[SCSaab]

Don't know if anyone has seen or tried this product yet. Just noticed this linked from Apple's iPod site. It looks like a new product that transmits song, artist, and track info to factory OEM headunits which have text display capability, like the SID does in the 9-3 SS. Unfortuanatley, this means that it must be using RF modulation to also transmit the audio, which I've yet to see done successfully as well as the AUX input. But it is the first product I've seen claiming to transmit song info.

http://www.wire-tunes.com/

 

[josh]

interesting. i suppose it could use the same rf technology as radio stations to broadcast text. keep us posted.

 

[peterchurch]

Don't know if anyone has seen or tried this product yet. Just noticed this linked from Apple's iPod site. It looks like a new product that transmits song, artist, and track info to factory OEM headunits which have text display capability, like the SID does in the 9-3 SS. Unfortuanatley, this means that it must be using RF modulation to also transmit the audio, which I've yet to see done successfully as well as the AUX input. But it is the first product I've seen claiming to transmit song info.

http://www.wire-tunes.com/

Nice find shame it does not seem to have a link to its manual yet I keep geting bounced to Adobe

 

[Viscouse]

OK, here's the skinny. I just gone done talking to Metra Tech Support. I thought it was funny I talked to someone who had no idea what it was, transferred me to Sales, THEY had never heard of it & thought I was making it up, who transferred me to Tech support, who gave me this info:

Short version: it won't work in our cars.

Long version: Yes the .pdf link is busted as it's under construction.
This is designed to be a CD changer (or XM) interface. Not an aux-input, not an FM signal with RDS text (but that's a great idea!).
If you recall, a CD changer input has a couple different signals: sound on 2 channels, remote data control, text data, and probably a couple of others. This product is designed to hook into an ipod, and then emulate a CD changer. Thus, your car thinks it is hooked up to a CD player, and will control it & read it as such.

Metra says it has no plans for European vehicles at the moment (BMW or Saab, or anything with MOST) but is working on a host of others. It has most domestic (Ford, GM) cars up & running.

Great find, but unfortunately a swing & a miss.

 

[AeroSwede]

Hmm I have to check but I am pretty sure my manual says that the Infotainment plus will show the mp3info on SID1 when connected through the AUX-in. AND, my Saab dealer here in Stockholm said that it would as well. I don´t have the aux-in on my current SS MY -04 but I´ll have it along with the NAV inmy upcoming sportcombi, and I actually just bought an Ipod and was hoping to get the mp3 info on the display. Anyone that knows for sure?

 

[Jet 9-3]

Hmm I have to check but I am pretty sure my manual says that the Infotainment plus will show the mp3info on SID1 when connected through the AUX-in. AND, my Saab dealer here in Stockholm said that it would as well. I don´t have the aux-in on my current SS MY -04 but I´ll have it along with the NAV inmy upcoming sportcombi, and I actually just bought an Ipod and was hoping to get the mp3 info on the display. Anyone that knows for sure?

The aux in is just an analog stereo audio signal and has no way of getting the digital text data into the head unit

 

[black_linear]

Can we say invented here on SaabCentral? Do you think that would be possible to develop an iPod interface that transmits RDS data through use of an FM Modulator? Someone has to be working on that.

 

[SCSaab]

Well, it certainly wouldn't be impossible to make it work. The device would read the song,track,artist info from the ipod, bundle it up, and wirelessly send it the same way that an RF modulator would send the audio data through FM. Unfortunatley, for the vast majority of OEM headunits out there (other than saab), they have the ability to use the cd-changer input as a way to do this (also allowing a better way to control the ipod, and send the audio), so why design a product that would have to use RF?

The answer is for people like us who own Saabs with the MOST system! Although I don't know if this is a big enough slice of the market to warrant a new product.

 

[Viscouse]

The answer is for people like us who own Saabs with the MOST system! Although I don't know if this is a big enough slice of the market to warrant a new product.

I keep waiting for it to be a big slice of the market. I think some BMW have it as well.

I think this is the wave of the future of mobile automotive. It's just taking forEVER!

