I'm talking about the 90% of the world who doesn't have a fancy new car with built-in self-aware factory gizmos that mostly sucks anyway.
Those of us with older cars with 'traditional' 1 DIN (think traditional car stereo size) or 2 DIN (think the size of a nexus 7 turned sideways) panels and a pretty 'dumb' car.
Since this is an android forum and the people here probably believe this is the best UI going (particularly with custom ROMs) for car integration, I'm curious what everyone is using.
I really think the appradio 2 is a great option. Built in GPS antenna, car microphone and Pioneer's proven audio capabilities and a fantastic little app like ARliberator to push your Android screen to the head unit makes this a virtual no-brainer.
Its a drop-in $100 install at probably any best buy or car installation shop in the country (and easy to install yourself) as opposed to all the crazy stuff you have to buy to get a N7 to function as a head unit.
You can literally turn any old vehicle into a virtual state of the art car with the majority of the features in brand new cars that you'll pay a couple thousand for (built in GPS, car phone, HD radio, etc.) but you get the android UI for free! don't like something? just download a new app and GO.
So..any suggestions for a category killer here other than the appradio? It can even hook into your car rearview camera (if you choose to install one)
Is there a compelling argument for the N7 over the appradio?
Is there anything else out there that comes remotely close in functionality without having to buy an i(crap)phone?
Related
Hi Everyone
So I'm looking to move out of the stone age and get a receiver unit for my car that has BT and some other bells and whistles if not too costly. My first problem is that when I look on manufacturers' websites, none of them have the MoPho on their compatibility lists. Maybe it's just an oversight, I don't know.
Does anyone out there have a stereo in their car that rocks the Photon? I'm open to suggestions. I see some are out that even have more Android control. Not sure what I'm looking for overall, but I definitely can't stomach becoming an Apple Fanboy. Thanks guys.
Mine is just a basic Sony receiver with BT, USB, and aux port and it works with the photon just fine. On the box it says it was for iphone /iPod and nowhere on the site, manual, or box does it say anything about android or photon. It was on sell at best buy for like 80 bucks from 110.
Sent from my MB855 using XDA
I just bought and installed a JVC with built-in Bluetooth, and it works great. Can control Pandora through the receiver, and can skip tracks in Google Play Music through the receiver. It also rings through the speakers and shows the caller's number on the receiver's display. I have yet to find anything it says it can do that turns out not to be compatible with the Photon. It was $139.99 on Crutchfield, and they threw in all the installation materials for free (dash kit, wiring harness, antenna adapter, and instructions). Best Buy wanted to charge me WAY too much for all that and installation, so I told them to screw off and did it myself.
Just as others said, any with BT built in should be ok. I didnt want to spend 160 though. I got a jvc w/ front usb and aux. And ipod controller for 90. Im cool with it.
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Pioneer AVH-P5200BT DVD Player with Cardock (that I dont use most of the time) Works PERFECT with voice dialing, receiving calls. My only initial problem, I got it installed at BestBuy and it's illegal in PA to drive and watch DVD unless Parking Brake is applied. Quick trip to the hood....The rear player works with it too!!!
This is a tough call if you ask me. The screen is up when I use radio, to make calls, ect. How do you know, expecially if I tilt up some, what I'm doing?
Oh, originally $700.00 but I got off e-bay for $310.00.
I've installed a Parrot Asteroid (digital media head unit with hands free calling) in my wife's VW Passat and think it might be one of the best purchases I've made this year. Install on the Passat (2001.5) was almost plug and play. The only change I had to make was switching Battery and ACC on harness. The antenna adapter (unpowered) is a standard item and was available from a local source.
With CM9 (nightly 0508 currently) USB and Bluetooth tethering work.
Contacts are shared with the Asteroid and voice dialing is accurate (the Parrot seems to grok what I am saying).
Music selection (media on SDHC card in Parrot) via voice is failrly accurate but I have noticed a few inaccurate responses.
Hands-free calling is crystal clear and the music quality is awesome.
Some have reported buggy or defective units, but I have had no trouble with it over the last week with my I777. We'll see what happens with my wife's iPhone...
I am considering same setup into my 2004 Passat. Thanks for posting the picture, that certainly clears my concerns about how does it look in the car as the console is same as yours.
How is sound compared to original VW radio you had before?
