Ford and iPod
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For 2007, the Fusion/Milan/Edge/MKZ family (and others) get a plug for the iPod.
But from this picture, it looks like it is inside the glove compartment.
How are you suppose to control your iPod from there, and keep your eye on the road???
Or get a long cord and keep the compartment open???
They mention it is just a plug, not a full integration. Which would have allowed you to control the iPod from the radio.
Actually, you can control your iPod from the car radio…well.. at least the radios in the 56 vehicles GM is offering this in. From the look of the plug, that looks just like the one the other automakers use for full integration. It is also a similar design to the USB chord that all iPod owners use to charge and control through their PCs. From the news stories from last week, you can also charge the iPod while you drive and listen which is pure sign of full-integration.
They have two options for iPod connectivity. Their newer vehicles will come standard with an auxiliary audio input for any mp3 player. Or you can get the optional TripTunes Advanced which is only for iPods and is what’s pictured above. The TripTunes allows you to control with iPod via the audio buttons on the steering wheel and display track info on the display of the radio. It will also charge the iPod.
Thnaks for all the info.
But I read GM will charge over $160 for full integration.
It seems like $150 is about standard for a “full integration” iPod solution like the one that Ford, Mazda and GM recently announced they will use. And as said above, it is a full integration using stereo and redundant steering wheel controls, and the iPod charges through the car and all that stuff.
I sure hope they continue to include Aux in jacks (or start in Ford’s case) because sometimes the iPod interface itself is better than the one with the car, and then you can also use alternative products.
I think Honda & Acura charge around $200 for full integration, so this isn’t out of line.
On Scions it is $250 to get the COMPLETE iPod integration…so $160 is nothing. And if you only knew how much it makes your driving experience better, $160 is NOTHING. Once you have iPod integration, you can’t go without it. I will not buy a car that uses a CD player as it’s #1 source of music…Long live the Pod!
It’s on Honda’s as well for $200ish.
But remember, all of these interfaces are dealer-installed options, so the labor charges essentially double the cost!
They’re wonderful, but pretty pricey.
I think that’s an AWESOME place for your ipod.
1. Like we need more distractions when we’re driving? (Hello cell phones)
2. You get out of your car…and guess what? You don’t have to conceal the ipod. It’s already in the glovebox out of sight. (Hello Dodge Caliber right in the middle)
Bravo Ford.
A mini plug jack is all I would need or want. What happens if they change the iPod connector, or another digital music device or format becomes more prevalent than iPod in the future? With a simple miniplug jack, you’d be covered. Bravo Ford.
The iPod has a standardized 30-pin plug. Apple has enough technology to have converters if they had a new plug type…and there is something called backwards compatability…plus all these cars still retain an AUX port anyway…and on Scions they don’t charge for installation b/c they have to put in the other radio anyway so you just pick first.
thats gay, why wouldnt u just buy a tape adapter or an iTrip…
Actually that’s not gay. Us gays wouldn’t use something as tacky as a tape adaptor or those FM modulators that make the sound all distorted like. Bravo to anyone that offers iPod intergration. Now if would get Ford to make better looking head units for their vehicles.
I think it’s funny how on car website a lot of people equate poor things with ‘gay’, when in reality it would seem that the only group more fervently into automotive anything than straight men is gay men…
Anyway, tape adapters suck, and so do iTrips… I like to HEAR my music, thank you. It does not surprise me, however, that someone that believes in tape adapters and iTrips over iPod integration would be able to bash on gay people in the same rant somehow.
Vince! You’ve got a wide spectrum of diverse readers, though, clearly!
iPods are a childish fad, and this car is an Accord wannabe.
Next.
I think it’s funny how on car website a lot of people equate poor things with ‘gay’, when in reality it would seem that the only group more fervently into automotive anything than straight men is gay men…
Perhaps that’s the reason GM and Ford cars are so lame…straight designers drawing pick-up trucks and Monte Carlos.
😉