I am curious to know it if would be at all possible to develop a USB mode to emulate an iPod's USB connection. It'd be a tedious reverse engineering process to see how the iPod pairs with stereos, docks and such, however the outcome would be great considering how Android has no love in the stereo market right now. Perhaps the JVC receiver that will be coming out soon will change this... (http://ceoutlook.com/2011/12/05/jvc-mobile-gets-android-and-gesture-control/)
An ideal application would be to pair with your car stereo, just plug in your phone to the stereo and select the iPod emulator and voila, you can browse your music, play your music, etc. from your car stereo.
Yes, we have bluetooth, but as far as I know you're unable to browse your device on your car stereo using this. The audio quality is probably not as good as a direct connection to the stereo. Just recently I've become aware that it can transmit the song information to the receiver. The problem with this is finding a receiver that supports it, and for a relatively low price tag. Most low-end receivers already have iPod hookups, but if you throw in HD Radio, SiriusXM, Bluetooth, Navigation, or anything else the price will quickly double. You can also just get a simple receive that allows calls via Bluetooth but not A2DP for a lot less.
We also have an audio jack we could connect to, or audio through USB, but you still don't get interfacing as an iPod would (such as skipping tracks, browsing music, play/pausing)
Yes we need android connectivity just like the iPod. Why hasn't this happened yet?
i also was searching for this.
now i use this solution
http://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B000PS70DM
This is needed
Old thread, I know, but this is an excellent idea. I had thought about such an emulation over the last few years, but had been happy to use DAB radio in my current car. We get a new car this weekend that doesn't have DAB, so I'm left with the old iPod USB connection issue.
I'm no coder these days, but is some reverse engineering of the USB signals not possible? Using bluetooth audio is *some* sort of solution, but doesn't go as far as to allow browsing tracks, albums, artists, playlists etc from my car's interface.
It seems like this is the obvious solution that no-one has thought of.
D
I've been wanting to do this for years, ever since iPod control in car stereos became commonplace (2006-ish?). That is, build a little box with a female iPod dock connector and a USB port. Plug any USB flash drive or hard drive into the box, and it reads the MP3 files on the drive and emulates an iPod. The iPod protocol is serial and seems to be hacked and documented on the web.
https://instruct1.cit.cornell.edu/courses/ee476/FinalProjects/s2007/awr8_asl45/awr8_asl45/index.html
https://nuxx.net/wiki/Apple_Accessory_Protocol
My problem is I don't have the programming ability to write the software for the little iPod emulator box.
Related
I read about that new A2DP functionality for music so I got some interesting idea about turning my TC to a car mp3 player. My TC has 8gb so it's cool to have such amount of music in car without need to change discs or something.
There are new car cd players that support bluetooth, my question is how all this stuff works together ? Has anyone tried ? Is it comfortable at it's current state ? I mean will it connect automatically and will the cd player controls work to browse the music stored on TC or will I need to use the TC to navigate songs(less comfort while driving)... What about sound quality, is A2DP provides good sound ? What should I expect from such a setup ?
I would answer half of the question myself only If I would already have the bluetooth supported cd player, but my one doesn't support it :-( so I am thinking about a replacement and will it be worth or not.
I use my Tytyn2 for this purpose with a pioneer B65 Head unit. The quality is good enough for a car considering the background noise and far superior to using a FM transmitter. You will have to use the TC to control the tracks and the display on the head unit does not show track info.
Doesn't seems to be comfortable solution then... There is no interface that will allow head unit to control it ? :-((... Anyone else tried this ?
I use a Jabra BT320S to hear music in car using the line in of my head unit. Sound is good and obviously i have the TC to control the music. SOme programs have very finger friendly buttons. I'm very happy
This is the solution you are looking for.
Get a headunit with a USB port, such as this Kenwood. http://www.bassjunkies.com/index.php?pid=33470&show=expand_image
Install WM5torage on the PDA, and set it up so that the PDA appears as a mass storage device.
Plug the PDA into the headunit with a USB cable.
The headunit should now see the tracks in the memory card of the PDA.
Hope this helps.
WM5torage is not (currently) compatible with the Touch Cruise.
Hello,
since i'm an owner of an saxo vts, which is equal to say been roubed evey time. i just do not have normal player, i instead add amp. connected to the normal audio pre-installation.
Then a audio cable from the PDA to the input of the amp. this also means stereo no front back sound distribution.
i also thought about the bluetooth but then, i realize that with TomTom, phone call , plus blue streaming, the device was not power enough.
Ah since then no one broke in, why because there's actually nothing there to robe.
