A few months ago I upgrade my car stereo to an after market one which was great, I noticed the improvements all around.
But I've begun to wonder if it's at all possible to create an app, not only for the Evo, that could directly control the car stereo. I figured that the actual stereo, the bulkier part that does all the work, just needs something to control it, which in most, if not all, cases is the face plate(the one with the dials and buttons and display).
I know an app could be written up with the proper framework to control the stereo, but how would I go about to finding the actual signals that CONTROL the stereo to implement?
Related
Hi,
I was just wondering if anyone has a car stereo with bluetooth capabilities. I have been looking at getting one myself. For the longest time I used a treo 650 and had an FM transmitter hooked up to the audio port so I could hear my music and GPS programs over the stereo. Since the Touch only has the mini USB out and I have yet to find a fm transmitter that uses this interface I've basically been stuck using the rear speaker on the phone.
I have seen a bunch of car stereos that are bluetooth capable. I realize that they have to be able to play streaming music via bluetooth and not just handsfree to get the full "stereo effect". My question.... Has anyone tried this out or knows anyone that has used it. Also, how would hands free actually work via the stereo?
Thanks!
Aaron
hmmm..why not just get a bluetooth receiver with a 3.5mm jack. I'm currently using the itech bluetooth clip radio and am able to output stereo music from my touch to my speakers. It also doubles as my handsfree when i'm out and about.
As you mentioned you're using an FM transmitter hooked up to the audio port of your car speakers, this would be something very similar to your existing setup and probably a lot cheaper than getting those bluetooth speakers you mentioned
I needed to replace my car stereo as it is because the display didnt work. Just figured I would upgrade and get one that had bluetooth capabilities but it would seem either no one has tried to play music through a deck with bluetooth capalities here OR that not one has read the thread. Either way I think I'll at least spend the cash and see what happens. Wost comes to worse I just bring it back
Also.. I was going for the whole LESS wires thing.. Having a bluetooth reciever with a 3.5 mm jack that goes to an fm transmitter just.. yeah thats alot of clutter. I'd like to have it where the touch is mounter to the dash (as it is now) and all I need to do is push a button on the car stereo deck and the sound is routed though there. Having the phone plugged in is one thing but then having an fm transmitter and a bluetooth reciever and what not all over the dash is just a pain in the ass I think.
im using the sony/Erikson mbr-100 bluetooth stereo receiver with 3.5 jack. works great.
mg48 said:
im using the sony/Erikson mbr-100 bluetooth stereo receiver with 3.5 jack. works great.
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Is there anything specific I should be looking for. Just.. basically that it can played streemed music and not just hands free correct? That way ALL of the audio will play through the stereo.. not just the phone calls
Aaron McCarthy said:
Is there anything specific I should be looking for. Just.. basically that it can played streemed music and not just hands free correct? That way ALL of the audio will play through the stereo.. not just the phone calls
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The magic phrase you're looking for is A2DP. That's the Bluetooth protocol for streaming music from one device to another.
I got a Parrot MK6100 for Christmas, which is a dedicated hands-free kit that plugs into the back of the OEM head unit in my '99 Audi. The MK6100 is both a hands-free for the phone and a streaming music player for the phone too. It's excellent so your proposed solution might be perfect for you if your new head unit delivers the same functionality as this Parrot.
ALL the audio from my Touch is delivered through the car's speakers, including screen taps, TomTom directions, music and so on. There are some caveats though, caused by the Touch rather than the Parrot, I think:
Although the phone functionality works perfectly (it's actually very impressive - I just get in the car and it works straight away) playing music is more complex. I have to reconnect the phone's A2DP output to the car kit before I start the HTC Audio Manager, and I have to exit the Audio Manager before shutting down the car kit, otherwise it crashes and requires a soft reset for the Touch before it'll work again. I think WMP is more reliable but it doesn't integrate into the HTC Cube or HTC Home utilities so it's not a desirable solution for me.
I recommend you test the bluetooth streaming functionality with your Touch and the head unit before you buy the head unit if you can - you might find an incompatibility.
Aaron McCarthy said:
Also.. I was going for the whole LESS wires thing.. Having a bluetooth reciever with a 3.5 mm jack that goes to an fm transmitter just.. yeah thats alot of clutter. I'd like to have it where the touch is mounter to the dash (as it is now) and all I need to do is push a button on the car stereo deck and the sound is routed though there. Having the phone plugged in is one thing but then having an fm transmitter and a bluetooth reciever and what not all over the dash is just a pain in the ass I think.
