USB and Safety Connect Are Almost Here!

I was curious so I tried putting a DVD in while parked and it didn't play :/ Oh well.

 

Did you ever hear anything back from them? I am VERY interested in this product!

 

Yes, so am I. It would really be interesting to see how this product works on the Prius. (for those who are lost, we are talking about this Video,Audio Information Solutions for Toyota and Lexus (iPod integration,XM and Sirius SAT radio integration,MP3 integration,Auxiliary input)). I mean, if this turns out to be a much faster interface, then there would be no reason to worry about whether Toyota's new OEM interface is good or not.

and, in another note:

Again, I apologize for my lack of specification. I was refering exclusively to third party cables, and some docks. A lot of them made for the older gen I pods in general either won't work at all or won't charge the newer gens. This is why products like this one exist (Charging adapter for home docks (black)). In the other hand, most third party adapters/cables designed for the newer gens i pods will also work with the old ones. However, I have seen a few that will not work with the old ones at all. The cable you speak of, being Apple's signature white usb cable, as far as i know, works with every gen, so I will not argue that.

I wanna add though, I said there was a different number of pins because I remember reading an article of one of those tech sites that completely tear things apart (they tore a i phone 3g or i touch second gen, cant remember) and they found at least one more pin. I can no longer find the article... But I also know that firewire charging support was removed in the transition from 1st gen i phone/itouch to the 2nd gen ipod/iphone, and a lot of third party manufacturers relied on firewire charging to make it work...so I just assumed that the firewire would have to do with the different number of pins, but I must declare myself guilty because I am not sure of whether this firewire difference was hardware or software related. Nevertheless, judging by the Scosche adapter, I think is very likely it was a hardware thing, which is more than likely somewhere on the pins in the Apple connector..and that is how I came to make to my previously stated conclusions. Anyways..back to topic...

 

I have not heard back from VAIS yet. I will shoot out another email right now. Not reassuring that I didn't get a response though.

 

They emailed me back. My first email must've got lost in the cracks. They will be testing the 2010 with their product line next week and will have more info then. They don't anticipate any problems.

 

anyone know if you have this on order, if this should come with the prius iv, solar package? (i didn't order it from a dealer)

 

If I may so myself, ...YAY! lol I really want this. We'll see how it goes.

 

Dealer called just now... I get the new iPod/iPhone integration kit installed on Monday. Can't wait!

 

I just went to a dealer here in Raleigh, NC (this very morning) and the model with nav they had sitting (waiting for the owner to pick up) already had the USB interface! The salesman said he'd been seeing them and to be honest I didn't believe him since I thought it would be later but he got the key and let me sit in the car and sure enough it said USB/Auxiliary input and showed IPOD and USB on the nav screen.

 

I put in the Toyota USB interface yesterday. I'm pretty happy with it. When scrolling through songs it won't switch songs if you keep scrolling and don't stop. Still not a good design decision on that. Also doesn't remember your menu selection and defaults to song, not artist which is pretty useless if you have 1000's of songs. It does work when the car is moving. Also the instructions that someone posted aren't corrrect, the interface plugs into the XM unit under the drivers seat. It's really pretty easy to put in.

 

Was it a III or IV? If it was a IV did it have Safety Connect?
If not, perhaps it was dealer installed.

 

An update after a weekend with the USB interface. The ipod interface is slow and my iphone keeps disconnecting, so I put in a flash USB drive and it works much better, faster and I like the UI better. Only issue is no pod casts.

 

Here's an update. I had my service appointment today, the dealer (Koons Toyota Arlington) installed the new USB / iPod interface (Part # PT233-47100) in my Prius.

First, the good news... The iPod interface works wonderfully. I love having the USB tab on the Nav screen. For me, having the integration into the sound system is a major plus.

Next, the bad news. The dealer must not have known anything about how to install it right because, as a drove home, I switched over to the Satellite tab (XM), and no sound comes through even though the scren shows the channel info. It appears that the dealer messed up something with the XM radio or forgot to reconnect something. The Nav, FM, AM, and BT are all working fine.

Argh! Of course, when I noticed this, the dealer was already closed. So, I will need to schlep back and have them fix the problem.

I would have expected the dealer to check all aspects of the sound system out before returning the car. If I had thought about it, I would have done a thorough check myself, but I didn't think to check XM.

So, a word of warning to all: if you have the dealer (well, at least Koons in Arlington) install the USB/iPod interface, CHECK EVERYTHING ELSE out in your sound system before you leave the service department. It's kind of crappy to lay out $360 (part + installation) just have your car returned with LESS functionality that it had before!

 

Yippee! Koons Arlington was able to fix the problem. They said that it was an issue of firmware. Once they applied the latest update to the firmware, it worked perfectly.

 

Did they say what firmware, the car's computers, the XM controller, the USB controller? I'm really interested since mine isn't working with my iphone. This is not a good thing for those of us that self installed. I don't want to pay my dealer another $50 because they have magic software on their laptop.

 

Mt View - The tech said it was a firmware issue, but he did not specify what. I wish I had more details, but I was just so happy to hear that it was fixed and working. He didn't know what to do at first, but he consulted with someone else (at Toyota, I think). He was told to do a firmware update, and whatever he updated, it worked.

I hope you get your issue fixed without having to pay!

 

I did fix one of my issues which was not always getting sound when in USB. My phone was connecting with BT so I deleted that and now always have sound when it is connected. I've written Toyota and MetroTPN re the other problem. What I am seeing is:

It works great with a flash drive but when I connect my iPhone 3G running the latest OS, 3.0.1, it gets the message “Accessory not made to work with the iPhoneâ€. It then works for a while and then disconnects. If I disconnect and reconnect the phone it will work again for a while. I have tried two different cables between the USB and the phone and both work pretty much the same.

Is anyone else seeing the “Accessory not made to work with the iPhone†message?

 

The answer may be hidden in the 20-page thread. What is the part number for the USB Interface Kit? Will it be available in Canadian dealers?

 

Is it the same as the one sold on PriusChat.com Shop (PT233-47100 for $199)?

 

For those of you with an iphone 3G using the USB interface is anyone seeing the error "Accessory not made to work with the iPhone"?

thanks,