What we really need is a bus decoder/encoder, or a Most decoder/encoder. That way we can just plug it into the system somewhere. :roll:

 

[Aero_adam]

That is being developed at the moment - by a German company. I think that they have a MOST interface available for Mercedes already available.

I posted a link to their site once before and have a copy of the installation guide for the unit in a Merc. It sounds like it is designed to do all good things we want - but it is not released yet - oh yeah, and it costs $299....

 

[Aero_adam]

That is being developed at the moment - by a German company. I think that they have a MOST interface available for Mercedes already available.

I posted a link to their site once before and have a copy of the installation guide for the unit in a Merc. It sounds like it is designed to do all good things we want - but it is not released yet - oh yeah, and it costs $299....

and yes - I have forgotten the name of the company at the moment! (doh)

 

[peterchurch]

That is being developed at the moment - by a German company. I think that they have a MOST interface available for Mercedes already available.

I posted a link to their site once before and have a copy of the installation guide for the unit in a Merc. It sounds like it is designed to do all good things we want - but it is not released yet - oh yeah, and it costs $299....

MB had this figured out last year you can play MP3 cds/dvds on command and now the cars have started to come with the ability to control Ipods from the steering wheel...

To be honest I did not think that this would be such a big deal for Saab

Concidering that you cannot swap out the head unit you would think that theye would have made much more comitment to add on media most of the MB range come with TV tuner / Dvd options on the front stereo display...

 

[Viscouse]

and yes - I have forgotten the name of the company at the moment! (doh)

Is it Dietz? Like this: http://www.saabcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=48582

They decode the signal then re-encode it for use in Becker navigation modules. :evil:

 

[MrSaab95]

Its funny you guys mention this because i was just mentioning this to my friend over the weekend. i was saying how cool it would be to have the ability to read the iPods song info on my display. Now that you can store lyrics on the iPod as notes, you can prolly have the lyrics scroll on the nav screen also. If you use the docking cable and connect that to the main entertainment unit, it would work. I mean you can just have iPod screen displayed as an over-ride to the Saab's display. You would still control everything throught the iPod, but just see it on the car's screen instead. This is the lazy mans way out. rather than building than a complicated interface . . .

 

[josh]

Can we say invented here on SaabCentral? Do you think that would be possible to develop an iPod interface that transmits RDS data through use of an FM Modulator? Someone has to be working on that.

well, if they weren't before they are now :cheesy:. when i posted i thinking it was a great idea. funny that this wasn't even what they're doing. man, i wish i knew how to put something like that together. where's alex_c when we need him?!

 

[peterchurch]

FM transmiters are no use for the UK cars due to them accidentally being covered under the same legislation as pirate radio stations... that are also too dependant on having a clean, unused frequency that does not happen much over here good idea though ...

 

[brunp]

If someone could provide the interfaces for the iPOD and the Saab Stereo system (including key control events, etc). I could probably whip up a quick prototype if someone is willing fork the cost of providing me with the Infotainment II system (the one with the nice screen).

I am a Computer Systems Engineer and if the interface is easy enough to understand, I am capable of doing this.

The only thing is, that one would need to have some form of an interface that would accept stereo controls from an external source.

Damn, if I can write S/W that can control telephones and interpret speech, then this shouldn't be that hard, should it.

Paul

 

[josh]

Hey Paul,

A couple of things: I think it was Entertainment who had detailed specs for the Infotainment system as he helped design it.

I think essentially what the system needs to do is take iPod data and emulate the format of the data supplied by a CD changer (this is what many of the systems do, right?) to send track info back to the Infotainment system. Or, were you thinking of taking the idea of sending the text via RDS format (which would be less efficient)?

Looking forward to hearing some of your ideas on this.

/Josh

 

[brunp]

No.....not through RDS.....
I was thinking of an interface cable in the back of the EHU that would accept the appropriate signals enabling display information to be displayed on the screen.

Paul

 

[josh]

Nice.

I would hoping you would say that

This project has been attempted a number of times here at SC, as you prob know. I think the main issue was trying to decode the signal data coming off the steering wheel (which is digital). This info must also run from the EHU since the system is able to affect an external trunk based Saab CD changer.

/Josh