Iphone OS 3.0 Review on the Prius 2010

I think you are correct on this one. What's different, to my understanding, anyway, is that there is a current iPod connector available for the non-Nav JBL systems. I believe the later iPod connector is going to be for the Nav-equipped systems.

 

My understanding is the current non-USB connector only works on the low end model II system. Neither the current connector or the USB connector will work on the middle, non-nav system.

 

Pretty long post but worthwhile reading… this is only appliable to the Gen 3 Prius, not sure about previous generations.

OK, there has been a lot of confusion about IPod (IP)-IPhone (IPh) and Bluetooth (BT) integration with the different trims of the new Prius with or without navigation system (NAV). I believe I got this all figured out and will try to clarify as better as possible:

First and foremost, any player (IP, IPh, or whatever) will play music in any Prius (2 thru 5, not sure about 1 because details has not been released yet) audio system via the auxiliary jack located in the center console. All you need is an auxiliary cable for that, which is very cheap ([ame="http://www.amazon.com/AUDIO-3-5MM-JACK-AUXILIARY-CABLE/dp/B001T4SNQO"]http://www.amazon.com/AUDIO-3-5MM-JACK-AUXILIARY-CABLE/dp/B001T4SNQO[/ame]). The sound quality is excellent!

If you have BT and an IPh, you will also be able to stream audio directly from your IPh to the sound system without the auxiliary cable, but I believe the sound quality in this case is not as good as using the cable, but yet pretty good (BT streaming will be made possible only with the 3.0 IPh software update available free for IPh 3G users on June 17). The BT comes standard in the Prius 3 and above; however, you may have it factory installed in your Prius 2 for $250, but you have to request that before ordering you car! They do NOT install it in the dealer!!!

The downsides of both connections (via auxiliary cable or BT streaming) are:
- It will not recharge your music player
- Your player will continue running and playing you playlist when you turn off the car
- If you have an IPh and receive a call via BT while listening to music, you will have to turn the music in your IPh off to be able to carry on a decent phone conversation because the sound system will only do it for you automatically with full integration (details bellow).

The better and coolest way to play your IP/IPh in the sound system is by full integration, which is made via an IP connector. Since the IP connector allows dock connection with the IP/IPh, therefore it will recharge the battery, will stop playing the playlist when you turn the car off and resume from the same point when you turn the car back on (like the CD player), and will shut the music off automatically when someone is calling to your BT-connected IPh. The IP connector will be an optional equipment (not sure about the cost, but probably around $200-300) available for the Prius 3 and above, regardless of NAV. If you have a NAV though, you will be able see you playlists in the NAV screen and surf through them using the wheel controls. Now, the caveat here is: the bloody IP connector won’t become available until September I believe.

It is pretty darn disappointing that a car pictured as having a high tech interior does not have an IP connector standard… Much cheaper brands of questionable reliability are bringing it standard. Shame on you Toyota!!!! :embarassed::embarassed::embarassed::embarassed::embarassed::embarassed::embarassed:

OK, how about phoning via BT?

If you have a cell with BT and BT in your Prius (3 and above or factory installed for 2), chances are you will be able to sync your phone with the audio system for hands free conversation. If you have a NAV, you will be able to actually see and surf through your contacts in the screen without touching your phone, everything done by using the wheel controls. If you don’t have a NAV, you will be able to talk hands free and pick up a call but will have to use your phone for dialing and will have to look at you phone to see who is actually calling you instead of looking directly in the NAV screen.

Hope this helps…

 

Hi Mike. Thank you for this post.

I have a first generation iPhone and I was told that my contacts would not transfer. True?

Will OS 3.0 solve this problem, or am I stuck until I upgrade to 3G phone?

Thanks in advance.

 

I have been testing iPhone OS 3.0 since the first beta and I too have 3.0 GM installed on my device. I wish I had a 2010 Prius to test it on but I will have to wait for it to arrive.

 

WINCE!

