iPhone with Turn by Turn and IO Play BT?

3GGG

Now that we have Turn by Turn apps for the iPhone, I am looking at integrating my iPhone 3GS into my vehicle.

I have been looking at the IO Play Bluetooth system. I know that it had problems with pre iPhone OS 3.0 audio streaming, but Apple's implementation of A2DP in 3.0 has fixed this AFAIK.

My question is how this would all work in reality?

IO Play appears to auto switch between your car's radio and the IO Play amplifier. So for example if a phone call comes in your radio cuts out and the call be taken hands free via the IO Play mic and your car speakers.

Similarly if you play some music from your iPhone, the IO Play will take over.

The real question is how will this work with turn by turn? - If I am listening to my car radio, and have turn by turn navigation running on the iphone (but not playing any iPod music), will I only get silence and the voice navigation, or will I still be able to listen to the radio, with it interrupted only when a voice navigation is played? (This would be the preferred method)

Does anyone know, and has anyone tried?

3GGG · Posted: Mon Jul 20, 2009 10:41 am Post subject:

I just found out the answer and a whole lot more from mikealder's review on this site! - sorry I should have searched more before asking. Embarassed

mikealder · Posted: Mon Jul 20, 2009 4:21 pm Post subject:

I hope you found the answers you need, if you have the car deck playing music/ radio then the iO-Play will cut the music and the navigation instruction comes through the car speakers, of set the iPOD going on the iPhone and then the music from that comes from the car speakers as well as the spoken instructions. A phone call will over ride all other music/ nav instructions and the conversation can be heard through the car speakers.

I have had no issues with poor sound quality or audio dropping out - great gadget for the car - Mike

3GGG · Posted: Mon Jul 20, 2009 5:41 pm Post subject:

Thanks for that Mike, I have ordered one today!

3GGG · Posted: Sat Jul 25, 2009 10:03 am Post subject:

Just a small update from me on what I have been doing with the iPhone and BT in the car(s).

I ordered the IO PLAY unit for my car (a MINI Cooper) and then spotted an IO TALK on eBay at a good price (£41 plus carriage), so got one of those for the wife's Seat Ibiza.

So far I have only had time to fit the IO TALK in the Seat Ibiza. It was relatively easy to fit, once I got the DIN Radio removal keys from Halfords.

Just a matter of stuffing the IOTalk box with cable harness down the back of the space beneath the radio and feed in the microphone through the slots in the cubby box below the radio, then feeding it under the glove compartment and up behind the door rubber seals and then behind the roof lining to the sun visor.

The control unit (which with the IOTALK is wireless, having its own 3V lithium battery inside) just sticks on the dashboard with sticky foam pad.

It paired up to my wife's old Nokia phone and her iPod Touch (with IO BT adaptor). Track forward, back controls all work with the iPod Touch.

I also tried my iPhone 3GS with built-in BT and that works fine, though you can't use the track forward/back as that is not yet supported by Apple with their built-in BT Confused

The main difference between the IO TALK and the IO PLAY units apart from the control units, is that the IO Talk just uses the front 2 speakers, while the IO PLAY can use 4 speakers in the car for audio streaming.

On balance, the smaller, cheaper, easier to install IO TALK would probably have done for my car as well. However I now have the IO PLAY and have to fit it, a job for today.

mikealder · Posted: Sat Jul 25, 2009 10:10 am Post subject:

If you have a digital camera why not grab a few images of the iO-Talk installation and/ or your iO-Play install, if you don't know how to add them to your post e-mail them to me and I will add them to your post - use my e-mail button below this post to get a current working address - Mike

3GGG · Posted: Sat Jul 25, 2009 10:21 am Post subject:

Mike, I should have done that at the time but as you probably know when working on your spouse's car, speed is of the essence!

She is away in the car just now, hopefully enjoying the iPod music.

I will take a photo of the installed unit when she returns.

I also will try to take some photos of the more complicated install of my IO PLAY unit in my own car, which I am about to start after a stiff cup of coffee.

3GGG · Posted: Sat Jul 25, 2009 10:41 pm Post subject:

This is the IO TALK in the Seat Ibiza. Note the simple wireless controller between the vents.