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Sorry just saw this post was updated..anyway the clip radio does have A2DP and AVRCP support. Also, there is no need to use the FM transmitter. I mentioned similar..not use existing
but yes there will be a wire going from your speakers into the 3.5mm jack of the bluetooth receiver. If you want it completely wireless, then you will need speakers that have a built in bluetooth receiver..not sure where you can get one though..
Parrot Rhym n'blue
You can find it on www.parrot.biz.
I also have a question about htc touch and my head unit Alpine IDA X001.
I'm thinking to buy the Alpine bluetooth adaptater KCE-300BT which works with the head unit i have.
With this adaptater the head unit can display your last calls and let your browse in the phonebook.
Do you think that it will work with the HTC Touch (Windows Mobile 6) I have ??
Thanks
Here are the specs of the BT adaptater of Alpine :
SECTION BLUETOOTH
Version Bluetooth Bluetooth 1,1 CERTIFIÉE
Puissance de sortie +4 dBm Max. (Power class 2)
Profil HFP (Profil mains libres)
HSP (Profil casque téléphonique)
A2DP (Profil de distribution audio avancée)
AVRCP (Profil de télécommande audio/vidéo)
I have the SONY MEX BT2500 CD MP3 CAR STEREO that I had for Christmas and fitted myself. I am really impressed with this unit and it works really well, it also works as a bluetooth hands free.
GEORGCHILL said:
I also have a question about htc touch and my head unit Alpine IDA X001.
I'm thinking to buy the Alpine bluetooth adaptater KCE-300BT which works with the head unit i have.
With this adaptater the head unit can display your last calls and let your browse in the phonebook.
Do you think that it will work with the HTC Touch (Windows Mobile 6) I have ??
Thanks
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You can stream music and recieve calls with it, but i havent been able to get the phone book inside the KCE-300Bt yet.
lankydwarf said:
I have the SONY MEX BT2500 CD MP3 CAR STEREO that I had for Christmas and fitted myself. I am really impressed with this unit and it works really well, it also works as a bluetooth hands free.
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Hello there,
I have Blaupunkt Hamburg MP68 and the bluetooth on it is excelent. Both handsfree & streaming working fine.
I have bought a Blaupunkt Hamburg MP68 stereo. I am very satisfied by this unit, it is a very complex device and it provides even a built-in bluetooth car-kit.
However there is an issue that I cannot work out: I can't get the stereo to download the phonebook from my HTC HD2 phone.
Both stereo and phone support the PBAP profile (phone book access), but the I always get the message "DOWNLOAD FAILED" on the stereo.
I have noticed that the "Dev A" profile (serial port) from phone's Bluetooth menu has a configuration option named "Local COM port", which was automatically set to COM2. Among the options, there is one called "ActiveSync" (as seen in the attached screenshot). I think that this might be the solution. Can anyone confirm my theory? I can't get to the car sooner than 4 hours from now.....
May be worth posting this in the HD2 forums as well. it has a much newer os with newer features then the touch does, by some 3 years. I do realise that this thread may be related, but people in the HD2 section may be more aware with any bluetooth features specific to the phone as well.
No need to do it, but thanks for the tip. 10 minutes ago I have tested the "ActiveSync" port setting and it works fine: all phone contacts are downloaded into the car stereo.
Cheers!
Grats for doing it then
I searched around, but I didn't find an answer to this specific question. I have an HTC Evo, and a regular Bluetooth headset. I'd like to be able to play music/podcasts/whatnot through the headset.
It works great for phone calls, but once the call is over, it goes back to using the speaker. I'm assuming this has something to do with Bluetooth profiles since I was actually able to play music through Bluetooth in a car I rented a few weeks ago. I had to change the audio setting on the car, so it seems like the Evo can send audio through Bluetooth if it detects a certain profile (A2DP?).
Is there an app that allows me to choose to reroute my audio from the speaker to a regular bluetooth headset that only supports the headset and hands-free profiles? If not, I may need to see how feasible it would be for me to make one.
I have been searching in vane for Android software that would play regular audio through a regular bluetooth ear piece (that is normally used for a phone) rather than the external speaker or audio jack.
If anyone knows of such an animal, please let us know.
I realize what you're asking for, and I'm just going to tell you, odds are it's not going to happen. From what I've heard, the Bluetooth API's are fairly limited, and telling the system to use a BT Profile for something it wasn't meant for (and will sound horrible on, nevermind kill the battery life of your headset) won't be easy.
I'm not saying it's impossible, just not very likely to happen at this time. You'd probably be better off getting a decent pair of BT headphones instead. Sorry.
It won't work. Different protocols. If you get a bluetooth stereo headset that has a mic then it will work with both protocols.
This has been on the top of my list (along with a widget for enabling/disabling background data) since I got my Evo. I used this feature a lot on my Moto Q9C.
