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New GROM device. Looking for features. Share your thoughts

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Audio and Electronics' started by gromaudio, Oct 28, 2008.

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  1. gromaudio

    gromaudio New Member

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    Hi all Priusians ;)
    I'm here representing Grom Audio.
    We build integration devices for Toyota (and Prius of course).
    I see people using our ipod devices and I will try my best to answer any questions/issues you might have.

    Now we ask for your participation :)
    We just released our new USB integration kit. It allow you to listen straight to USB stick or mass storage device. No need in dedicated MP3 player. Just put your files and go.
    We'd like to ask Prius community to see which features you think would be useful for such a device.
    Here is what we have so far:
    - Support for up to 99 playlists/folders
    - Each playlist/folder can have unlimited number of songs
    - Shuffle through the whole USB or only selected folder
    - Title/artist of the song
    - AUX in
    - MP3/WMA/AAC playback
    The following features we have requests so far:
    - Folder browsing
    - Artist/album/genre browsing (PC software will be needed)
    - iPod control
    - MTP storage support
    - FLAC (loseless), OGG support

    Anything else comes to your mind ? Please share your thoughts. It is very important to us so we can do a useful product together.

    Edit:
    The first batch of devices will be here next week.
    We will need beta testers for the device.
    Device itself will be around $100 with $40 back upon review/comments/report.
    The device itself is in beta right now, so PM me if interested. We accept US only at the moment.
    We really want to hear the feedback from Prius community.
    I'll post Prius operational video shortly :)
     
    #1 gromaudio, Oct 28, 2008
  2. Manksgloob

    Manksgloob Member

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    Safety and legal concerns aside, how about video file playback? The Prius (and a bunch of other Toyota and Lexus vehicles) have integrated video screens. Might as well use it/them.

    I know there are other products that play videos, but they tend to only be off an iPod, DVD player, or full blown computer (only the last of which can actually play video files of a large number of different codecs.) I'm thinking this GROM device could sit between the first two and the last, in terms of functionality and price.
     
    #2 Manksgloob, Nov 3, 2008
  3. gromaudio

    gromaudio New Member

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    Yeah, playing videos on front screen is a trick. I do not think we will ever do this for existing Toyota :(
    We will support this on other cars where you can define where to stream (BMW, AUDI etc).
    So this way we only stream video to the back or overseat displays.
     
    #3 gromaudio, Nov 4, 2008
  4. david81

    david81 New Member

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    I am certainly interested but would like to see the following.

    - Support for more than 99 folders (may be a limitation of the Prius system)
    - Support for Subfolders (my music is currently organized by Genre\Artist\Album)
    - FLAC/OGG support would be great
    - I'd like to see an SD slot as seen on some other similar devices to allow for adding in new tracks on the fly (audio books, etc.)
    - IPOD support could really be left off if need be. I'm interested in this because I DON'T want to use an IPOD.
    - If you can get the "Library" type function working, that would be wonderful as well.
    - More than 32GB capacity would be helpful.

    Thanks for posting and giving us a chance to speak up on this.

    David
     
    #4 david81, Nov 5, 2008
  5. ningah

    ningah New Member

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    Hello,
    I purchased a DICE for integration with iPod but has had a horrible experience and am still in the return process. I'm seriously looking for another device to buy at this point. Now this USB interface really caught my eye. I have a couple of questions:

    • Is it compatible with a 2005 Prius Package 3?
    • Since it takes USB, will I be able to plug in an iPod or an MP3 player via the USB port (using its own cables) to play the music on the device, as well as to keep them charged?
    • How reliable is the device at this point, since it's NEW? I don't want to have to go through another process of what I'm going through right now.
    As for David's comment:
    Does the device support a multi-media reader plugged in via the USB port?

    Thanks for your help and I'm really excited and hope this will work out for me.

    ~Ning
     
    #5 ningah, Nov 9, 2008
  6. gromaudio

    gromaudio New Member

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    The device is compatible with Prius 05.
    Most of the players have standard USB mass storage so they should work. We did not test it with multi storage devices yet (with extrenal card), so I cannot guarantee. It should charge them also.
    Device is quite reliable. We're still fixing small issues but they do not impact the performance.
    As of card readers, yes most of them supported. Again multi device readers with many slots may not work correctly.
    Thanks for the feedback.
     
