There are a lot of different mp3 players on the market today, but Apple are the leaders of the market with the numerous variations of the iPod. Initially the iPod was successful due to its styling and functions, however the current rise of popularity is also down to other factors including additional accessories and add-ons to the ipod to make it more functional and or usable.

The iPod’s primary use is for music play back, Although current iPod and iPhones are capable of so much more. Accessories that increase the functionality of the iPod are now seen as a business in there own right. A perfect example of an iPod accessory is the iPod car adaptor. Its primary function is to allow you to listen to your music while in your car. This has obvious advantages over other forms of entertainment systems in your vehicle, first and foremost you can listen to the music you love rather than what happens to be on the radio at the time, secondly the quality is far superior to the radio as they provide a digital connections into the cars entertainment systems. There are many other advantages depending on which kit you choose to purchase. However these advantages largely depend on your vehicle.

Other iPod car accessories can be found in a lot of local or online stores and include simple charging cables from the cigarette lighter, Ideal for when your iPod loses battery charge, FM transmitters, a more basic version of the Digital iPod car kit. The quality can be poor on Transmitters so its important to choose a good brand and if you live in a built up area its likely you wont receive a good reception. Ipod cases aren’t specific to car accessories however they can and will stop your iPod from being damaged while left in your vehicle.

Ipod car accessories can provide a useful extension to your iPods functions, Its likely that you love to listen to music. Driving is the perfect opportunity to cycle through track’s you haven’t heard for a while. The iPod car adaptor is the perfect means of doing so.

We want to tell you about our customers more and more so we will be updating our blog at least weekly with one of our customers experiences. He had a choice of Dension or Dice In Car iPod kits.

Calvin Divilak from North London runs his own eCommerse website selling bathroom accessories. He contacted our sales team via our ticketing system requesting some advice on what kit would suit his needs best. His choice was between the BMW Dension Gateway and the BMW Dice Silverline iPod Car Kits.

Calvin wasn’t that confident with auto electrics but with the right guidance was sure he could do it. Before his purchase we sent him a direct link to the installation instructions of both kits. It seemed that Calvin thought he would struggle to remove the stereo in his car so he opted for the Dice Silverline kit for BMW as it simply plugs into the pre-wired lead in the boot. From here he would just have to route the 5m wire which comes with the kit through to where he wanted his iPod to live.

Calvin ordered at 2:30pm on Thursday and left a voicemail on our sales phone line at 7:30am on Friday to say that he received the item. We received another call at 9am to let us know he had installed it and to discuss the best way of operating the kit. Within 10 minutes he had the hang of it and was another happy customer.

Its time to tell you about another of our customers. Andy Crawford from Leeds contacted us around a month ago and was more than happy to share his story.

Andy purchased a new (09) VW Golf from his local VW dealership, he was told be the salesman that an iPod integration kit was included in the price of the vehicle. Andy was delighted as he was also looking at a Renault Megane which didn’t have the option for iPod Integration, hearing this news tipped the decision towards the VW. Andy drives alot for his job and can average 200 miles a day in some weeks. He ordered and eagerly waited for his new car to arrive.

3 weeks later he got the call to collect his car and swiftly popped down to the VW Dealer. He was delighted with the car in every aspect but within a few hours (after playing with all the gadgets and getting used to it) he got around to testing the iPod kit. To Andy’s disbelief the only visible iPod connection was just a 3.5mm jack in the glove box. He scoured the vehicle manual and couldn’t find any information so he called the dealer and was told that the 3.5mm jack was the iPod Integration kit that he was promised. Andy pointed out that 3.5mm jacks cannot integrate an iPod with a stereo, it can only provide a simple audio signal. He was after hoping that his iPod would stay charged and have the ability to be controlled from the car stereo.

After a 30 minute conversation the VW Dealer finally decided to offer an integrated iPod solution to Andy for free of charge. The car was booked in and the iPod kit was installed. It turns out that the kit they were installing was a very poor, very old version of a Dension In Car iPod kit (infact, one of the very first versions produced nearly 8 years ago). It wouldn’t charge his iPod, it would only map 5 playlists on the stereo (he couldn’t control it via albums, artists, tracks or any other means), he couldn’t revert the controls back to the iPod, the kit didn’t send track information (ID3 tagging) to the stereo. All in all, Andy wasn’t happy!

We received a call at 3:30pm on a Friday from Andy, our first contact with him. He asked what could be done and if any of the features he wanted were possible. We confirmed that ALL the features were possible & infact very simple. He could even install the kit himself easily. Andy ordered & we received a call on Monday morning from Andy. Andy received the kit on Saturday at 8am, had it installed by 9am and all the features he was after worked just as he had hoped.