I started of as a Windows/WinCE developer - went the linux route, and then got into Macs after OS X was released and my finace bought a mac for her graphics/web work. After that, we started ditching the MS devices one by one. For me it's not all the AppleCool(tm) magic that I'm in love with. I'm in it for all that I can do over ssh, from any device anywhere, apple or not. Of couse, all the automagic syncing between my iPhone, the living room laptop and the AppleTV is just icing on the cake...

FWIW, the first thing I do on any Windows box I touch is install Cygwin, so I have all my linux tools available. Editing the registry is so much easier with "vi"

 

Indy, am I correct in thinking your post is only in regards to the G3 Prius ?

 

I was wondering if any of you folk still existed in the wild

 

Yes, sorry, I should have mentioned it. I fixed it now!

 

Indy,

Please reread the specifications of the car. BT Streaming will be possible only with the Nav JBL system, not the non-Nav JBL systems, as is the case on Prius II. As for the III, IV, and V, you should be able to do this. However, I think that if the "Car_Multimedia" BT connected phone rings, all audio sources volume will fade and instead, you will hear the ringing.

I can confirm that this is the case when listening to audio in source. (In my case, it was my iPhone 3G, running as an iPod). Separately, when I was listening to this iPhone, without syncing the BT first, and was listening to the iPod, if the phone rang, the audio out of the iPhone (just as when you are listening to it via wired headphones) will fade away and the ringing is heard. In this case, I do hear the iPhone calls on the Audio out, thus hearing it through my steroe speakers, and since the phone does not know the difference between Audio cable and headphones, I can stil carry a conversation. (The only difference to the caller is that they cannot hear me as well as on Bluetooth, and the phone microphone is further from my mouth.

 

Prius 2 does not have a JBL system... it uses the base sound, which is from a Japanese company, whose name is almost impossible to memorize

I may indeed be wrong but my dealer assured me that the Prius 3 and above (with JBL of course) without NAV is also compatible with BT streaming... they said that the requirement for the NAV system is a misunderstanding but I will have to wait until mine arrives next week to check it out!

Here is where it appears that I am flat wrong: The BT streaming also provides full integration cancelling the audio source allowing hearing the ring and carrying on a conversation...

Now question: how in the world did you get BT streaming if the 3.0 software is not supposed to be released until June 17???

 

I do not yet have BT streaming, on my Iphone 3g, as I am only running the current software. I have a Prius V which is compatible with the BT Streaming. (if I had a non Apple Smartphone, I would have streaming now).

I also have BOTH the manuals for the Prius, which shows the Bluetooth features (and it does not have BT Streaming, only phone connectivity), AND the NAV manual, which shows us how to sync for BT Streaming.

I think that your dealer is simply misinformed. Can anyone else please confirm this by looking at their information (my manual are in the car, in a parking lot a few blocks from my downtown chicag office, or I woul dpdf the pages that say this for you)

Please don't take this the wrong way, but I think that you would be very vocal and very unhappy if you take delivery on this model, and it does not have the BT streaming that you are after.

 

Here is where it appears that I am flat wrong: The BT streaming also provides full integration cancelling the audio source allowing hearing the ring and carrying on a conversation...

Now question: how in the world did you get BT streaming if the 3.0 software is not supposed to be released until June 17???



IndyKing. The 3.0 is out for developers (and friends of developers unofficially :rockon. As a friend of a developer, I have 3.0, but I'm still waiting for my Prius III to come in so I can't test 3.0 yet But from what I've read the A2DP isn't available on the Prius III... hope I'm wrong!!