But I hadn't been able to find anything until now.
The audio quality isn't great but so far "Super BT Mono Froyo Free" is working well enough. I haven't disconnected my headset yet, so I don't know if it will reboot the phone. But the comments in the marketplace say to use a task killer if it happens.
I'm actually considering getting the full $6 version after the 5 days are up.
I just wish there was a way to make the call button function with the media player instead of starting the voice dialer.
Edit:
Have to change the media volume via settings or when the screen is off to increase music volume.
My jabra bluetooth headset allows this to happen but that bluetooth is meant to stream music through it also.
Sent from my GirLiE Evo with Tapatalk
what about these: http://cgi.ebay.com/New-Black-Motorola-S9-HD-S9HD-Wireless-Stereo-Headphone-/260631900070?pt=Bluetooth_Wireless_Products&hash=item3caedf2fa6
granted, they ship from Hong Kong so you're looking at a good 1-3 weeks for delivery (i got mine in about a week and a half)
But anyways, they work great for me. they answer calls, control track skipping, play/pause and volume. i love 'em.
App Work Around
I had the same issue with my headset. I went to the Android Market and searched. There are multiple apps out there. I got BTmono Free which allows you to play audio over your bluetooth if you pay for the $1 version you get more options. There are a few more other programs out there that do the same thing.
Good luck.
Thanks for the find Abini. d/l'd BTmono and it works like a champ for playing both music and for Netflix on my rooted EVO 2.2
So I tried searching but I feel like this is a pretty specific item that I'm looking for so sifting through pages and pages of bluetooth headsets and separate car audio setups was frustrating me.
What I'm looking for is a small mic that I can mount near my sun visor that is wired to a bluetooth receiver that connects to the aux input in my car. This would allow my phone to connect via bluetooth and have a handsfree setup that would play through the car stereo without any wires to my phone and without using the phone speaker or mic. Can anybody tell me if such a system exists? I've been googling different terms trying to find things but the best things I can find are proprietary connections for stereos and I would like to stick with my OEM radio.
Thanks for the help, and I do apologize if I overlooked a topic discussing this.
This any help?
ptp.net.au/comfort_9060smart_ANZ.html
That is close to what I'm looking for but I can't find any that just hook in directly through a stereo aux cable, I don't want to have to hook into the back of my head unit. It looks like some of their products may possibly do this, but it seems like they are more complicated so the price is significantly higher. Still looking. Thanks for the help though.
There are a number of units out there that will transmit over FM frequency. This isn't exactly what you're looking for, but it will do the trick. Instead of running the cable to your Stereo AUX port, just tune your radio to the specific station and you'll hear the audio through you car speakers.
This is what I have:
http://direct.motorola.com/hellomoto/t505/
It also has a loud speaker right in it so you can even use it without the FM radio if you desire. You press a button on the back and it'll search for an "open" FM channel and then it speaks the channel number for you to tune into.
Has the added benefit of allowing you to listen to music if you have it on your phone. Includes buttons on the side to allow you to change tracks backward and forward.
Dunno if your still in search for one but Scosche just came out with THIS. It also does Bluetooth Stereo which is a plus!
Hope this helps
I've been hunting for a solution as well (at least one that doesn't require me to buy a new headunit).
I'd love to get an fm transmitter or direct fm line input that supports a2dp with RDS, and has decent transmit power. The soundfly BT ultimate does most of this, but doesn't have RDS via bluetooth. It's a small detail, but it'd be cool to have. Any ideas?
I am interested in getting another stereo bluetooth headset, does anyone have any suggestions for one that works while running, playing pickup basketball and such.
buffalosolja42 said:
I am interested in getting another stereo bluetooth headset, does anyone have any suggestions for one that works while running, playing pickup basketball and such.
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i have a pair of son/erricson ear buds that hang from my neck where there is a controller that works great. i forgot the model number but message me if interested and ill look it up. the part that hangs from your neck has a little screen for caller id and to see the music playing. you can also go through contacts and xcall history. there is a volume rocker and a play pause and fwd rev buttons.
I have fun with my philips BT headset. It's really great one.
Bluetooth technology is quickly becoming one of the most common forms of wireless peripheral that is used by consumers today. Bluetooth headsets will help you to have a fully-functional headset that will easily transfer from cell phones, computers, and a variety of other systems to any other system that has Bluetooth capabilities.
All, as there's a lot of questions coming in to iBOLT's customer service, and on forums about connecting the sound to the car-stereo speakers, using aux-out, playing music while a phone call is coming in etc. I figured we can start a new thread dedicated to all the variables involved. I'll try to make a summary below of functionality. If you have not seen the video or images of this product you can do so on www.ibolt.co/ibpf-33307
First, the iBOLT S III Dock solves the problem reported by many users that when they insert an aux-cable from the headset jack their Bluetooth device does not work properly. Since our Dock takes the Aux-out through the microUSB it works differently and from our testing, and end-user reports, the Bluetooth works fine.