Andy was just another happy customer of iPodCarKitDirect. If you want iPod integration or an In Car iPod then give us a call, see what see can do for you!

Since iPod Car Kit Direct introduced Dice to the UK last year Dice have come on leaps and bounds. We always knew they had huge potential!

They have just finished the last touches on their new look website which can be seen here;

http://diceelectronics.com/index.php/

Dice (Dice Silverline) are fastly becoming the worlds most prestigious iPod Car Kit manufacturers along the side of Dension (who make the Dension gateway 100, gateway 300, gateway 500 (which replace the Ice Link Plus a year or so ago)). If you want an in car iPod then this really is the way to go!

Check out the new Dice site and contact us if you need any information.

Apple recently introduced two new iPod Touch models, the 32GB version and the 64GB version. Apples main marketing push for these iPods was built around the bases that the iPods are "50% faster than previous models". As usual, most forum users were scepticle. As we all know, word spreads quicker than ever before with the internet becoming more important to our life’s – this makes it easier for rumours to spread. It only takes one respected forum user to dislike or not fully believe an idea and you have mutiny! Once this has happened, other forum users take his opinion as gospel and it spreads like wild-fire.

This push from Apple had just this problem. However, we have had a few test models and have compared them to older iPod Touch models (1st and 2nd Generation). We found the following results;

• Boot speed was cut from around 25-35 seconds to around 15 seconds.
• Opening web pages was cut from 30 seconds to around 20 seconds.
• Loading games was also cut in almost half. Games included Rolando 2, Tap Tap, Spore and more.

I think thats pretty conclusive evidence that Apple are on the right track here!

These new kits also appear to work perfectly with the Dice and Dension iPod Car Kits and In Car iPod kits on first quick tests (although tests will continue to confirm)

Dice Electronics are at the forefront of the iPod Car Kit market in the US & have pushed themselves into the limelight in the UK market over the last year. Dice Electronics have a huge development team and are always trying to better their kits.

The latest update is something called "SMART" mode. SMART mode is a new way of operating your iPod. It allows you to switch between iPod control and stereo/steering wheel control without going into your boot to change the dip switches around.

This new mode makes the Dice iPod Integration kits stand out above others & really pushes them towards what the consumers want.

Currently, the SMART mode kits are only available for BMW but more vehicles are due soon. Watch this space!

iPods are one of the most successful inventions if not the most successful inventions in the last 10 years, Its one of a very few inventions that transcends generations. In my family I have one, my parents have two and even my grandparents have one (Admittedly they struggle to use it sometimes).  However this demonstrates the desirability, use-ability and functionality of them. Due to this invention It’s likely within 10 years most of the worlds music collection will be digital, with very few singles & albums released on CD or any other physical media.  With this in mind it’s important to realise now what impact this will have in the present and more so in the future.

There’s a growing trend within the car audio and entertainment market to connect the iPod into the entertainment system, through the car stereo. This allows access of all of your favourite music and videos (where compatible) at the touch of a button. With the use of these devices you are in control of what you listen to, when you want to listen to it, without having to change 100’s of CDs to switch from artist to artist.

Many aftermarket manufacturers already offer this function with their newer stereo ranges. However the vast majority vehicle owners do not want to remove the original stereo equipment and replace with an aftermarket equivalent. This is more evident in the case of the more luxurious and executive vehicles owners such as Audi, as it’s more difficult to integrate aftermarket systems into the more expensive and desirable interior. If this is the case for you there are more options available than you may have thought.
 
iPod Car kits are available for factory fitted radios, among the best are Dension and the US equivalent Dice. These devices connect into the CD changer usually found on the back of the stereo. When connected they emulate the CD changer but allow you to connect you iPod into the system. From here you can control your music selections from the vehicle steering wheel controls or from the stereo & navigate back and forward through albums while it keeps you iPod charged and ready for when you exit the car.

Kits are available for the following Audi Radios,

Chorus, Chorus II, Chorus Gen2, Concert, Concert II, Concert Gen2, Symphony, Symphony II, Symphony Gen2, Navigation Plus RNS-D, Navigation RNS-E, Navigation RNS-Low

Separate kits are required for the MMI, MMI Basic fibre optic systems.

Dice Silverline Pro.

One of the major issues customers have with the Dice Silverline kits is switching between ‘iPod’ and ‘Stereo Only’ user modes.

