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Issue link: https://digital.macdirectory.com/i/839
MacDirectory 143
INTERVIEW
buying one). Apple was selling 20,000 per
month! The solution seemed obvious...
Why not connect the iPod to a car's
factory stereo and eliminate the need for
a separate MP3 unit?
MD >
How does your iPod adapter work?
JB > Basically, it "tricks" the car into
thinking the iPod is a part of the factory
stereo/CD player. That allows you to
control it using your car stereo and
steering wheel.
MD >
What has the response been?
JB > People love it, and while I know this
technology is something that many new
cars have built in, that still leaves 10 to 12
years of cars going backwards that don't
have this capability. It's these car owners
I'm trying to help.
MD >
There are a lot of iPod adapters on
the market today. What is the main thing
that sets yours apart?
JB > Clean, CD-quality sound is the
number one advantage of Direct Connect
iPod Adapters. Many of our competitors
transmit audio files from the iPod using
the FM tuner. This "cutting corners"
approach costs less but results in poor,
inconsistent sound quality. If you
commute, or are on a long trip, you might
have to switch to three different stations
for your iPod to work, and most of those
stations are full. Even if you're sitting
stationary with an empty channel, you're
still stepping back to FM quality.
Connecting the adapter directly to the
radio means that what you get is the full
audio quality of the iPod.
MD >
Any other advantages of the
adapter from iCarKits?
JB > Our adapters give users the option to
control the music on their iPod by using
the factory radio and steering wheel
controls. They can usually browse the iPod
by Track, Playlist, Album, Artist, and Genre.
Most other adapters require you to find an
empty FM station to play the iPod on and
you still have to turn the iPod wheel to
skip over or change songs. By integrating
the controls (between the iPod and the
car stereo), people can use this product
while keeping their eyes on the road.
MD >
Jeremy, how does someone know
if your iPod car adapter works with
their car?
JB > On our Web site, we have a
make/model/year search that customers
may use to see which of our products are
best for their vehicle.
MD >
So what has the response been to
the product?
JB > Great! The younger audience for
iPods is huge. An entire generation is
growing up with iPods and when they get
their first car, they aren't willing to give up
their iPod. (And then) when they start
integrating those controls…we don't even
have to do a lot of advertising, we will sell
(the adapter) to one person and we will
see a bunch more (sales) just from that.
MD >
So what is next for iCarKits? Will you
just stay with iPod technology, or are you
planning to do some work around the
iPhone and other products as well?
JB > Since technology is constantly
changing, there will always be new
devices. Coming out this Christmas, we
have more Bluetooth integration and a
full integration for the iPhone. So I would
say that trying to have a fuller integration
between the car and the phone is the
next step.
MD >
So how will this new device work?
JB > The Bluetooth and iPhone adapters
will work like the iPod adapters, meaning
they will also have a direct connection to
your car stereo. You can use the controls
to fade to hands free or Bluetooth auto-
matically, or turn on your speaker phone.
MD >
This sounds like it will also work well
for people who might have hearing
difficulties — they can put the phone on
speaker and hear their callers over all the
road noise.
JB > Exactly! There are similar products
that come with a small speaker box that
plugs in and sits behind the dash. You can
hear it, but it's not the same as having
sound come from all your car speakers.
We will have the Bluetooth so it can pair
up with any phone including the iPhone. It
will also connect to the iPhone so it can
charge it. So it's a great stand-alone
Bluetooth or iPhone accessory. It should
be out in early October.
So how good is the iCarKit adapter, really?
Jeremy Briggs was good enough to send
MacDirectory three of them to test, and
here are the responses:
Jerry > Wow! The iCarKit only took me
about five minutes to install and the
sound was great. My wife has the
"Wicked" soundtrack on her iPod, and I
used that to test the system since it has a
lot of highs and lows and vocalizing in the
songs. You could hear all of it. The sound
was even better than the car CD player.
Rob > The adapter did everything it was
supposed to do, and I liked that it charged
the iPod while I was using it. I could play
the music loud and it still sounded good.
It looked good in my car, too. I just wish
there was a way you could switch from
one playlist to the other without having to
go back to the iPod. I would also like to
see something like this as a wireless, but I
know that would be really expensive.
Alexa > I had some trouble installing the
iCarKit, but when I called customer service
they were very helpful. First they told me
since I actually had an MP3 player, rather
than an iPod, I would just need to get an
additional cable so the adapter would
work with what I had. They then went
over with me what I would have to do to
install the player in my car and gave me
the name of a local shop that would do it
for me if I didn't feel comfortable doing it
myself. I really appreciated their help and I
can't wait to get everything up and
running this weekend.
Jone > As for me, I found the sound
quality to be amazing. I am one of those
people who like to play their music loud,
however with most car radios and
adapters this can result in a lot of
distortion. I found with the iCarkit that no
matter how loud I turned my music up, it
still sounded great.
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