In 2006 40 per cent of new US cars will come with in-car iPod integration -is the loyal car radio dead? Catherine Cronin reports
With some 42 million iPod music players sold so far, car companies are trying to find solutions to integrate them with in-car music systems.
It's thought that some 40 per cent of this year's new cars in the US will allow fairly advanced iPod integration.
Here in Ireland, car marques like Mercedes, BMW, Volvo, and Fiat, facilitate iPod playback and several more are due to offer it over the coming months. Some solutions are simple. Others, such as Volvo, are fully-integrated, allowing you to control the iPod menu from the stereo or steering wheel controls.
Some are standard or are optional extras on new models, others are retrofitted by car dealers to models back a few years. Several aftermarket stereo makers also sell adapters and appliances to do similar things through car audio shops, audio suppliers, or the Apple Store here in Ireland.
Cars with cassette decks can use a low-tech cassette adapter that connects to the iPod's headphone jack. It costs about €24.90 from the Apple Shop.
As the iPod is working from its own battery, it needs re-charging after a four-hour drive. Car stereos with an auxiliary input - the little hole in the front or rear-side of the stereo - make it fairly easy to listen to the iPod on the move. These take an RCA cable or headphone lead which, when connected to the iPod, routes its music through the speakers.
These auxiliary inputs are on many aftermarket stereos but are rare in cars with own-brand moulded-in stereos. However, car makers are reconsidering the 'aux in' point and some, like BMW, are incorporating it in the armrest of new cars, although it's a retrofitted optional extra on the Mini for €400.
VW will be offering it as an optional extra in new cars from mid-March. Without these inputs, aftermarket adapters and FM modulators like Denison icelink units are available. They consist of a small control box connected to a cradle, like the mobile phone cradle. The dash cradle holds and charges the iPod while the control box uses the multi-disc CD changer port at the back of the stereo.
Denison units are available for most stereos and range from €140 to €280 fitted, according to auto-shop Halfords and John Nolan of Car Alarm & Audio systems.
However, most young drivers opt to upgrade their existing car stereos to new iPod-ready ones altogether, says Ray Brennan, manager of Halfords in Carrickmines, Co Dublin. "These allow you control the iPod through the stereo itself. Made by Alpine, Sony, Pioneer and the like, they are generally only an option when the stereo is removable.
"Alpine's iPod Pack comprises a stereo and an adapter which is wired into the glove-box where the iPod slots in. It costs €300 and we fit it for free," says Brennan. With the iPod out of sight and charging, the driver can search the playlists from the stereo screen. iPod integration packs can range from the basic to the very sophisticated, like Clarion's new multi-media system, which replicates the iPod's menu on its touch-screen and retails for over €1,200. "From the aftermarket products that we supply, in terms of sound quality and control, the integrated iPod packs are the best," says Brennan.
For the moment though, it's 'one-up' for Apple boss, Mr Jobs. If your car facilitates it, you will probably want the iPod. If you have the iPod or other MP3, you will want in-car playback. The Apple genius who, according to CNN-Money, drives an SL55 AMG and an S Class, will likely afford many more for years to come.