103 replies to this topic

[ams]

I was looking for something new or exciting it might have done and saw nothing worth mentioning except 'get a radio on your radio'.

Don't mistake my lack of excitement for ignorance.

[Alex]

I would be keen to see your Android phone/car audio integration before I take your comments with any weighting.

With your haste in casting judgements, one would assume you would have an impressive mobile pc/carputer/car audio install....

So please:

Show us your Android car audio integration.


I challenge you.

[Adam]

Looks good Alex! Might have to bookmark that one!

[Xon]

Would love to see an Android do this:

Pioneer AppRadio

This is in no way a "lets bash apple" post. I think the iPhone is a great phone, and apple have done a great job pushing phone technology forward very quickly.

But...
AppRadio is just a head unit that is using the iPhone's internet connection. The same could be done using a carpc and an android with wireless hotspotting. Even the "apps" are just using apps installed on the AppRadio, and the app on the phone is just passing through calls to the required hardware on the phone, like the GPS and what not.

Don't get me wrong, it's very cool, but there's nothing ground breaking going on there and no reason it couldn't be done on an Android...

[B4TT]

May a shower of chainsaws rain down upon thee at 15000RPM...... just because.

It is pretty cool though , I do think other 'smart' phones would be able to do something similar.

[Adam]

iPhone has such a massive Market that they are probably the only phone that's viable to do it with at the moment.

[justrad]

yer same deal as me. just compared to my sony ericsson which lasted up to 4 days (mind you it didnt have internet access) its bad. the battery lasts all day atm, just if its not charged over night, struggles to get to lunchtime tomorrow.
i just installed the above advance task killer. will see how that goes too.
@swaggie yer i have that installed now, see if thats also helps too, cheers

Advance task killer is good too...I usually used most of the time, i mean its on my phone. My IS usually last about day and a half. I dont use much on internet outside, or mean using 3g. I turn it off. Also, i dont use live wallpaper, its one of the reasons of taking those power from the battery. and also, watch out on GPS location, thats also one of the reason. Why, coz it will keeps you updated on where you are.

[XXB4XX]

task killers are so Android 1.6-2.1.. anything froyo and above, don't bother with them, the system handles it's "TRUE" multi-tasking and app co-ordination very well on it's own, especially with 2.3 and now 3.0 on my tab.

The Iconia i've got is still zippy and smooth as with 12apps running in the background (not suspended animation, but actually running).

Love the torrent app on the tab, I get the latest family guy and watch it as soon as it's done lol.. too good.

I've seen a few Desire HD's that have copped the 2.3.3 update and what a difference!, the speed difference is amazing and everyone is cheering about battery life too.

[Alex]

This is in no way a "lets bash apple" post. I think the iPhone is a great phone, and apple have done a great job pushing phone technology forward very quickly.

But...
AppRadio is just a head unit that is using the iPhone's internet connection. The same could be done using a carpc and an android with wireless hotspotting. Even the "apps" are just using apps installed on the AppRadio, and the app on the phone is just passing through calls to the required hardware on the phone, like the GPS and what not.

Don't get me wrong, it's very cool, but there's nothing ground breaking going on there and no reason it couldn't be done on an Android...

Finally.

Thanks Luke.

My intention was not for bashing the Android. Hardly.

In fact, I genuinely wanted to see what people have done to integrate their Android phone as part of an in car entertainment system.

I have done similar, utilising the AV output capabilities, and the AV input capabilities of my pioneer 7" DDIN HU, I have the 7" screen displaying whatever the iphone is. Making the tomtom app much more usable on a larger screen, and having the audio piped through the speakers (utilising the ipod functionality - having music playing) whilst having tomtom command directions and warn of oncoming speed cameras and other alerts.

If anyone hasn't used the tomtom app on iphone (don't know what its like on the Android, but its brilliant on the iphone) Having google seamlessly integrated was the best ever idea. You google where you want to go (much like in a browser) and the address and contact details are seamlessly extracted by tomtom, and next thing you know, you're on your way there.

I agree though, the AppRadio doesn't appear to be all that terrific, and I'm hesitant about buying it myself (along with the fact that it only has a 6.1" screen). What also deters me is the fact that you need to have proprietary pioneer appradio-apps on your iphone to utilise it on the actual HU.

The concept is cool. But with no doubt, in a year or two, after some customer feedback, they'll get that little bit closer to what would be considered the ultimate in car entertainment and informatics.

Perhaps I'm harping on to the wrong audience. You all seem too busy fussing and fapping over OS updates and dual core processors (for bragging rights?), where I'm more focused on harnessing the available technology to put it to some use, whatever the device.

[Xon]

I agree though, the AppRadio doesn't appear to be all that terrific, and I'm hesitant about buying it myself (along with the fact that it only has a 6.1" screen). What also deters me is the fact that you need to have proprietary pioneer appradio-apps on your iphone to utilise it on the actual HU.

You could probably DIY something just as good, if not better, anyway. The problem with the built-in apps is they require their own updates, so as soon as Pioneer lose interest you've got an outdated piece of crap.
I've thought about doing something funky like that myself, but in the end I'd rather spend the money on the car, and the time driving it. I'm rocking 2 broken speakers and a 9 year old head deck at the moment.

People spend too long on the iPhone vs Android debate. They're both solid operating systems, and 99% of the genuinely useful apps are on both anyway.

[XXB4XX]

You wouldn't bother with Tom-Tom on any android phone, as the turn-by-turn navigated google maps trumps any after-market version.