The standard Dice kit uses dip switches on the main box to change control from ‘iPod only’ to ‘stereo only’. When the kit is in ‘stereo only’ mode, the iPod is completely locked out and can not be used to select tracks, albums or play lists. As the main control box is situated in the boot, it is impractical to keep stopping the vehicle, opening the boot and changing tiny switches just to change the user mode.

Dice have come up with a new system that allows you to shift control from ‘iPod only’ to ‘stereo only’ from the iPod itself, without having to change the dip switches. They call this ‘smart’ mode and it is controlled by the iPods “hold” button situated at the top of the iPod.

Locking the iPod using the hold button moves the dice unit to ‘stereo only’ mode, unlocking the iPod using the hold button moves control back to the iPod, but the best part is that all text information is still displayed on the stereo even in ‘iPod only’ mode.

In addition to this, the new Silverline Pro has been upgraded with the latest firmware, and all kits come as standard with the 5V charging cable, needed to support the iPhone 3G, iTouch 2G and Nano 4G.

The best part is the price; the new Pro Kits are exactly the same price as the standard Silverline kits, so you really do get more value for money.

The Silverline Pro will be landing in the UK in the coming weeks, stay tuned for an update shorty.

We have been hitting stumbling blocks recently with misconceived ideas about FM Modulation when connecting an Apple iPod into your vehicle. Understandably, people get confused between Modulation and Transmission. We are here to set the record straight as these thoughts couldn’t be further from the truth.

Here are a few questions that we get asked and our answers:

Will I receive interference?

Absolutely not, no. There are a number of features that make sure this isn’t possible with Modulation;

·         It doesn’t transmit through airwaves as it is fully hard wired so radio stations signals cannot be received by your iPods signal.

·         As it’s fully hard-wired, the iPods signal is being sent down a wire, just like you would expect from an Auxiliary wire or a CD Changer wire.

·         The Modulator kits have a electrical "on/off" switch which physically block out your cars aerial when the iPod is connected to the kit, meaning that your aerial isn’t even connected.

Does it charge the iPod?

It does indeed. All the iPods will receive a full charge from the iPod car kit.

How hard is it to install?

Installation takes about 30 minutes at the maximum. The kit just needs to plug in to the rear of the stereo, it’s that simple.

How good will the audio quality be?

This will be similar to what you would expect from DAB, very close to CD Quality. On 99.9% of installations, you won’t be able to tell the difference between the iPod and your CDs, especially when you take into account the road noise coming from the car.

Why can’t I have a fully integrated kit like the Dension Gateway devices or the Dice Electronics Car Kits?

There are a few things that might stop you being able to use a fully integrated kit:

·         Your stereo doesn’t have a CD Changer port, therefore not being able to connect into the cars stereo

·         Your stereo simply isn’t good enough, this could be due to the lack of processing speed, the lack of software support or even because it is too advanced!

·         You just might not want to spend the amount of money that a fully integrated car kit costs

Are there any advantages of having a Modulator over an integrated kit?

There are a few, yes. Firstly the price, the Universal Modulator kits from Dension and Dice come in at £69.97 and £79.97 respectively. This can be a saving of around £40 over a fully integrated iPod Car Kit. Secondly, the kits come as standard with the iPod connection, unlike the integrated kits where you have to add the cable or cradle into the kit. Thirdly, the installation can be easier; it could save you an hour of labor!

We hope this might clear a few things up for you guys, if not then you are more than welcome to contact us at anytime.

As Christmas is drawing near, in car network have decided to make it that little bit easier on your wallet when purchasing your iPod equipment. We have decided to create one special offer per month until Christmas.

October’s special offer is free delivery to all UK Mainland customers when ordering Dice RDS FM Modulators.

The Dice are one of the leading brands of iPod car kits. Based in the USA they produce integrated kits for a range on cars and a very competent RDS FM Modulator that is universal providing you have a European ISO Aerial, so basically you can connect it to 99.9% of European stereos both factory and aftermarket…

The iPod Car Kit connects directly into the Aerial on the back of the headunit that provides an excellent signal interface that also reduces the chance of interference from other FM broadcasting stations and devices that FM Transmitters can’t block out. The Dice RDS FM also charges your iPod when it’s playing and provides RDS Track information if the headunit is compatible.

The Dice kit is provided with a dock cable for easy access and can be mounted anywhere in the car with the use of brodit mounting brackets and passive cradles depending on your iPod.

To claim your free delivery on the Dice RDS FM

type OCT_DICE into the coupon section when ordering