I think the in dash iPod dock is the perfect solution!!!
It would be fantastic to see Apple team up with someone like Alpine (or even Sony who they already have a relationship with) and make a product like this.
I know that for a long time companies like Alpine were agianst MP3 because of its degraded audio quality. However, even they have seen the potential market and have released a hard drive based music storage system (it's kinda like a CD stacker only you have 1 removable HDD that loads into a carriage in the boot/under a seat. Has a USB port for loading on music from a PC).
If you did have an in dash solution you would need to incorporate a few extras to make it palletable to the mass markets (It would need to have radio tuner for a start).
All in all a GREAT idea!!! I'd buy one!!
PS The arm thing above..... there is already a similar product available with a scalable arm.... it broadcasts the audio over an FM frequency though, not through a mini jack.
Also, make it so you can connect a CD stacker to it in case you don't want to use the iPod.
And forget about white!!! Black is fine for in car stuff!!
I think the in dash iPod dock is the perfect solution!!!
All in all a GREAT idea!!! I'd buy one!!
PS The arm thing above..... there is already a similar product available with a scalable arm.... it broadcasts the audio over an FM frequency though, not through a mini jack.
Also, make it so you can connect a CD stacker to it in case you don't want to use the iPod.
And forget about white!!! Black is fine for in car stuff!!
I am redesigning the Dashdock to incorporate these ideas.
I think the indash idea is a great idea as well, the car audio business needs a shot in the arm. Car Audio installers are going out of business left and right it'd be great to see someone do this. Though i don't htink the white plastic look will match the interior of my cabin's decor.
I think the indash idea is a great idea as well, the car audio business needs a shot in the arm. Car Audio installers are going out of business left and right it'd be great to see someone do this. Though i don't htink the white plastic look will match the interior of my cabin's decor.
by doing any of these it would continue the dominance of ipod and kick all others butts. no car manufacturer would want to put an ugly gizmo in there car, the ipod is elegant and stylish
lets get this thing made it would sell like hotcakes
Your scale is all messed up but yeah..... something like that.
Typically (and there are many exceptions) an in car head unit has a single "src" (source) button which flips through the different sources (FM, AM, CD etc). There would be some sort of radio station selector (usually 6 buttons) which double as track skip, pause/play etc.
I think you are trying too hard to emulate the iPod functions by including the scroll wheel..... I think it can be done better for in car. Don't get me wrong.... Love the scroll wheel, but Apple made it like that for a hand held device where you slide a thumb up and down. In a car you are travelling over bumps and fingers slip etc so you'd be forever going backwards and forwards trying to find the right album/volume setting etc.
Perhaps a 7th and 8th button for playlist/album forward and backward. 2 more buttons for vol up and down and you're almost done!!!
I think the LCD you are using is ok except that the text will need to be in a larger font so that you don't have to concentrate too long on the stereo to see what track you are playing and not the road. Also, you don't need to see the volume like that the whole time.... The vol setting is really only important when you are setting it (and even then I rarely set it by the number on the dial/screen..... I use my ears). If you NEED a volume setting displayed at all times, make it a percentage or scale that appears in the corner (So if you use a percentage just have like "50%" in the corner.... if it's a scale (eg 20 = max) make it just say "10". Stick a volume icon (like the one in the menu bar) next to it and you are set!. Or, you could have a decibel meter on it..... maybe I'm high). Also on the LCD.... please, please PLEASE no white text on black background!!! At the very least make it blue on black but I would prefer a black on light colour. I mean, while we are at it, make the thing a colour LCD .
Maybe make the EQ come up after the track has been playing for 10 secs or something.... This way you maximise your space. Maybe make that a custom feature so you can either have just the text, just the EQ or the text followed by EQ with a time limit of your choice upto 1 min or something. ie, don't separate them into 2 screens.... do it the same way iTunes does it but auto flip between according to settings.
