Car Audio Blog » FM

iPod in Your Car

Car Audio Blogger — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 12:03:43 +0000

It was in 2006 when Apple first launched a handy, handsome looking iPOD to play over 24 hours music without skipping or other problems that was being faced by other music playing devices. Soon iPODs became a great hit and were affordable by each and everyone. Still you see kids to adults wearing headsets and traveling while listening to their favorite music. We love cars and we love iPODs so how was it not possible that we would have come up with something to merge these two to get maximum enjoyment out of our long and tiring drives. Although iPODs are movable and can be connected to your car through a cassette adapter but people prefer keeping two separate iPODs for their personal use and one that is installed in the car.

Philips TransDock for iPod

You have jazzed up your car with a spoiler, tints, brand new rims and a stereo system. To get maximum output on that marvelous stereo system is to compliment it with an iPOD for your car. The handling of music becomes easier while you can enjoy the sound productivity from your new stereo system. Before people used to own one iPOD that was used for personal as well as in the car but now when it has come to a price that is affordable by each and every individual people now own 2-3 iPODs. One of them definitely has to be installed in the cars as most of the use of it comes when you are stuck in jam packed traffic. Your only friend at that time may be a cell phone or an iPOD.

Belkin TuneCast for iPod/iPhone

Luxurious and expensive cars including Audi, Bentley, Buick, BMW, Cadillac, Ford, Chevrolet, Jaguar, Mercedes, Lexus, Rolls Royce and of course Ferrari now comes with built-in iPODs whose menu changing dial is given between the speed dial where you can easily change tracks without any trouble.

Although for all those who do not own a car with a built in iPOD worry no more because you can install an iPOD in your car without moving around or changing too much inside your vehicle. A holder can be installed in your automobile that will hold the iPOD perfectly right next to your stereo system. So instead of choosing CDs and tracks from your stereo system you can directly choose tracks from your iPOD and without a doubt the quality of iPOD music is just as good as listening to a CD. This is complimented by an excellent component stereo system which emphasis on every tune individually. Now as iPODs come with a FM transmission it enables you to make your iPOD the ultimate music player in the car without switching to your stereo system for FM and then back to your iPOD for selected tracks.

Philips DLA97878 FM Transmitter and Car Charger for iPod

The vehicles now being made are iPOD friendly while you can have your iPOD plugged in to your headsets if you do not feel like turning it up. In the late 80s surveys showed that only 4% of the vehicles being made came with an MP3 player or equipment to enable mp3 players but now due to the technology advancement and craze for electrical gadgets more than 75% cars come with either a stereo system that can handle an iPOD or a built in iPOD system. If you are still pondering about installing one in your car then think no further trust me it is going to be a great investment that you can enjoy for a really long time. iPOD in your car will be your friend when it comes to boring drives or jam packed traffics that last for hours.

Basic Tips For Car Antenna Installation

Car Audio Blogger — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 14:38:06 +0000

Although car antennas take five to seven years to be completely useless by becoming rusty or broken but installing an antenna in your car is pretty easy that anyone can do it with some few general tips. Old cars may not have a car antenna but come with an antenna hole that can be used otherwise drilling an antenna hole is also an option. Antennas are needed to be replaced only if they are broken, rusty enough to get an unclear signal or cannot transmit any AM/FM radio stations. In luxurious cars like BMW, Rolls Royce or Lexus it is best to get a professional help while other cars can be installed with an antenna by yourself.

Car Antenna

The importance of car antenna is known to people who do not have one. The main source of entertainment in your car is live FM/AM radio without that you are going to hate long drives and jam packed traffic. Now mostly cars come up with at least an antenna hole if there is not one but you can drill in to make an antenna hole yourself. The general tips needed to install a car antenna start with of course taking out the old one first carefully making sure you do not damage or cut any of the wires. Do not jump to conclusions either a little disturbance in the radio signals does not mean you need a new antenna. Consider changing it only if it is broken, rusty or damaged by some kind of accident.

