Dude hardwires Palm Touchstone into BMW, charging ensues
By Chris Ziegler 
posted Jun 18th 2009 3:09PM
posted Jun 18th 2009 3:09PM
[Thanks, Mike]
posted Jun 18th 2009 3:09PM
The percentage of returned gadgets that have nothing wrong with them.
Of the $13.8 billion worth of returned products in 2007, only 5 percent were because gadgets were actually broken, according to a 2008 study.
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And to think most people on BMWs weren't tech-savvy
They aren't...just the people they pay to do things like that... are.
Like anything else there are the majority of owners that fit the stereotype but there is also a large enthusiast community of tech savvy owners.
BMW sells way too many vehicles to lump every owner under one prejudice.
go on over to the mp3car forums for a while and see if you still think that. Plenty of BMW projects. The E39/E38/E46 Era ones usually even have I-Bus integration for controlling windows/dash display/etc.
Seems to me BMWs are owned by more enthusiasts than any other marque short of a specialty maker, like Porsche or Ferrari.
I wish all of the badge whores would go back to cars with no redeeming enthusiast qualities, like Lexus. Then again, high profits are what makes it possible to create cool enthusiast cars.
Too bad the guy who hardwired this touchstone is showing off his transmission fail.
Cancer.
Cancer never looked so sexy.
I don't know what would be worse, getting Cancer from sitting next to that thing -or- spilling hot coffee allover yourself, your PRE and your BMW because you put your touchstone in only cup holder
all car comapnies prepare their cars for IPHONE and IPOD.
Pre? What is that?
The only other DAP that gets this much attention is the ZUNE and only in vehicles Microsoft has put SYNC in.
Actually, this looks like an E92, or the current generation 3 Series Coupe. The cupholders are retractable in the dash. Where the touchstone is mounted is where the iDrive controller is
And secondly, BMW's manufactured after March of 2007 have an option coded 6FL that adds a USB slot under the armrest so that you can plug in virtually any MP3 player, even external harddrives or thumbdrives with MP3s on it that you can play and see on your iDrive screen.
Actually, it's an E93 (convertible). The switch under the charger controls the retractable hard top.
... Magnetic Induction charging systems do not cause cancer. You know how compasses work? The Earth's magnetic field? That one you and every other human being on the earth has been exposed to since they were born? Thats the exact same thing as the Touchstone.
How many amps can you draw from the magnetic field of the Earth? Magnetic induction is still essentially in its infancy for the consumer and there is no way of knowing its long term effects. I was joking with the cancer comment, but I absolutely wouldn't rule it out.
Sounds like many of us with Electric toothbrushes will die of cancer then.
Yeah, electric toothbrushes have had this for years. Shut up with your smug one word cancer first post.
Btw, this car doesn't have an I-drive screen, and therefore did not come with the controller. click the read link.
Yeah, I understand electronic toothbrushes and shavers have used magnetic induction in a few devices (I own one). I wouldn't exactly call it widespread adoption for the consumer considering future ambitions. But I appreciate you reiterating the person before you and telling me to shut up about my "smug" comment.
does that touchstone really grip the pre that well so that it won't fly off when making a sharp turn?
yep
If he hits the brakes or turns that phone is a gonner
a corded cellphone charger would fly all over the place too!
If the driver were to get into a car accident.
Someone actually mounted it vertical on their dash and the Pre hangs on no problem (heavy braking, potholes, and turns). I am looking into a similar solution for when i get a stereo bluetooth head unit. You need it on the dash though if you want to use the GPS too.
http://forums.precentral.net/palm-pre-accessories/184520-my-touchstone-mounting-charger-car-solution-its-alive.html
It has 4 little neodymium magnets. They are pretty strong actually. When I set my pre on it, they pull it and it snaps into place.
That's good news!
then why did Josh seem to have so much trouble with it when he was on Jimmy Fallon?
God I love this phone! I wish it was on GSM or I would own one already. Looks like I'll have to settle for the Magic or Galaxy.
awesome! combine it with Bluetooth audio streaming and you have a kickass wireless solution.
The Pre has AD2P support like any other proper mp3 player/car-radio so that shouldnt be any problem, to make things even neater with a car-set supporting AD2P you can even just drop down your Pre drive listen to the music and take calls without any hassle. I do wonder though even while above somebody claims that the Pre stays in place what happens in a hard turn, or worse an accident. Having a mobile flying through your car isn't that neat which is why i prefer a carset which holds my mobile in place.
Uh, if you get in an accident; I think your phone falling off the touchstone and onto the floor is really the least of your worries.
I've been considering Bluetooth audio for my car for a couple years now, but am worried about the sound quality. I've bought and returned 2 bluetooth stereo headsets for audio already. Can anyone confidently recommend Bluetooth stereo audio?
i have my touch pro with bluetooth connected to my car so I can play music in stereo... the sound is amazing! way better than connecting my ipod through the 3.5mm input.
@ Captainpease,
Jabra is coming out with a new headset:
http://www.jabra.com/Sites/Jabra/na-us/Headsets/Pages/Jabrahalo.aspx
They were supposed to be out by now:
http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/01/jabra-intros-halo-stereo-bluetooth-headset-sp200-speakerphone/
They're reported play time seems kind of short for me but they may work well.
I have a Plantronics Pulsar 590 and they sound pretty good IMO but some ratings aren't that good for it. I think they break down to easily like mine did.
Imagine if he messed up. Crying ensues.
My thoughts exactly - unless he has money to burn!
The console bits aren't that expensive and the car has USB already so it's a relatively low risk venture.
seems to be wired backwords
That was my original thought.
I could see people asking what "wlad" means.
How did you make that upside down P?
@ Dr. Spaceman
I think I shat a little bit. Too funny....
same way you make that reversed b
ALT+100 = upside down P
lol dr. spaceman. the combination of post/ava tar/username.. too funny
¡This cheese is burning me!
Design wise it fits in pretty nicely.
If you check out the forums over at precentral.net there are several guys doing this to all sorts of vehicles (thought not all as clean as this bimmer). Some of the posts contain pretty good instructions, and links to sites where you can order the necessary parts. Now all I need is for my online order of a few touchstones to show up!
its really not a feat to accomplish
"Ironically, this modern marvel of technology is mounted right where the iDrive controller would normally go, which means you're stuck making the nearly impossible choice between this hack and BMW's."
Something is wrong with that sentence, its missing some words. "between this hack and BMW's own iPod connector." makes more sense.
"Something is wrong with that sentence, its missing some words. "between this hack and BMW's own iPod connector." makes more sense. "
You've obviously not used iDrive enough to get the joke.
Also, the Touchstone is magnetic, meaning you're not relying on friction alone to keep the phone in place.
Well, no, because in iDrive-equipped BMWs, more than the iPod interface is controlled by iDrive. You'd lose FM radio, navigation, and access to vehicle settings and statistics, among other things (at least BMW has backtracked and now uses seperate HVAC controls). So really you have to choose between an iDrive-equipped BMW or this Touchstone setup.
But the vehicle in question isn't equipped with iDrive at all (you'd be insane to rip out the iDrive controller to replace it with this)... so it's a win for this particular owner.
Well. Still, I'm referring to the sentence. It ends abruptly.
He's calling BMW's idrive system a hack. Does that help?