GPS??? It's not big yet here in Australia. If it works anything like Sherlock etc it will only work in the States anyways . What would you display there?? Your current Lat/Long position?? Or is that supposed to be a space for navigation?? If you are talking about the latter..... we need more screen space!!! Why not have a retractable 6.5" - 7" Active matrix, full colour LCD screen that flips up?? Most of the top end car audio companies make them now anyway. I used to have one in my car till it got pinched!!! If you are going to do that you will need to make that CD player a DVD player so it can read the nav disks.... Why not have an add on that is a DVD stacker in the boot (we call the trunk a boot here). That way you could have a nav DVD of your area (I'm pretty sure they only have a limited range per disk) and a couple of movies for long trips. That may sound rediculous but it was the natural progression in my mind. Or maybe you could go into an Apple store in your area/the area you are travelling in and download the nav data to your iPod (for a fee of course).... 40Gb has got to be enough for about 3 states and tunes to travel across them with. I'm just thinking out load here.
Hhmmmm.... It's a really cool idea and has heaps of potential (did I mention Bluetooth so it can tell when you are making calls and thus pause the CD/iPod or turn down the radio??). I just wish I was reading this in current hardware
Your scale is all messed up but yeah..... something like that.
.........Hhmmmm.... It's a really cool idea and has heaps of potential (did I mention Bluetooth so it can tell when you are making calls and thus pause the CD/iPod or turn down the radio??). I just wish I was reading this in current hardware
Nice work!!!
Thanks for the feedback (pooandwee and all)! ;-)
Your sugestions are great and it almost seems you're contributing to a REAL product. ;-) I wish it was.
It's 2:30 AM in Portugal and I'm off to sleep. Tomorrow I will try to incorporate some of your extensive feedback ;-) into the sketch.
Sorry for the scale and perspective incorrections.
Good Idea.. but not with out flaws... I am a professional DJ and a Car Audio newbie, however in both of these, mp3's have been questionable for usage. Right now, I use DN-s5000 cd turntables with mp3 support.
Now, I've run mp3's at 192kbps on large club stero systems... the sound quality is questionable. The same goes for fine tuned car steros, sound quality is questionable. This is not really directed at the iPod in general, but at compressed music files.
I don't really think it would become popular in enthusist's cars, due to the low bit rate of AAC, and the lack of support on the iPod for lossless audio codecs.
On top of that, I really don't want to see this standard on any car for that matter. I don't want something that'll jack up the price of a car another 400 to 500 dollars which it would probably cost if not more. Maybe as an add on its great. But I don't see a large scale market any time in the next 3 or 4 years.
Comments
Originally posted by sworthy
maybe something a little smaller than that, and the ipod would probably have to go in dock end first
You mean like this ??? ;-)
Sorry but the user inserts the ipod without flipping it bottom side first....
That´s the "Apple way"... ;-)
Tweaked backgrounds a little to better match AI.
It would be fantastic to see Apple team up with someone like Alpine (or even Sony who they already have a relationship with) and make a product like this.
I know that for a long time companies like Alpine were agianst MP3 because of its degraded audio quality. However, even they have seen the potential market and have released a hard drive based music storage system (it's kinda like a CD stacker only you have 1 removable HDD that loads into a carriage in the boot/under a seat. Has a USB port for loading on music from a PC).
If you did have an in dash solution you would need to incorporate a few extras to make it palletable to the mass markets (It would need to have radio tuner for a start).
All in all a GREAT idea!!! I'd buy one!!
PS The arm thing above..... there is already a similar product available with a scalable arm.... it broadcasts the audio over an FM frequency though, not through a mini jack.
Also, make it so you can connect a CD stacker to it in case you don't want to use the iPod.
And forget about white!!! Black is fine for in car stuff!!
Originally posted by pooandwee
I think the in dash iPod dock is the perfect solution!!!
All in all a GREAT idea!!! I'd buy one!!
PS The arm thing above..... there is already a similar product available with a scalable arm.... it broadcasts the audio over an FM frequency though, not through a mini jack.
Also, make it so you can connect a CD stacker to it in case you don't want to use the iPod.
And forget about white!!! Black is fine for in car stuff!!
I am redesigning the Dashdock to incorporate these ideas.
Watch for it today. ;-)
http://www.macworld.co.uk/news/main_...fm?NewsID=6851
And in panorama-vision:
http://www.panoramas.dk/smart/
I assume it's been posted before.
Originally posted by kraig911
I think the indash idea is a great idea as well, the car audio business needs a shot in the arm. Car Audio installers are going out of business left and right it'd be great to see someone do this. Though i don't htink the white plastic look will match the interior of my cabin's decor.
How about this ?
- GPS
- CD
- FM and AM
- Ipod DOCK.
CDs and ipod are sucked into the slots.