Do you mind if I ask you to share with us what components went into your install beside of course the Asteroid? Especially what adapter for the wiring harness you used.
I am using (primarily) Galaxy Nexus on CM9, so I'm pretty confident hooking the Asteroid to the phone shouldn't be a problem. Thanks in advance!
Edit: forgot to ask about button backlight - from what I see on the Internet it seems to be white, is it adjustable so it can be made to match the OEM backlight on the Passat (red)?
leobg said:
I am considering same setup into my 2004 Passat. Thanks for posting the picture, that certainly clears my concerns about how does it look in the car as the console is same as yours.
How is sound compared to original VW radio you had before?
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Click to collapse
In my opinion (these things being subjective), the sound is excellent. Like most Android devices, the Asteroid has a built in equalizer and other sound tweaks. Much better than stock.
Do you mind if I ask you to share with us what components went into your install beside of course the Asteroid? Especially what adapter for the wiring harness you used.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe all B5.5 Passats use a ISO connector for the stock stereo. The included Parrot wiring harness adapter works out of the box. I only had to flip Battery and Switched Power (ACC). The Parrot adapter is designed to allow quick changes to these leads and this is documented in the included instructions. The only thing I had to buy was the antenna adapter. I picked that up for about $15 US. I used the unpowered version.
I am using (primarily) Galaxy Nexus on CM9, so I'm pretty confident hooking the Asteroid to the phone shouldn't be a problem. Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
CM9 works quite nicely with the Parrot with one caveat. Bluetooth audio was great (both music and hands free calling). No problems with pairing so far. I tried connecting my SGS2 USB storage to the Parrot but it is not recognizing the SGS2 mass storage (micro SD card). This is not a show stopper for me as I have a 32GB SDHC card installed in the Asteroid.
Edit: forgot to ask about button backlight - from what I see on the Internet it seems to be white, is it adjustable so it can be made to match the OEM backlight on the Passat (red)?
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Click to collapse
No such luck from what I have seen. You have have a choice of white, white, or white. You can adjust the intensity of control backlight and LCD backlight for 'Day' and 'Night' modes. 'Day' and 'Night' modes are toggled by a long press on the 'Parrot' button.
The Asteroid is not perfect but it seems to be the only device of its kind at the moment. I am surprised that more car stereo companies are not leveraging Android into their equipment lineup. Both OEM and aftermarket vendors seem to be utterly clueless when it comes to emerging technologies. Who uses CD (or for that matter DVD's) anymore?
When we bought our Passat I was shocked and appalled that the head unit had a CASSETTE deck! There was a CD changer in the trunk but that meant pulling over to change CD's. Clueless, utterly clueless...
In any case, good luck. The install is pretty easy. Do some research on some of the issues some seem to experience with the Asteroid. I have not seen any major problems on firmware 1.5 as yet but your mileage may vary.
*Edit: One other thing -- the Asteroid does not fit flush with the dash like the stock head unit. It sticks out approximately 1/4 inch. Aside from doing major work to modify the dash, I could not think of any way to make the Parrot fit flush. It does not bother me, but it may pose aesthetic issues for you. I actually have grown to like it. It makes finding controls easy without taking my eyes off the road.
Oh -- and one last thing. This 38 second video is priceless for removing the stock head unit.
http://youtu.be/KNSYBSGzUuQ
One last edit -- here is the antenna adapter. $7 through Amazon.
http://goo.gl/39rIO
Thanks a bunch!! So your 2001.5 came with the singe DIN unit. B5.5's 2002 onward ship with double DIN unit, so I would need to find a tray to place in (and fill up the gap) which will be very handy as I could keep the phone (or other junk in there. I've heard Parrot is coming up with a double din unit with slightly extended functionality: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/08/parrot-asteroid-ck-asteroid-nav-asteroid-2din-infotainment-sys/. They mention late 2012 availability, wondering if I want to hold my horses for that one. Since it doesn't have physical buttons to require backlight, there won't be an issue with the look, but I like the buttons and especially the rotary ones, so this (for me) is as disadvantage as much as advantage. And probably the cost will double. Though integrated Google maps navigation would be terrific! Decisions, decisions...!
Yeah. The stock unit was single DIN. I believe you can buy the pocket if you have a double DIN OEM head unit and want to install a single DIN.
I like having physical controls -- perhaps I am getting old. The lack of apps does not particularly distress me.