    #6 gromaudio, Nov 15, 2008
  7. gromaudio

    gromaudio New Member

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    Thanks for the feedback. Please read my response and comment if any.
    - 99 folders is a limitation on Prius
    - Subfolders are not natively supported by Prius so they will be flattened out as we do right now (we treat all subfolders as plain list of files). There is a way to navigate to a next folder is to press SCAN and >>
    - OGG will be there. FLAC should be ready in January
    - SD card will be supported through USB adapter only. We do not want to preference particular technology. USB is universal.
    - iPod will be supported in addition to USB, so when USB is not active, you can attach iPod and it will switch to iPod mode instantly ;)
    - Library may be supported but we still have no solid vision yet
    - 32GB is a limitation of FAT32 :(
     
    #7 gromaudio, Nov 15, 2008
  8. david81

    david81 New Member

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    This is just about a deal killer for me. My main reason for wanting something like this would be to carry all of my music on a portable hard drive that stays hidden. I currently have far more than 99 artists/albums. I understand this is not fixable, currently at least, but I can't see how to make it work with just 99 folders available (unless subfolders were supported, but I understand that is also not a possibility)

    Ummmm.....FAT32 easily supports over 32GB.....try 2 Terabytes.

    Description of the FAT32 File System
     
    #8 david81, Nov 15, 2008
  9. jhall

    jhall New Member

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    Would like a way to update firmware easily.

    Ideally it could read firmware updates from a USB stick file being in the root (something like firmware.bin). I have seen too many of these devices where users need to buy a "firmware upgrade kit" so they can make updates for bug fixes and features.
     
    #9 jhall, Nov 17, 2008
  10. markderail

    markderail I do 45 mins @ 3200 PSI

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    How about a link to the product please.

    Assuming using cheapie USB sticks, I like the idea of that, instead of burning MP3's to five different CD's to make a rather limited +- 250 x 5 songs. I hate burning.

    I could easily buy a few sticks at 5$ each for 1G, and play around with that.
     
    #10 markderail, Nov 18, 2008
  11. gromaudio

    gromaudio New Member

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    You don't have to place all your artists into different folders. We usually recomend grouping by genre and using quick scan function to jump between artists. This way number of disks you use is within manageable number (~20)

    On FAT32. It is possible to have larger drives but there are some tricks that may not work well on hosts other than PC ones. So it is at your own risk. We cannot guarantee at this point.
     
    #11 gromaudio, Nov 19, 2008
  12. gromaudio

    gromaudio New Member

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    The device is explained here:
    http://gromaudio.com/usb.html
    And here is the firmware page with the update procedure:
    http://gromaudio.com/support.html
    At the time, no text supported, we should have it all tested within 1-2 weeks.
     
    #12 gromaudio, Nov 19, 2008
  13. jorgeez

    jorgeez New Member

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    I agree! How about posting some pics? USB sticks on the head unit is a great idea.
     
    #13 jorgeez, Nov 20, 2008
  14. gromaudio

    gromaudio New Member

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    I will post some Prius pics/videos shortly. We have to get text (folders/files) working properly.
    Should be ready next week.
     
    #14 gromaudio, Nov 21, 2008
  15. smokeGTI

    smokeGTI Member

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    Hi Ya,

    I didn't notice this thread, I've just ordered a Grom-USB few days before,
    it should be on it's way now.

    I hope it's gonna work fine with my type-1 player.:rolleyes:
     
    #15 smokeGTI, Dec 5, 2008
  16. smokeGTI

    smokeGTI Member

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    Just received my Grom-USB and installed today,
    It's working fine with my basic CD player!
     
    #16 smokeGTI, Dec 9, 2008
  17. gromaudio

    gromaudio New Member

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    #17 gromaudio, Dec 12, 2008
  18. Dion

    Dion New Member

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    Does the GromUSB support CD text on screen?
     
    #18 Dion, Dec 12, 2008
  19. Bob64

    Bob64 Sapphire of the Blue Sky

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    You can get a 16GB flash stick for 15$ these days.

    5$ per gigabyte is overpriced.
     
    #19 Bob64, Dec 12, 2008
  20. gromaudio

    gromaudio New Member

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    Not just yet. We suppose to have it last week. But things get crazy lately ;)
    I will post pics/video here once done.
     
    #20 gromaudio, Dec 15, 2008
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