3GGG · Posted: Sat Jul 25, 2009 10:50 pm Post subject: Mini Cooper install of IO PLAY

Took all day, but I finally got the IO PLAY installed in my car.

Very tricky because space is tight, even for the SOT cables that were needed to convert from the BMW roundpin connector to ISO.

I also had a major problem when I broke the antenna connector on the radio and had to solder in a patch lead to get going again. Sad

This was my fault, but it was caused by trying to jam everything in.

Here are the parts I used:

Here is my existing Arkon mount which I originally installed in 2002 for my iPAQ, and has also been used with a TomTom One.

I managed to get the IO orange boxes tyrapped in behind the driver's knee bolster/shelf which I removed.

The controller and microphone

Finished! - I am totally knackered though.

mikealder · Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2009 10:44 am Post subject:

Very neat, I was fortunate as the behind the dash in the V70 is not short on space, what do you think of the unit now its in - Mike

3GGG · Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2009 11:00 am Post subject:

I have not had a try to use it in earnest yet Mike, but my wife is very pleased with the IO talk in her car, though she doesn't use an iPhone or SatNav.

I am having a minor panic this morning because I didn't connect any of the brown mute wires in the harnesses in the Mini. I wonder if perhaps I should have, as other wise the relays in the IO Play just leave the radio playing into an open circuit when the phone or MP3 are playing and the radio is still on.

Mike, did you do anything with the brown mute wires?

I also read somewhere about changing the mode of the IO Play from 'default' to 'iPhone', on the IO Talk this is done from the menu button and the unit actually gives spoken responses when you change modes and so on, unlike the 'mute' IO Play.

At first I thought the IO Play was faulty because it didn't announce that it was ready when I turned on the ignition, having read the manual I realise that it uses the lights on the controller to indicate when it is connected and so on.

The only other problem I need to address is that the plug going into the IO Play unit from the radio is under a little tension and sometimes I get a bad connection and lose audio in one speaker or get low volume. If I wiggle the connector it is OK again. Fortunately I can get access to that connector without dismantling everything again.

3GGG · Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2009 11:05 am Post subject:

It wasn't so neat when I was installing it Mike!

SSR · Frequent Visitor Joined: May 26, 2005 Posts: 432

Good job!

I had an iO PLAY "professionally" installed on my Focus, and ended up wishing I'd done it myself. The installers scratched the fascia several times, and then broke the wire to the controller by crushing it when they reseated the stereo.

When it didn't work after the install I was told it was due to the car stereo needing the unlock code, but once home that was not the case. I was so annoyed I went and bought the extraction tools from Halfords (£5 for two bent bits of wire!) and checked.

(Avoid Sound Evolution of Harrow!)

I got a free controller from the UK distributors of the iO PLAY, when I explained what had happened, which was very kind of them. Although it did take a couple of chases over 2 weeks before the controller turned up. Unfortunately it didn't come with the strong double sided fixer, so I need to find an alternative. The basic stuff from a craft shop isn't man enough.

Thankfully now it's all working, and I'm impressed. Just waiting to see if TomTom come through with the goods for the iPhone (Live Services *and* custom PoI's would rock). If so I can eliminate the HTC Diamond I still use with TomTom, and swap over the Brodit clip I'm currently using it with as well.

mikealder · Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2009 11:29 am Post subject:

3GGG · Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2009 11:31 am Post subject:

Sorry to hear about the botched job, that would be my fear if I got some place to install it. You do tend to take a lot more care yourself and try to avoid any damage, though as I know from bitter experience it is very easy to break something (like my antenna socket) - damm damm damm. I also scratched a bit of the facia but only I knew it was there, but I touched it up later and it is not noticeable, except to me of course, but that is the penalty of doing it yourself...

Unfortunately, getting a proper job done is very much a gamble, unless you have a really good recommendation for some place's workmanship and knowledge. I object to paying a 'pro' for a job that I could have made less of a mess of myself as a rank amateur.

Car's are the most awful things to work on, everything is plastic and clips that are easily broken, I wouldn't like to have to work on them for a living.

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