 

True enought that the BT audio streaming will only be available to iPhone users if they have not only the 3G phone, but also the OS 3.0 (publicly available on June 17). On the other hand, the Toyota literature consistently (and even to this day) shows that the BT audio streaming is only available with the NAV system. For your sake, I hope that is incorrect, but here are the descriptions of the two sound systems available in the III, IV & V:

Non-Nav:

AM/FM/MP3 CD player with six speakers and satellite radio capability [3] - - - JBL® AM/FM/MP3 6-disc CD changer with eight speakers, integrated satellite radio capability [3] and hands-free phone capability via Bluetooth® [5] wireless technology.
​

Nav:

Voice-activated touch-screen DVD navigation system [6] with JBL® AM/FM/MP3 4-disc CD changer, eight speakers, integrated satellite radio capability [3], XM NavTraffic® [6] capability, hands-free phone capability and music streaming via Bluetooth®[5] wireless technology, and integrated backup camera.
​

You make good points on the other downsides, but this one is not quite fully the case. I have an iPhone 3G now, and when I hook it up to AUX and play it through the sound system, I still receive calls the same way through the BT connection. The sound quality is the same (music and phone) and there is no interference from the on-going play in the iPhone. In other words, I don't have to turn off the iPod portion of the iPhone in order to take a call or have it come through with the same sound quality. What I can NOT do is rely on the iPhone to stop the playback and return me to the exact same spot once I end the call. That's the topic of inquiry for me earlier, but I don't think I have the answer yet. So long as the fancy iPod USB interface is designed correctly, I agree with you that the sound likely will be better than when relying only on the BT audio streaming.

eglmainz & Indyking: This is what I have noted above. Indyking reports his dealer as saying the literature may not be correct. I would hate to see someone rely on a dealer's statement like this if BT audio streaming were going to be a critical part of having the car as ordered. For Indyking, if you would rather spend $350 on the connector (and is assured the connector will be appropriate for that system) than the $1,800 for the Nav system that includes (assuredly includes, that is) the BT audio streaming (and I'm pretty certain I know your answer there!), then at least you go into it with full knowledge of the possibilities.

Again, as I noted above, the literature is pretty explicit on this, so you may want to try another source to confirm what your dealer has said.

Another option is to inquire of other folks who have the same model as you are ordering. Someone there may already have another device (other than an Apple, I mean) that should be able to utilize the BT audio streaming.

I don't doubt the audio source is muted to allow the conversation. Do you have information showing that the audio source is "paused" for the duration of the call? If you are playing a CD when a call comes in, the CD is paused for the duration, and it restarts at the end of the call just where it left off at the beginning of the call.

 

http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii...-add-do-i-need-just-use-cable.html#post845010

The above link is Prius Team's post on the current Ipod interface and the upcoming USB interface. I don't remember them commenting on the bluetooth audio streaming. I agree with a priori that all the currently available info only shows it on the nav systems.

 

Thanks for confirming what I see.. However, while what you say above is technically correct, for otherrs that may be following this, I think the following clarification is in order:

In addition to folks using the iPhone 3G, running OS 3.0 or higher, most people with other smartphones or BT streaming enabled devices will also be able to stream with this NAV BT Streaming.

 

I'm pretty sure that it doesn't actually pause the music when a call comes in. I've only taken one call so far while the BT was playing. I'll test again when I can...

BTW, I'm pretty sure about this one thing though - that when you disconnect from the bluetooth audio streaming that it does in fact pause - the music doesn't go on playing in your pocket. At least it wasn't playing music when I pulled the phone out in Target and Petco yesterday after I'd been playing music in the car.

Hope this helps.
Dave

 

Thanks for finding that link. For the benefit of those who really hate to push another button, here is what PriusTeam had to say in that post:

Just to be clear, the accessory iPod adapter will only be available on Prius II (base audio system). The September USB/iPod adapter will only be on Navigation systems. The non-Navi JBL audio will not have a USB/iPod adapter.

Doug Coleman
Prius Product Manager
Toyota Motor Sales, USA
​

It is a little difficult to believe that the base audio and the JBL w/ Nav are the two that get an iPod adapter, while the people who order the III, IV & V without Nav do not have a possibility of getting such an adapter. Still, I don't see any other way to read the words.

In terms of my prior statements, then, it appears there is NO USB/iPod connector available now for the JBL system and NEVER will be UNLESS you have the JBL w/ Nav.