My Solution
X-Kent. I have been using bluetooth in my car for nearly a year now and it's definately the way forward. Forget plugging it in via USB!
My HU is a JVC BT-1.
First of all the quality of your A2DP can be configured using the 'Advance config' program (found on this forum). I also use a Sony bluetooth headphone receiver and at first my Orbit 2 sounded a bit...cheap! However by cranking up the sample rate to 48000, bit pool to 58 and the max bit pool to 80, it has increased the quality from a decent FM quality to CD quality. This is just in my experience and audio purists would argue otherwise. Nonetheless this applies to my reciever and my car BT.
Next is that if you use BT in your car you would change the tracks by using the phone NOT the head unit. But I think this is FAR better and safer. I have my phone mounted next to the wheel, and not only can I see what track is playing on my phone, I have big pause and next/back track buttons to press and I can even see the album art. Far better than the crappy text display you get on a head unit (unless you have a v.expensive one!) If you did use USB then it would put the track names on the HU and allow full control, but why when you can use the lovely phone touch functions.
Finally (this is where it comes into it's own). The BT-1 has a small mic that you can locate anywhere and you can make calls in the car without touching anything. The BT-1 allows voice dialling and you can speak to people thru your car. And because it's BT then you can have the phone in your pocket. The Headunit is intelligent enough to automatically pick up the phone when it's in range and link them together. No buttons required. If a call comes in and you're listening to music, the ring comes through the speakers of the car. You can then pick up and it pauses the music. When your conversation's done, the music starts up where you left off!
If you use Sat Nav, even if you're listening to music or having a convo, the voice instructions are also routed through your speakers.
Why use anything else other than bluetooth? Hope that helps
Jon
Hi,
I have a HTC Touch which I am currently using the Pocket Player software to stream my music from my PC which is located upstairs. I can connect the Touch to my Stereo amplifier through a USB/Jack cable and play the music through my Hifi speakers rather than headphones but I was wondering if it would be possible for me to transmit the audio to my amplifier by way of Bluetooth. It would cerntainly allow me the freedom of changing tracks on my phone sitting in my armchair rather than sat next to my amplifier through a cable. I.E Streaming music from my PC through Wi-FI, via my HTC Touch through bluetooth.
Hope this makes sense. Has anyone done it and is there a noticible difference in sound quality when sending music by bluetooth rather than a wired connection.
I have seen various Bluetooth type devices on ebay and amazon that claim to do this type of thing but as I have never tried Bluetooth I am a little sceptical and not sure exactly what is required. I assume that as my Touch can send Bluetooth beam I would only need a reciever to connect the Jack plug from my amp, is this correct? Or would it be better to buy a jack transmitter/receiver for the job.
I don't want to spend a whole lot of money doing this just to test so can anyone recomend a device.
Thanks in advance for any help.
hi there,
i use this device:
http://www.itechdynamic.com/en/products_spec.asp?cid=6&pid=06020 it's by itech and it's called bluecon35. the picture shows the black unit but i have the white one =) the 3.5mm jack is connected to the aux plug of my amplifier. my stereo system combined with the speakers are then also connected. from there, the bluecon is paired via bluetooth to my x7500. this gives me the luxury of changing track, albums, volume, etc. basically all the music is streamed to my amplifier via the bluecon. with regards to the quality, i would say it's quite good. i don't hear "noise" or static in the background...nor are there jumps or pauses in the connection. everything is just fine except that i'm using a much better set of speakers as compared to headphones.
disadvantages:
- if you listen to your sounds like for 8 hours, then you could have a problem. the battery life of bluecon is around and doesn't have an external power source that allows it to play even when paired. i read that itech is planning to come out with a new similar bt device but this time it's also plugged to the wall socket or a car charger. no idea when that will be
- a minor detail is that if you receive a call, an sms or your phone has an alarm for an event then these sounds are streamed into the amplifier as well.
cost? i got it from thailand and it was for 2000 baht....that's around 63 usd (based on a 32baht to dollar exchange rate).
hope that helps
I use a pinnacle soundbridge, which cost under £50, and it plugs into your hi-fi and streams music from your pc over your wireless network. It can be controlled using the ir remote control, or your pda can access it over wi-fi to control it. As well as streaming from you pc, you can also use it to listen to internet radio.
Thanks for the advice guys. Robson, the Bluetooth receiver is a possibility however after googling it I found a couple of bad reviews. Some people seem to have a problem connecting their devices to it and others have said it has trouble with streaming MP3's over 192kbps. I will look into this further.