Now if you have a car which has a can antenna hole but no antenna then what you can do it start by using the Master Sheet of the car to find out the interior wiring and holes. Do not pass the antenna wire through other wiring as the reception of it will be affected. In case of an antenna that came built-in from the factory is to remove the old antenna along with the old wiring. The wires can be pulled out easily from the hole while inserting a new wire requires another personвЂ™s help to get it in the right hole. After that the antenna will come in contact with the exposed hole whereas you can tighten it with a nut to avoid it from falling down.

Car FM Antenna

For installing car antenna mounted between your windshield and front door or on the roof then more or less the same kind of technique is used as mentioned for fender-mount antenna. The wiring of mounted antennas goes till the kick panel area so you would need to remove the kick-panel trim to reach the wires and change them. As for cars that come without a car antenna hole you can do a little research and find out the same location of the cars of the same model. Once you have chosen a location make sure the area under the marked hole is clear. Drill in 1/16″ under the desired location and follow the above steps for installing wires in your car interior.

The basic tips for installing a car antenna are here but for more details and professional help you can consult the manufacturers of your car or a car repairing shop. In my experience you may survive without AM/FM radio for a couple of months may be an year as well but one day or the other you are going to realize how important it is to have live radio in your cars to pass that awful jam packed traffic or boring drives to your work or back home everyday. I believe radio stations are more entertaining than CDs or cassettes as every station is available for sports, news, music, weather etc providing everyone with something.

Motorola T605 Bluetooth Hands-free System

Car Audio Blogger — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 03:52:36 +0000

Motorola Bluetooth Automotive Music & Hands-free System T605
Leveraging Bluetooth hands-free and stereo profiles, the Motorola T605 offers one seamless solution that provides access to digital music and phone calls directly through your carвЂ™s sound system. Enabling each device to be in tune with the other, the Motorola T605 is designed to pause the music when a call comes in and resume the music when the call ends.

The Motorola BluetoothВ® Automotive Music & Hands-free System T605 adds digital music and calls via BluetoothВ® wireless technology to the car’s sound system for a great experience. Hands free calling optimized for the car with digital signal processing for noise reduction, plus volume goes up as background noise increases. The Motorola T605 also integrates streaming music via BluetoothВ® wireless technology, or plug in an MP3 player. Professional installation and adapter harness are sold separately and are recommended for a customized integration with your car sound system that looks as good as it sounds.

Wired, 3.5mm stereo audio input
Line-Level, RCA audio output for music integration into vehicle entertainment system
8pin connection for call audio integration through 3rd party vehicle handsfree adapter harnesses
Speaker level and line-level handsfree audio output
Glowing blue indicator light
Automatic volume. Volume goes up as background noise increases
Advanced Audio Distribution, and Audio Video Remote Control profiles supported

Professional installation and adapter harness are sold separately and are required for a customized integration with your carвЂ™s sound system that looks as good as it sounds. Start your engine – youвЂ™re ready to roll with the Motorola T605!

Bluetooth wireless technology 2.0
Clear sound with latest echo and noise cancellation technology
Volume goes up as background noise increases
Intuitive user interface module
Convenient voice dialing (requires mobile phone with voice tag capability)
3.5mm stereo port for wired music player connection
No charging necessary
Use speaker or car sound system to take calls
Bluetooth music mutes when calls come in and resumes when the call ends*
Bluetooth stereo supports Advanced Audio Distribution Profile (A2DP) and Audio
Video Remote Control Profile (AVRCP)

Requires professional installation!

More info: Direct.motorola.com

Venturi Mini – Bluetooth handsfree kit meets MP3 streaming jukebox, through any FM car stereo

Car Audio Blogger — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 12:41:05 +0000

Developed by NextGen Venturi, the Venturi Mini is specifically designed to work with music phones and Bluetooth-equipped MP3 players. Boasting full support for Bluetooth 2.0+EDR and A2DP, the Venturi Mini can relay this sound information – both in terms of voice calls and streaming music – through its integrated digital FM transmitter. The transmitter also has RDBS technology for displaying information on your car’s radio screen, including contacts, device menus, and other pertinent data.