I'd like to use the Parrot UNIKA steering controls interface but it does not look like B5.5 Passat is supported yet.
By the way, I'm listening to one of your (Canadian) exports today -- a band by the name of Elliott Brood from Toronto. Not bad for Canadian hacks. ;-)
http://www.elliottbrood.ca/
All the best,
Edward
Does anyone have any experience/recommendations for an Android-based car stereo head unit? My old stereo has just died, so I am interested in what people think of the currently available ones. I have a double din space.
eBay seems to have several available that are similar to this: http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/15/ca-fi-is-an-aftermarket-android-car-stereo-that-wont-fit-in-you/
There are ones where the Android part is essentially a separate tablet (probably not what I'm after, judging by the videos) http://www.erisin.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=253
Parrot make this single-din stereo: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Parrot-Aste...?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1343930713&sr=1-24
There are no doubt many others too. Prices seem to be in the £200 - £280 range which is about my limit.
Nobody has any experience of these or opinions at all?
I think I'm leaning towards the Parrot as it's rootable, and the single-din size is more likely to fit whatever car I get after my current one.
Bump for this thread. I just recently thought about getting into one of these units too, my only concern is how "locked down" they would be in terms of getting rid of their default launchers and crap they have. I basically want a way to just have android by itself running on the car - I can get apps for just about everything else. Ideally I want a clone of my phone on the car that would sync with my phone. Or better yet, simply a way to have a "remote display" for my phone. That way, anything I'm doing on the car side of things would be the same on my phone, like a received email, new internet bookmark, or something like that.
~T.J.
I just picked up a "Road Cyberman" from China Jiaho (actually they call it something else, but it's the same as Chinavasion's Road Cyberman, except $100 cheaper).
It's running Gingerbread 2.3.5 and proving difficult to root. No adb on the usb (even with debug option), no google apps (although I found some apks that sort of work) and no adb wireless available.
The devices works fine, but I would like to have a little bit more control over it.
I've tried Gingerbreak and the other get root apks, but no luck so far.
Yeah, I have seen a lot of those units, but I kind of changed my mind. I have recently been looking into doing something like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Q-UXDi3dm3U
I have been following that company for a while, and they just recently released that video and are taking pre-orders for the new board. My biggest hold up at this point is that I would like to use a single DIN stereo for the "amp" by running the audio from their device into the aux input of my existing stereo. I need to find room to mount both the double DIN screen and a custom spot for the single DIN stereo I already have. I would then have the choice of using the stereo without plugging in the phone if I didn't want to for whatever reason. Alternatively, if I can find a good FM tuner app for my phone and a good customizable dock mode, I could eliminate the stock stereo and just run the inputs into a standard automotive 4 channel amp. This of course means you get nothing for a car stereo unless you connect the phone though, unlike the other plan.
Of course, another thought I had was getting a used double DIN touch screen DVD player and using their interface board to convert it to run the Android screen through it, then run the audio straight into the aux input of the touch screen DVD player. That way you have the ability to use the system "as is" out of the box, OR run the Android device through the screen. I think this is the best option, but it also takes the most money since you have the expense of the used double DIN touch screen unit first. I also wonder about picture quality and touch screen sensitivity with the built in touch screens on those units.
Anyway, just food for thought!
~T.J.
EDIT: One of the other hold ups is the calling. I would like to use an external mic and have audio come through the car speakers, currently using that board you are still calling through the device, thus you would need a Bluetooth headset from my understanding. I would like to avoid that if possible also. This is another good reason to go with the double DIN stereo since some of those support Bluetooth calling already and you could probably make/receive calls that way completely hands free.
EDIT #2: If you were into car monitoring and such also, you could easily get a bluetooth OBD interface and run the software on the phone (such as torque) so you could display live data from your car on your dash also. Something like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ay-ZvTn3fLo&t=45s
I picked up one of these after my buddy sent me this thread. It's got the power, but needs a root bad. Wish I knew how to find root for an Android device.
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17228
After using this for a few weeks I just wanted to report my experience using it with the Note 3.
My brother has the similar Belkin kit and it is absolutely TERRIBLE. It flashes red and refuses to connect to anything for days at a time then seemingly works for a month or two, the speakerphone is absolutely unusable, the precise timing required to use the ONE button for Play, Pause, and Next Track is maddeningly difficult (leaves you blindly wondering if it is paused, resumed, or skipped), and it is simply too expensive.
