markiemark

Will a cell phone with mp3 playback and bluetooth allow mp3's to play thru the idrive system? Such as the Audiovox SMT 5600. Its basicaly a pda/smartphone with all the multimedia stuff.
Just curious.

stream

From what I've heard, the BT in smartphones isn't compatible with the E60.

markiemark

I knew there'd be a catch!

alohalc

very good question, markiemark . but i doubt it. bluetooth function in our cars is "only" for making phone calls. it would be nice to play mp3, though. since there are so many "non" smartphones have mp3 playback now.

UUronL

I've been meaning to try to send audio via my laptop to the handsfree. From what I understand it should work (albeit not in stereo and not through all speakers/processing). Many people have done this with a mono headset connected to a PC. The enabling profile on the PC is "Audio Gateway".


Getting the functionality we all want in the 5-Series should be a simple matter of having the correct bluetooth profile added to the car itself. I'd imagine that they'll wait until something like an iPOD officially gets bluetooth support before they'll code for it. That way we'll get song updates and button navigation in addition to the passage of audio through the bluetooth connection.

This company has a bluetooth iPOD adapter, but the profiles really only match up to their stereo products. Again, once Apple codes the interface and spec for the device, I think just about everyone else will make compatible profiles.


icombi AP11 - http://icombi.nanzzang.com/product_02.asp


The specs are decent:

-Full spectrum stereo high-fidelity audio (20-20 kHz, <.25% THD, 85dBA SNR)
-Bluetooth v1.1/1.2 compliant with full speed Class 2 operation (10 meter)
-A2DP(Advanced Audio Distribution Profile)
-AVRCP(Audio/Video Remote Control Profile)


I think these last two profiles are the ones required, and will probably be slightly different for each vendor or device, hence why I think we're not seeing any compatible profiles yet.

markiemark

Alright, that was good research, I appreciate it. I was thinking there must be some software that would have to be added. I went to the bluetooth org site but I'm not smart enough to figure out what I'm looking for. I guess I'll have to wait for the upgrade for US cars with NAV to get cd mp3's or apple's bluetooth ipod either way.

I've been meaning to try to send audio via my laptop to the handsfree. From what I understand it should work (albeit not in stereo and not through all speakers/processing). Many people have done this with a mono headset connected to a PC. The enabling profile on the PC is "Audio Gateway".


Getting the functionality we all want in the 5-Series should be a simple matter of having the correct bluetooth profile added to the car itself. I'd imagine that they'll wait until something like an iPOD officially gets bluetooth support before they'll code for it. That way we'll get song updates and button navigation in addition to the passage of audio through the bluetooth connection.

This company has a bluetooth iPOD adapter, but the profiles really only match up to their stereo products. Again, once Apple codes the interface and spec for the device, I think just about everyone else will make compatible profiles.


icombi AP11 - http://icombi.nanzzang.com/product_02.asp


The specs are decent:

-Full spectrum stereo high-fidelity audio (20-20 kHz, <.25% THD, 85dBA SNR)
-Bluetooth v1.1/1.2 compliant with full speed Class 2 operation (10 meter)
-A2DP(Advanced Audio Distribution Profile)
-AVRCP(Audio/Video Remote Control Profile)


I think these last two profiles are the ones required, and will probably be slightly different for each vendor or device, hence why I think we're not seeing any compatible profiles yet.
[/quote]

UUronL

Both!


Yeah, if you're familiar with BT in Windows, it is pretty easy to view the "profiles". The computers in our cars run Windows CE/Mobile, so adding these profiles should be kind of like adding a driver (but probably an entirely new BT "stack"). The "Services" listed here on my laptop are the profiles available on my PC. The "Audio Gateway" profile should allow the PC to send audio over an existing connection, like a headset.

This recent article talks about car support for Bluetooth:

http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-10895_7-6229243-1.html


It states that cars can either have headset profiles, handsfree profiles (more features), and phone book access profiles (the one in the 5-Series works for some phones - the article mentions they are nearing a standard).

The list of services the car needs to be loaded with must include the A2DP profile to transfer stereo sound, and the AVRCP profile to transfer what's on the readout of the player and to allow for access to the player's controls. I'm betting that once Apple standardizes, we'll see a profile in a software update.

Keep your fingers crossed.

UUronL

Ah, this is cool. I did a search on "A2DP Profile BMW" on Google and found this motorcycle helmet...

http://www.bmw-motorrad.com/com/en/index_f.../wcs1_data.html


It supports the A2DP profile, so someone at BMW knows what's going on...

tcumbo

...another new option for us. If you have an Aux Input, you could connect a Motorola DC800 to it. Its a receiver of bluetooth broadcast streams... meaning, you could plug the headphone-out of the DC800 to you Aux Input and keep the whole thing tucked away in your glove compartment. Then simply play music on your BT-enable MP3 player and it will broadcast perfectly out your car speakers.

Can't find too much out about the DC800 yet, but its supposed to be out soon.

UUronL

Right, but there's an awfully good chance that our cars can be made to perform this function with some code upgrades. I'm not too concerned with adding the two bluetooth profiles, that shouldn't be a huge issue. I'd imagine that quite a few MOST commands will need to be pieced together around the function of such an interconnect, although it shouldn't be impossible. Things like adding the input to the list of sources when the device is in range, how things like mute will behave when a call comes in, how to prioritize the utilization of the BT link, turning hard control commands into BT commands to be transfered to the device, how to accept BT information and display it onscreen, etc... I hope they go to the trouble of doing it.


We're so close to not having to worry about wiring devices like these into cars. Apple needs to hurry up with the BT iPods already.


Oh, and I finally got my replacement battery for my laptop - I should be able to try the audio gateway profile to see if I can pass audio to the BMW. I'll report back on my findings.