Below is a run down on different options how to connect the Galaxy S3 Dock to car-stereo speakers for playing music and sound from all Apps.
BLUETOOTH OPTIONS: Please note that when using any Bluetooth hands-free device (headset, portable, built-in from car-manufacturer etc) with the Galaxy S3 you can choose if the connected device is to be used for phone calls only, for audio streaming or both. This depends on which Bluetooth profile your device is using. See attached screen shot for an example of the S III UI. This is from a Bluetooth U-connect system used in Chrysler cars (although they should all be the same).
1. Car-stereo systems featuring A2DP:
If your car is equipped with a Bluetooth hands-free system it may allow you to to stream audio (in addition to hands-free functionality) but only if your system features the A2DP (Advance Audio Distribution Profile). If it does have A2DP profile you will have the option during the pairing process to select the "Media Audio" in addition to "Call Audio" (see attached screen shot). If this is the case, the Aux-cable that's included with the Dock will not be used as Audio Streaming over Bluetooth is the preferred choice if your system is set up for it. In this scenario, simply hide the aux-out cable end or tuck in under the car seat or center console.
2. Typical car-stereo/Bluetooth systems:
If your car-stereo does NOT allow you to choose the "Media Audio" this means that your system is designed with the so called "Hands-free Profile", thus it is only able to be used for hands-free calling. For this scenario the aux-out cable from the iBOLT Dock should be plugged in to the 3.5 mm aux-in on the car-stereo, usually located in the center console or in-between the front seats. When you play music (or GPS Navigation sound) from your Dock to the car-stereo speakers and a phone call is made or coming in the Aux sound will automatically mute and start again once the phone call has ended. The sound quality when using the aux-out 9ft cable has been reported to be very good. Some users have indicated that the base is even better when using BT A2DP Audio Streaming, versus aux cable. This sounds very logical.
3. Cars without integrated Bluetooth:
If your car does NOT have a 3.5 mm aux-in jack but features a cassette player there's plenty of "cassette-to-3.5 aux" options to buy. Search at your preferred electronic retailer for the solution that is right for you. Once inserted the iBOLT Dock can be used for playing music through the car stereo as if played through the cassette player but at lower quality.
4. Cars with CD player only, no BT, no cassette player:
For cars that has neither 3.5 mm Aux-in, nor a cassette player there's some FM transmitters that features a 3.5 mm aux-in or with Bluetooth A2DP connectivity, allowing a way of connecting the Dock to the car stereo. We have very limited knowledge of this option as it has not been tested by us but theoretically it should work. Any feedback which models work well would be much appreciated!
There's more options and more variables but the above should provide a basic run-down. As there's many knowledgeable users on this forum, clarifications or comments are always appreciated. Connecting the phone's music to the car-stereo is something of high interest to a lot of people.
Our concept with the iBOLT S III Dock was to make the first (?) phone holder truly designed for placement on the left side of the steering wheel. Run the 9ft cable down the door seal and under the drivers carpet and/or seat up to the center console where power and aux-in is usually located. With the phone on the left side it is "out of the way" as far as blocking the view and more importantly, it is within finger tip reach for answering call or switching application. If you have not tried the application "CarHome Ultra" we recommend you do so as it's free for 30 days. Having a good "car panel" in combination with the right Dock placement, and the aux/BT set up as described here is very cool. The S III will become a integral part of the driving experience!
Finally, we strongly recommend connecting the Galaxy S III phone to a Bluetooth device for hands-free calling, regardless which option is used to connect to the car-stereo speakers for listening to music/app sound. To use the S III phone as a "speaker phone" while in the Dock works fine with regards to the driver hearing the other party. However, the party on the other end often hear an echo, a lot of background noise or the driver sound "faint" or like "in a tunnel". This is because virtually no Smartphone (including S III) is designed with a dedicated DSP (Digital Signal Processor) chip for cancelling background noise and echo when used for hands-free speaking. Smartphones don't have full duplex either when in speaker mode, which essentially means the microphone is at least partially shut down while the other party speak. The conversation is therefore similar to using a "walkie-talkie", where only one party can speak effectively at a time. Summary: connect your S III phone to a Bluetooth device from a respected brand manufacturer unless you're holding the phone to the ear when driving (bad idea!) or using a old fashioned wired headset.
I hope this long intro helps setting the stage for a good discussion about the best way to have the ultimate hands-free experience when driving!