The Venturi Mini is a new and unique product combining BluetoothВ® Music streaming with Hands-Free calling and USB style charging. The integrated FM RDS Transmitter streams stereo audio through the in-car sound system for music playback and hands-free. The Venturi Mini requires ZERO INSTALL and simply connects to the cigarette lighter socket in the vehicle making it easily transportable.

The integrated OLED display and high performance microphone enables high quality crystal clear hands-free with the received audio coming through the in car speakers.

Music Streaming

Music can be streamed from a mobile phone using the Bluetooth A2DP profile or a portable music player can be connected via Bluetooth A2DP or directly through the audio in stereo jack.

Hands-Free Bluetooth Audio and Phonebook

Providing high quality audio via the car speakers and crystal clear voice via built-in microphone as well as remote control of your phonebook with dialing activation from the smart interface on the Venturi Mini.

BluetoothВ® Wireless Technology

Featuring Bluetooth v2.0 & state of the art DSP technology for clear hands-free audio and advanced music streaming from your Bluetooth enabled phone or portable music player via smart interface on the Venturi Mini…

FM Transmitter with RDS/RBDS

Sends caller ID and other information to the car radio display for simple and easy call management. The phonebook contents are also displayed on the car radio display along with call status all controlled via smart interface on the Venturi Mini.

Audio In and Out

For complete flexibility the Venturi Mini allows you to connect any device to the audio-in and supplies audio-out for a direct connection to the vehicle stereo system or other audio devices.

Built In Charger

To keep your phone battery and other devices fully charged on the move with the built in 5V, 500mA USB style charger. (Adapter cables not supplied)

It’s also quite notable that the Venturi Mini can pair with up to four devices at the same time, meaning you can have your MP3 player blasting tunes through while the your phone is connected for a call back home. The standard USB style 5v port provides an area where you can simultaneously charge your devices too. Regular MP3 players an make use of the audio-in socket. If your car’s stereo has an aux-in jack, you can make use of the audio-out on the Venturi Mini for a wired connection too. That’s probably better quality than FM anyways.

Look for the Venturi Mini to ship next month with an MSRP of $129.

Motorola ROKR T505

Car Audio Blogger — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 23:02:23 +0000

Motorola ROKR T505 Bluetooth In-Car Speakerphone and Digital FM Transmitter Announced.

Motorola, Inc. (NYSE: MOT) is dialing up the experience of hands-free driving with the introduction of the MOTOROKR T505 BluetoothВ® In-Car Speakerphone and Digital FM Transmitter, its first road-ready, music-oriented ROKR accessory and the latest addition to its portfolio of in-car solutions. The MOTOROKR T505 enables consumers to connect a compatible Bluetooth enabled phoneв„– to the car sound system and enjoy hands-free calling and their own personal music collection in outstanding stereo sound.

Motorola will unveil its newest Bluetooth automotive accessory here at the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) show, the premiere automotive specialty products trade event.

The T505 is extremely portable and requires no wires or installation. Drivers simply clip the device to a car’s visor and pair the T505 using Motorola’s EasyPairв„ў technology to a compatible Bluetooth device. When the T505 is connected to a stereo Bluetooth phone, such as a MOTORAZR² or MOTOROKR Z6, or an MP3 player, calls and music are streamed wirelessly with the perfectly-tuned clarity and wide-ranging volume of a car stereo. Drivers with standard Bluetooth phones can use the T505 to make and take their calls over the car stereo. And when the ride’s over, the T505 can be easily unhooked and taken to another car for the next trip.

“Today’s drivers demand convenience and connectivity without missing a beat to what’s important to them – their calls and their music,” said Jason Few, corporate vice president, Motorola, Inc. “We’re excited to introduce a portable, music-optimized ROKR to the car to enhance the mobile experience while consumers are on the road.”

The T505 also features StationFinderв„ў, a breakthrough technology that announces where the best FM connection can be found on the user’s car radio. When calls come in, the T505 automatically mutes the music and audibly announces the Caller-ID², so drivers can keep their eyes on the road. Cutting-edge echo and noise reduction technology and a built-in microphone and 2-watt speaker also ensure that drivers have outstanding sound and zero static throughout their ride.