Jez83uk, the Pinnacle Soundbridge looks like a really good idea. Is it differcult to set up with a PDA and will it connect to my PC through a wireless router.
Also were would you recomend picking one up for under £50.
Cheers for all the help!
Mine was £39.99 at ebuyer.com, but looking around a few websites they seem to be out of stock everywhere, google products. I recommend keeping an eye on ebay if you're interested in getting one. I have mine connected through a wireless router, and setup was extremely easy. You need to run a media server- I use firefly, but I believe that itunes or windows media player 11 can do the same thing. PDA control is just a case of installing two cab files for a package called visualmr. Hope this helps you.
belkin tunestage 1 here
...was originally only advertised as working with the supplied dongle for earlier ipods, which is how i used to use it, but i discovered it works great with A2DP too. should be v cheap on ebay...
Did anyone try this? I'm thinking of buying a new radio WITH bluetooth..
IF the bluetooth radio stuff works, then tomtom/music could go via my HTC which would be awesome... or is it possible to play MP3's via an USB outlet, or have some auxout to my htc?
A few months ago, I bought a head unit (Dual XHD6425) that has front panel aux out, usb, and bluetooth. I originally got it for its 3.5 mm auxillary out for my ipod, but I then bought the add-on bluetooth module and started using my cellphone and now my Fuze. Bluetooth audio streaming (A2DP) is much more convenient as there are no wires to deal with. The TF3D music program supports AVRC so you can use the unit's fast fwd/rewind/stop buttons to control playback. Tomtom also routes its audio through the bluetooth interface as well. Of course, you also get hands-free calling, which is great as I usually forget to put on or turn on my bluetooth headset when I enter my car.
My head unit could also play music from USB sources (name hard drives, etc, but strangely not ipods). The unit was able to read from the Fuze since it can mount itself as a storage drive providing access to the microsd card. However, in this mode, I'd have to scroll through songs using the unit's interface, which was not very easy to navigate. Still, I can use the USB port to charge/power devices if I needed to do so.
^^^Ditto what he said^^^
My Xterra has a Pioneer single din headunit with built-in Bluetooth. A2DP streaming works great, but sometimes sounds a little tinny or washed-out. If you have added a subwoofer to your vehicle then get a headunit with an independent subwoofer level control. Some songs will be very bassy, while others will need some added punch...this can be adjusted very easily especially with a remote-mount bass level knob.
You can also sync your contacts over to the BT headunits and set speed dials as well as picture dials in some cases. My Pioneer replacement will be a double din 7" touchscreen dvd player with BT. Make sure it has plenty of audio controls/adjustments...digital time correction is a nice feature to help balance sound and set stage.
so I was listening to police scans on my topaz, when i realized that we lack something that could be very useful. What if an app simulated the USB headset on the topaz so that the car's headunit would let me transmit sound that way instead of an aux cable (similar to, and maybe emulating, ipod control mode). I think the main advantage would be that usb transmits a much higher quality and more channels than 2 channel aux, but also that it would let you select your music straight from the topaz instead of searching on my headunit (which is a pain in the ass to folder browse with)
any thoughts? something like this already exist?
edit - this is the best i could find, but im not talking about docking, just audio and charging (through software if possible)
http://www.webnetta.com/2008/12/27/hack-connects-t-mobile-g1-to-ipod-dock/
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=465412
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=564678
edit2 - my headunit has a front USB port, that is what I intend to use
I see there's a lot of very inexpensive and handy USB bluetooth adapters for PCs and such. And that gives me an idea. I've tried searching the Almighty Google for this already, but nobody I've found wants to do exactly what I'm looking for, and I'm wondering if anyone here happens to know how to do what I'm planning.
So, what I want to be able to do is play my phone's audio wirelessly through my computer speakers. I'd mostly use this for watching YouTube in bed while my computer on the other side of the room is playing the audio. Because my computer's speakers are much better than the tiny built-in phone speaker, obviously. A lot of people on the internet want to stream their music from their phone to their computer, but that's not what I'm looking for, as all my the music on my phone came from my computer in the first place. I'd imagine I'd mostly be broadcasting YouTube audio, occasionally NetFlix audio, as well. But no media players, so I'd imagine the simplest thing is to broadcast all of my phone's audio output over bluetooth, to my computer, and through its speakers. Has anyone done this? Is this possible, is this easily doable, can this be done with any basic USB bluetooth receiver, et cetera?
My phone's a Samsung Infuse running Android 4.3, I'm on XP for now, sometime next month I'll on Windows 7 Ultimate.
Thanks!