;-)
lets get this thing made it would sell like hotcakes
Typically (and there are many exceptions) an in car head unit has a single "src" (source) button which flips through the different sources (FM, AM, CD etc). There would be some sort of radio station selector (usually 6 buttons) which double as track skip, pause/play etc.
I think you are trying too hard to emulate the iPod functions by including the scroll wheel..... I think it can be done better for in car. Don't get me wrong.... Love the scroll wheel, but Apple made it like that for a hand held device where you slide a thumb up and down. In a car you are travelling over bumps and fingers slip etc so you'd be forever going backwards and forwards trying to find the right album/volume setting etc.
Perhaps a 7th and 8th button for playlist/album forward and backward. 2 more buttons for vol up and down and you're almost done!!!
I think the LCD you are using is ok except that the text will need to be in a larger font so that you don't have to concentrate too long on the stereo to see what track you are playing and not the road. Also, you don't need to see the volume like that the whole time.... The vol setting is really only important when you are setting it (and even then I rarely set it by the number on the dial/screen..... I use my ears). If you NEED a volume setting displayed at all times, make it a percentage or scale that appears in the corner (So if you use a percentage just have like "50%" in the corner.... if it's a scale (eg 20 = max) make it just say "10". Stick a volume icon (like the one in the menu bar) next to it and you are set!. Or, you could have a decibel meter on it..... maybe I'm high). Also on the LCD.... please, please PLEASE no white text on black background!!! At the very least make it blue on black but I would prefer a black on light colour. I mean, while we are at it, make the thing a colour LCD
Maybe make the EQ come up after the track has been playing for 10 secs or something.... This way you maximise your space. Maybe make that a custom feature so you can either have just the text, just the EQ or the text followed by EQ with a time limit of your choice upto 1 min or something. ie, don't separate them into 2 screens.... do it the same way iTunes does it but auto flip between according to settings.
GPS??? It's not big yet here in Australia. If it works anything like Sherlock etc it will only work in the States anyways
Hhmmmm.... It's a really cool idea and has heaps of potential (did I mention Bluetooth so it can tell when you are making calls and thus pause the CD/iPod or turn down the radio??). I just wish I was reading this in current hardware
Nice work!!!
Originally posted by nsousansousa
How about this ?
- GPS
- CD
- FM and AM
- Ipod DOCK.
CDs and ipod are sucked into the slots.
;-)
Should the iPod be inserted from the bottom? Isn't that were the connector is? Someone should make this, till then, I am sticking with my iTrip.
Originally posted by pooandwee
Your scale is all messed up but yeah..... something like that.
.........Hhmmmm.... It's a really cool idea and has heaps of potential (did I mention Bluetooth so it can tell when you are making calls and thus pause the CD/iPod or turn down the radio??). I just wish I was reading this in current hardware
Nice work!!!
Thanks for the feedback (pooandwee and all)! ;-)
Your sugestions are great and it almost seems you're contributing to a REAL product. ;-) I wish it was.
It's 2:30 AM in Portugal and I'm off to sleep. Tomorrow I will try to incorporate some of your extensive feedback ;-) into the sketch.
Sorry for the scale and perspective incorrections.
Thanks again.
Originally posted by nsousansousa
Thanks for the feedback (pooandwee and all)! ;-)
Your sugestions are great and it almost seems you're contributing to a REAL product. ;-) I wish it was.
It's 2:30 AM in Portugal and I'm off to sleep. Tomorrow I will try to incorporate some of your extensive feedback ;-) into the sketch.
Sorry for the scale and perspective incorrections.
Thanks again.
Could not resist...
Later...
Originally posted by nsousansousa
Could not resist...
Later...
The Dashdock has entered "final candidate 1".
Enjoy ;-)
Now, I've run mp3's at 192kbps on large club stero systems... the sound quality is questionable. The same goes for fine tuned car steros, sound quality is questionable. This is not really directed at the iPod in general, but at compressed music files.
I don't really think it would become popular in enthusist's cars, due to the low bit rate of AAC, and the lack of support on the iPod for lossless audio codecs.
On top of that, I really don't want to see this standard on any car for that matter. I don't want something that'll jack up the price of a car another 400 to 500 dollars which it would probably cost if not more. Maybe as an add on its great. But I don't see a large scale market any time in the next 3 or 4 years.