Even so, on the iphone when I had the Tom-Tom app (through Jailbreak) I didn't find it very good at all, very laggy, and took forever to update. There was one that was cheaper and worked a lot better.

When it comes to Sat-Nav, i'm sorry, you cannot beat a designated Sat-nav device. my old school Tom-Tom XL is still the O.G

[Alex]

Brendan.

Despite your harsh connotations, I must disagree.

Since you've had your iphone 3 (POS phone, may I add) they've updated the tomtom software several times.

And I've benchmarked the iphone4 with tomtom against a tomtom XL and my garmin nuvi 310 in the same vehicle.

The tomtom (v1.7 with free downloadable map updates WEEKLY) on the iphone4 trumped the other devices in terms of speed and response.

Also with the added 3G capabilities, the tomtom app stands head and shoulders above anything else on the market in terms of dedicated GPS devices.
The voices are clear, concise, and non robotic (I even added a snoop dogg voice if that tickles your fancy). The only thing it doesn't have is 3D landmark recreation. Big deal. I won't miss a 3D drawing of St Marys Cathedral, I'm sure.




Again, Brendan, lets agree to disagree here. But I will add hearsay WILL NEVER EVER beat real world experience.

[XXB4XX]

:-) see, I make these calls from my personal experience,

I currently own an Xperia Arc and an iPhone 4 <jail broken>

As a tab, sold the ipad and bought the Acer Iconia.

Don't get me wrong, I like what the iPhone brings to the table, but very much prefer my Android handset. Even though I only use the arc sat and sun

[DukeNik'em]

:-) see, I make these calls from my personal experience,

I currently own an Xperia Arc and an iPhone 4 <jail broken>

As a tab, sold the ipad and bought the Acer Iconia.

Don't get me wrong, I like what the iPhone brings to the table, but very much prefer my Android handset. Even though I only use the arc sat and sun

I'm thinking at the moment.

Xperia.

Xperia Playstation.

Blackberry.

Iphone 4.


OR just shite phone coupled with an iPod touch/iPad/Iconia

(Iconia seem to be the leading tablet competitor to iPad)


I just choose depending on my needs, I don't need awesome interwebz (I'm always out of range), or a phone that likes to have sex with my car's head unit. I just need a quick reference device that can store an a55load of documents so I can whip it out and look something up at work in a minute.

To be honest, I've owned top of the line Sony's my whole phone-life, and I've only ever used maybe 10% of the phone's available apps/features. A lot of those apps are time wasting or useless for my lifestyle, and a lot of the features are wanky. I'm really leaning towards getting a tablet, as I can have it at work to study/reference/record and then I can watch movies/play games etc in my off time.

Obviously you guys have different needs to me. Like Amsy needs a screen big enough for the amounts of dog pr0n i send him.

[Tom]

My contract ended about a month ago, so I went out and got a new phone. I didn't want to get an iPhone 4, but I thought about waiting a few months with my 3GS and getting whatever the next iPhone was.

But I discovered the Sony Xperia Arc. On paper it was along the lines of an iPhone 4, but with a better screen (according to lots of comparison reviews). So I thought I'd go for it.

I had heaps of apps and games on my iPhone, but I rarely used most of them.

Pretty happy with the Android phone, and the phone itself. The camera is quite decent.

Only downside I see is the Browsers aren't very good (I think that is the phone itself, the touch response is annoying, I try to click a link and it clicks some other link. I zoom in heaps and click right on it, and it still does it!! I changed browsers from the default to another one, exactly the same. And Facebook is much better on iPhone than the Android one. Even with Friendcaster.

That's my iPhone/Android comments so far.

[Xon]

Tom that is most likely an issue with the screen itself, not Android. I've been very surprised with the accuracy of the touchscreen on my Nexus.
The problem Android faces is it's very much at the mercy of the hardware, which differs a lot from phone to phone. The iPhone doesn't face this problem, since Apple are the only ones using iOS they can control the user experience a lot better than Google can with Android.

[XXB4XX]

Summed up perfectly. It's a double edge sword.

You can stick with apple, where the OS is tailored only For their phone, but you then have a choice of only 1 phone, 1 look, 1 style, 1 shape, 1 spec of hardware and so forth..

With Android, I always strongly suggest looking at a Nexus phone before becoming a flaming fanboi and writing off Android.. With the Nexus the OS and Hardware are coupled specifically for eachother as a base version.

This is where the whole apple Eco-system works well as they don't allow any bloatware from a manufacturer or a carrier.. But on the flip side it also cripples competition and innovation.

Google saw this issue and this threat and capitalised on it, hence why Android now in a matter of 2 years is the most sold / used OS globally.

At the end of the day, choice is great, so whether it's apple or Android, innovation and the consumer is the winner.

Windows OS should be good, but needs at least 2 years to mature, they came to the party way too late, and without any gifts.

I'm holding out for September now for the nexus 3 / Prime phones, as HTC is rumoured to be building one, along with LG and Motorola, so now Vanilla Android will also have a choice of specs and feels, along with a whole new OS which is combining phone and tablet best of's.. Welcome to - Ice Cream Sandwich.. This is specifically being done to end fragmentation issues and google themselves have warned manufacturers that they MUST push updates out within 6 months of a release, and a minimum of 2 years. WIN!!

[ams]

Android-based phones are now out-selling iPhones in Australia.

http://www.smh.com.a...0818-1iz88.html

[Alex]

Cool story Hansel.

Every mofo is holding out for an iPhone 5.

[ams]

That must be like waiting for a HIV test.