After your fourth or fifth time ending up in a ditch or a swimming pool or a tree while attempting to find a good FM frequency to push your iPod tunes to your car stereo, you're likely looking for a better way to live. Lucky for you, Belkin has been hard at work over-engineering the problem to death, and has finally emerged with the new TuneCast Auto Live FM Transmitter. The device is "specifically compatible" with
iPhone OS 3.0, and pulls GPS data from the phone to figure out the clearest FM frequency to use based on "geographical" data and on the recommendations of other local users. It's all controllable from the iPhone interface with the free ClearScan Live app, which reduces device juggling, but the unit also works with the iPod touch, iPod classic and iPod nano. It'll be available early this fall for $80.
posted Jun 4th 2009 2:33PM
Their prices remind me of a monsterous company that also sells knick knacks for too much money... their name has slipped my mind.
This makes me happy to have a tape deck because you can ALWAYS get a signal with a tape adapter. Oh, and they are $2 at monoprice.
I hate radio transmitters with a passion; its WELL WORTH THE MONEY to just get your Car Stereo Deck replaced with a deck that has a 3.5mm Aux Port for $100 than buy transmitters and have to suffer through inconsistent signals
I so wish these were standard with Car radios
Yea, and have to endure those stupid nubs playing their Rap or POP music everytime some wussy maggot Honda civic pulls up...
F-U honda! and your wimpy 1.2 L engines!!!
3.5mm FTW! Frak those stupid FM transmitters.
@ rallyprox
-1 for the Battlestar reference
Really my car stereo is in its third car at this point solely because it has a usb port for playing mp3s off any standard flash drive and a 3.5 jack. It cost me less than 100$ 4 years ago, and I don't ever have to deal with poor sound quality from a tape adapter or a fm transmitter. Go buy a mid range sony xplode head and call it a day, you will be glad you did, but don't waste your money on one with an ipod adapter, the ipod has a better UI than the head unit.
FM Transmitters don't work at all in Los Angeles or New York because there are no unused frequencies. If you live in Cleveland I feel sorry for you.
I here ya bro!
This is one of the best products for cars with an audio input
http://us.kensington.com/html/14486.html
The device docs your ipod so that you don't use a headphone jack to audio in configuration. You actually get the better sound from the ipod connector to your audio input. It also charges and has a wireless steering wheel mountable controller!
hm I guess the built-in FM transmitter rumor is bunk...at least I can't see why anyone would spend money on an external one
Exactly what I was thinking
You can still use these with first and second gen iPhones...?
Wow. That's a lot of scratch. You would think that there could be a more elegant solution than using GPS.
this is just stupid. get a auxiliary input in your stereo...
I've never really understood why having a radio transmitter was so important, there's a reason the non-iPhone is called an iPod, it's supposed the to play the music...
You do realize that this device is for transmitting your music from your iPod to your car stereo so you can listen while you drive, right?
Way to go, Belkin. These things should cost no more than $20.
Why not have a receiver in the transmitter, and look for the clearest frequency to transmit on, and then use the transmitter with that frequency? Isn't that a more elegant solution?
Belkin already has a transmitter that does that very thing. It sucks! It always picks a station that is in use and has never worked for me once. I think the receiver is so weak that it picks what it thinks is an empty channel but is not. I always have to search for my own unused channel. Traveling with these things SUCK! As you drive a long every hour or so you have to surf the FM channels to find another free channel. I would definitely suggest getting line in (One of these days I will take my own advise).
I've been thinking for a long time now...why don't they start enabling stereo bluetooth for vehicles. Let's get away from these lack-luster fm modulators and adapters.
The bluetooth technology is there - what is the delay?
R
Microsoft sync in a lot of Ford vehicles already has that stereo Bluetooth functionality.
They have.
Theoretically the iPhone 3G with the 3.0 software will work with BT audio enabled stereos. The bigger problem is that a lot of car makers stock stereos don't have this feature, it's typically after market stuff, and a lot of people don't want to replace the stock head unit...
It might also have something to do with the fact that Most MP3 Players don't have Bluetooth.
Wow, talk about over-engineering... and on top of that, for a really crappy old-tech way of getting tunes to your car. Seriously, FM transmitting is absolute CRAP. If you can spend $80 on this, you can spend $80 getting an auxiliary input added to your current car stereo, and you'll be so much happier with it.
Seems like this would put an end to the rumored FM transmitter as part of any new apple hardware, of course they could be targeting only existing iphones with 3.0 software, but that seems like a dead end product as apple will likely discontinue those models.
but will it change my fm station on my stereo?
Idk if I should get a transmitter. I don't wanna replace my car stereo because it's an upgraded stereo from ford
So get an AUX in kit like DICE or something.FM transmitters are crap in comparison.
Apple is also jerking us around on these things. When I bought a new iPod touch I found the fm transmitter I was using with my old iPod still transmitted, but Apple changed the power pin so it won't charge the device at the same time now.
"So is this thing going to require an app download?"
..It's all controllable from the iPhone interface with the free ClearScan Live app..
"the clearest FM frequency to use based on "geographical" data"
- So if you live in the city that would be NOTHING.
I have the current version of this product...it SUCKS...seriously, I get terrible static on pretty much every station it selects...not a fan, get a direct link to the stereo.
If this thing is ANYTHING like it's $80 counterpart for the iPhone3G...avoid it like the plague. My first one had a clear signal on maybe one channel? The "Clearcast" seems more like a randomizer than anything else. I figured it was faulty, so I returned it and got another one. Same deal with the second one, only it had a few more channels which were clear. I needed a phone charger in my car and I didn't have a 3.5mm jack so I thought it would be best. It's a TERRIBLE TERRIBLE product, sometimes it can't even overpower static and I have to push the clearcast button several times before it actually finds a good clear station. Eghhh, such frustrating products that you use while driving only creates more road rage! lol
It's 2009. Why are you still using an FM transmitter?
Doesn't having an iPhone app to control this prevent you from actually running music streaming services like Pandora and AOL radio? Fine, it may work within the ipod app, but it doesn't do me any good when you can't run two programs (subject to change with new phone)
I got a drive+play (first gen) new on the 'net for $20 delivered. Really good and cheap solution.
Or you could just use a European frequency that would be clear throughout the entire US, so you'd never have to change the preset. Just saying...