Relief for users with new iPods and older cars
(Credit: Scosche)So, you just bought a new car that came with a built-in iPod cable. Great, right? Well, maybe not. Unfortunately, the cable is only compatible with the previous generation of iPod products and not your brand new iPhone 3G, Nano 4G, or Touch 2G.
A bummer? Yes. However, Scosche is on this like an Apple fanboy is on Steve Jobs' every word. Or close to that, at least.
On Thursday, Scosche announced the Passport, which is now on sale at Apple stores, although I was unable to find it at Apple's online store at press time.
The Passport utilizes a female pass-through connector, which--purportedly--will attach to any in-car iPod-integration system to charge all iPhone and iPod models, including the iPhone 3G and the recently introduced Nano 4G and Touch 2G.
According to Scosche, prior to the Passport, many car owners could not get these integrated systems to work with the new products; now they don't have to buy a new car to do so.
I've found a few people who have experienced this problem with their built-in car adapters. My guess is that these are adapters hard-wired into the car that cannot be replaced and there is some kind of voltage incompatibility that prevents them from working. If that is the case, the Passport could be a fix.
Update: The guys are Scosche let me in on exactly why connecting your new iPhone or iPod to a car system might be a problem: "The reason that the iPhone is compatible with your computer cable is because it plugs into a USB port that operates on 5V. When you directly connect one of the newer iPod or iPhone models (iPhone 3G, iPod nano 4th Gen, iPod touch 2nd Gen) to an existing car system they will play but not charge. This is because most car integration units operate on the older "Firewire" voltage (12V). The Passport converts the 12V to the new 5V "USB" standard. It does not have to do with switching the pins, just converting the voltage"
The Passport retails for $29.99.
Eric Franklin refused to write a bio, saying, "Why are you bothering me about this bio business again? If I wanted people to know more about me, I'd send them to the Inside CNET Labs Podcast" (shameless plug). E-mail Eric.
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By the way, you forgot to capitalize the "E" in your first use of English.
Apple is group of people - and group of people are idiots (including you ;)
As a former sansa, and now a zune user (if I hadn't gotten a deal on the zune I would have bought an iPod, but I'm pleased with the zune since the last update) I don't understand why a major deck manufacturer doesn't push a standard USB based interface (call it plugs for sure). You already see some decks taking USB flash drives, and I understand that without a full USB stack you cannot accommodate every device and every functionality in the world- but would it really be that hard for DMP manufacturers to agree on a audio/control interface accessible via USB?
I think that after this economic dry-spell, demands for in car media, GPS, digital radio, legislation requiring hands-free, and on demand information will push things like that Microsoft Sync technology into all cars, and once you have full blown x86 computers (think Atom in your dash) we will see just USB 3.0 plugs.