I am happy to say that I didn't have any of those issues with the Kinivo kit. It sticks with a double-sided sticky foam disc instead of the two-part magnetic base that the Belkin uses but I don't plan to move it around and it's not like Belkin included two bases anyway. With it stuck solidly on the dash, I kinda wish it had a twist to skip function but the dedicated buttons are certainly good enough for that! The wireless connection is solid and the controls feel/work great. I have no idea if it is using Apt-X or not but it supposedly supports it for higher-quality A2DP streaming over Bluetooth (as does the Note 3). The quality sounds much better but that could just be my car having better speakers compared to my brother (I am no audiophile).
Unlike the Belkin, it auto-connects when you start the car. That would be fine if it didn't cause the phone to also auto-answer! Further compounding it is the fact that it comes on even when your stereo is off so you may have no idea that it grabbed the call (you can't hear the caller without powering on and switching inputs). Obviously, there's no easy way for them to integrate with your OEM stereo to only operate when the stereo is on and AUX input is selected, which is the drawback to having an adapter kit. I don't know if the auto-answering is bad behavior on Samsung's part or if it does that with every phone so I'll have to test. There have been times leaving work with my ringer silenced when it would answer a call I didn't even know was incoming and then I drive around completely unaware that someone can hear everything going on in the car. Galaxy Charging Light reports 1800mAH charge rate through the built-in USB port, which is as fast a my phone charges from the stock 2-amp wall plug, but I do wish it had a second USB port or was de-coupled so that you could bring your own. The Belkin does have a smaller plug but they both occupy the whole power socket, they both only have one available USB port, and they both are permanently wired for their own power.
Speakerphone is a million times better than the crappy Belkin unit. I'd barely be exaggerating to say that the Belkin is completely unusable for phone calls while driving. This actually WORKS. I am somewhat hard of hearing which is why I'm no audiophile, but this was perfectly adequate.
There is no battery and thus no need to charge it. It really came down to the Belkin and Kinivo for me purely because I didn't want one of those rechargeable units. A significant number of users reported feedback issues when charging in many vehicles and I don't want to deal with worn batteries. While I can't confirm that wired units are immune to this, I didn't have that issue in my 2011 Corolla or my brother's 2009 Aveo. People act like you just have to suck it up and buy the fix (ground loop isolator) if you have this problem but I ask "why can't it be built-in?" If possible, I expect that.
I hope I can fix the auto-answer problem with an Xposed tweak or something. All in all, I am very happy with it and I want to make sure none of you waste your money on the terrible Belkin version! I decided on this back when it and the Belkin kit were the only two similar options but I see a new "iClever" Bluetooth 4.0 kit has showed up on the market. It costs less, includes a dual-port charger (occupies one port but at least it's de-coupled so you can BYO), doesn't mention Apt-X,
but I'd love to hear from anyone with experience with it.
Kinivo BTC450 kit:
http://www.amazon.com/Kinivo-BTC450...9545&sr=8-1&keywords=Kinivo+Bluetooth+car+kit
Belkin kit:
http://www.amazon.com/Bluetooth-Han...r=8-2-fkmr0&keywords=Kinivo+Bluetooth+car+kit
iClever Himbox HB01 kit:
http://www.amazon.com/iClever-Bluet...ncluded/dp/tech-data/B00GJFGDUQ/ref=de_a_smtd
I'm thinking about upgrading my car stereo and I'm looking a couple of different options. I definitely want some type of GPS and video.
One option is to purchase a car stereo with GPS navigation such as the Kenwood stereos. These have built-in Garmin but the car stereo interface is awful and they are slow, laggy, and unresponsive.
The other option I'm considering is using an AppRadio3 and using "AR Unchained" to mirror my Android phone (Nexus 5) to the car stereo. In theory this option has a LOT of advantages because you can use Google Maps (and anything else) and have full control right on the 7" touchscreen. However, it seems like it's not without problems and you need to connect bluetooth/hdmi in a specific order, etc. I'm also unsure how steering wheel controls work.
Anyways... does anybody have any opinions or advice to give me on this?
Right now I'm primarily considering the Kenwood DNX891HD ($1199.99) and the AppRadio3 ($329.99). That's a huge difference in price and two completely different approaches to the car stereo...