We expect quite a few subtle improvements with music and mobile phone integration over the years with the next MINI. However we’ve never really heard of specifics until a recent Autoweek article. Here’s the excerpt of interest:
>BMW spokesman Frank Schloeder says the carmaker’s target is to have a standard USB port so that all MP3 players can be used in the car.
>He said future generations of BMW’s cars will offer the feature, but he couldn’t reveal when.
You can read the entire article here:
[ Automakers strive to integrate digital music systems ] Autoweek
MF Analysis: USB will be a good move for BMW and the auto industry as a whole. For one it allows for a standard connection that is not manufacturer (ie iPod) specific. It also opens up the door a bit more on other types of integration. With a USB direct connection there’s no telling what could be thought up by the aftermarket in the years ahead.
While it’s likely that a feature like this will filter down to the MINI shortly after being introduced on BMWs, there’s no assurance that we’ll see this on the next generation MINI when it debuts late next year. Nevertheless, it’s certainly an interesting prospect.
Related:
[ Next Generation Revealed ] MotoringFile
Great move I think. No offense to those who have bought them, but the factory BMW/MINI Ipod interface is pretty lame for the money invested. The aftermarket Dension Icelink Plus offers better integration/more features for similar cost. I could live without some of those features for a standard/plug and play interface.
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With a USB direct connection there’s no telling what could be thought up by the aftermarket in the years ahead.
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Mazda has done some interesting things with USB …
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…instead of the traditional cylinder lock key system. Yes, this means you’ll be able to start your car with a USB dongle as well as transfer driving directions and music to the internal hard drive of this concept car…
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from <a href="http://us.gizmodo.com/gadgets/usb/mazdas-usb-starter-key-123205.php" rel="nofollow">Gizmodo</a>
How many devices use USB that don’t need drivers?
Better yet what OS would drive the USB port?
I love the idea of a universal connector like this, but I’m wondering what the backend would look like to get this to work. While WinXP is great with it’s ability for hot swapping USB devices, WinXP doesn’t have native support for many MP3 players, you need to install drivers. Same with many phones that can be used with a USB data cable. Plus, it’s Windows so stability is still an issue (not as much as it used to be, but still…)
MacOS? Yeah it’s stable, but it gets grumpy when I don’t “eject” my USB devices before removing them…
Linux? Does Linux play well with MP3 players… especially iPods?
Does there need to be an OS?
My guess is that support for devices will be hard coded within the firmware of the adapter. This would also allow for easy firmware updates as support for more devices becomes available.
The link for the Autoweek article is broken. You can find the article here: <a href="http://www.autoweek.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051104/FREE/511040704&SearchID=73230855160465" rel="nofollow ugc">http://www.autoweek.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051104/FREE/511040704&SearchID=73230855160465</a>
I think the OS situation depends on just what exactly the end goal is for the USB connector…
Is it to allow access to media on PMPs, MP3 players, and/or USB Thumb Drives, or is it to go further and even do a bit more like enable hands free phone use similar to BVRP’s Mobile Phone Tools which allows full control and usage of a connected phone from a PC…
Since I’m pretty confident the control signals for an iPod are different than those for a Muvo or a Zen, either automakers need to impose a standard on device manufacturers so that USB interfaces like those proposed will work with a wide range of devices, or than device manufactures need to band together to create a standard on their own….
Of course if you want to throw thumb drives into the mix, then you need to have the capability to browse the drive’s file structure, although this probably isn’t too hard since many HU’s already have the ability to read MP3 disks and in some cases read the ID3 tags as well…
All I want to see is whatever they expect you to use to become standard. None of this ‘Aux input’ but you have to buy a $40 plug, Sirius ready but you need to get the entire kit for upwards of $200 installed.
If they want to be proactive and have stuff people want, just include it, and then everyone will use it – not to mention the cost becomes negligble if its on every unit, and everyone finds a use for it because if its USB you can interface as mentioned a phone, navigation, and maybe even read the OBD II codes yourself.
No one complains that a standard radio has CD, MP3, AM and FM because you’ll probably use at least a couple, if you make it on every car and something easily interfaced with, then everyone gains – also maybe then later components won’t take 2 years to be developed, because with a standard more developers should be available to work on it, even if they’re not BMW employees.
You can plug an iPod via USB into an external DAC & amp combo today. USB just acts as a digital interface into DAC’s nothing more. Sounds like they’re just adding a USB interface into the head unit’s DAC, that’s a nice feature.
I’m just glad they’re even thinking of it considering the new Radio/Dash layout prohibits upgrading!
Mark (Ohio): that external DAC will also contain soft/firmware to drive the port, and it will need to know how to talk to the device. If the device implements a standard mass storage interface (in which case the DAC will also need to contain a decoder because it is accessing files directly), that will probably work OK, but if the device uses a custom protocol, the DAC will also need to have specific support for that device. Same story goes for the car.
Also, I don’t think USB is in principle a two-way system, but rather a tree structure, with a single controller at the bottom of the tree (this usually is something like your PC or laptop), and peripheral devices (mouse, keyboard, MP3 player, USB stick) are connected to it, either directly or through a tree structure built of hubs. So, in terms of USB, there is a fundamental difference between a device that will function as a controller or as a peripheral. Since they are talking about interfacing to MP3 players and the like, it looks like the car will be a controller, not a peripheral. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think you can simply plug two controllers to each other and expect them to interface, you would need some kind of controler-to-controller interface.
<blockquote>With a USB direct connection there’s no telling what could be thought up by the aftermarket in the years ahead.</blockquote>
This, in that light, becomes questionable. If the car doesn’t support it, the after-market is left in the dark.
I guess I’m not familiar with external DAC’s that use USB as a mass storage device only as an external data source. (meaning they expect a digital data stream to feed in, they decode it to analog that’s all they do, they do not decode MP3, etc.)
It may be of interest to note that recently Intel and BMW entered into a comprehensive partnership.
From Intel’s Press release dated December 15, 2005:
“The two companies have also agreed to develop an industry specification that would allow for seamless integration of third-party devices (including phones and portable music players) into BMW vehicles.”
(<a href="http://www.intel.com/pressroom/archive/releases/20051214corp.htm" rel="nofollow ugc">http://www.intel.com/pressroom/archive/releases/20051214corp.htm</a>)
That doesn’t answer the question of what OS will ultimately be used. Since Apple Computer will begin to use Intel microprocessors (see various June 6, 2005 press releases), the Mac OS is not ruled out either.
Regardless of how or to what extent the USB port will provide integration and access to vehicle systems, it will be important to address the issues of security. “Practice safe porting.”
There are already car stereos with USB on the front. They are only made for flash players and no drivers are needed. It just reads off of it like a drive. Then you can control the folders and selection through the stereo. I bought one in China and it worked great but not with hard drive MP3 players. The great thing is it charged any mp3 player that charges through USB.