score: 0

By Intrusive_Rogue

posted Aug 3, 2006 - 1:05 PM

Apple has got the marketing of the iPod down to a science.

Now, how long until they are accused of monopolistic tactics? :0

Score: 0

By speedmeister

posted Aug 3, 2006 - 1:42 PM

While they dominate the US and several other countries they still have some decent competition in Asia and other developing markets where people consider cost and features like an fm tuner as a reason to buy a player.

On the positive side according to the Cnet story Ford and GM's 'iPod integration' is just an auxillary input in the deck with an optional dock connector in the glove compartment that can be factory installed. The auxillary input could be used by Zune or any other player which should really give Apple too much of an advantage.

Score: 0

By deminicus

posted Aug 3, 2006 - 2:27 PM

I would hope they would just provide a usb/firewire input and have some sort of standard that will allow any stereo unit to control any music device from the face unit.

Score: 0

By Intrusive_Rogue

posted Aug 3, 2006 - 1:56 PM

Right, I agree with you in every respect.

But I'll bet when you look at the accessories list on any sticker it will say "iPod package," or something to that effect. Otherwise there would be no reason for Apple to want to sign an agreement.

I can't believe its taken this long for the auto mfg's to put an aux. input, MP3 compatibility, or even pen drive compatibility into some of their audio systems.

Score: 0

By speedmeister

posted Aug 4, 2006 - 1:38 PM

The optional accessory is iPod specific(i.e. it uses Apple's 30 pin dock connector) so it would be quite appropriate for Ford or GM to call it the iPod package. In fact they would be foolish not to name it accordingly. It would help naive users identify what they need to get the best possible experience with their iPod and make it clear the accessory is iPod specific. It would be a good way to get someone who likes their iPod to buy their car.

I am skeptical that the iPod specific accessories will be standard equipment anytime soon. The article states that they have sold 58 million iPods. When you exclude 1/2G iPods /Shuffles that lack a dock connector, millions that were defective, broken by careless users, sold overseas,or disposed for something better I would be surprised if there are more than 30 million iPods in use in the US. That still a lot of iPods but the manufacturer is unlikely to make it standard equipment if the vast majority of their customer have no use for it.

Score: 0

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