iPhone 5, new iPod, may leave some cars in the dust
During today's event announcing the new iPhone and iPod, Apple V.P. Phil Schiller spent a little time talking about the Lightning connector, the port replacing the old 30-pin port on iOS devices. Although Schiller pointed out how Apple's adapter for the port would ensure backward compatibility, some car models are not likely to work with Lightning or the new adapter. The 5 arrives CNET's hands-on with the iPhone 5 Apple out to prove it's still king Pictures: Apple's big iPhone 5 reveal Ho-hum. iPhone 5 won't wow anyone iPhone 5: No Steve Jobs, no sizzle iPhone 5: What we didn't get Poll: Will you buy the iPhone 5? Apple springs leak -- rumors were right An awful dock-connector change Apple shares up, down, then up Start your iOS 6 downloads September 19 iOS 6 hits major marks Apple reworks, simplifies iTunes New iPod Touch: Siri and a 4-inch screen New Nano: Remembering the iPod MiniFull coverage: The iPhone 5 arrivesSchiller specifically mentioned how the adapter would work with existing iPod integration in cars, showing an image of an iPhone cabled to a car. The car shown in the photo was an Audi, identifiable by the distinctive MMI controller on the console. Audi uses a proprietary port for music devices; they come with adapter cables for Apple's 30-pin connector. However, the Audi console shown in the photo had the iPhone cable coming from the back of the console, odd because Audi puts its music device connector in the glovebox of most of its models. Schiller's photo could have been a mock-up.The fact that the Lightning port uses eight purely digital pins calls into question whether the Lightning adapter would actually work with many cars' existing iPod or even USB ports. Current Kia and Hyundai models, and older BMW models, use an adapter cable that feeds the analog audio signal from the 30-pin connector to a 1/8-inch audio input, and a USB port to feed control signals between iPhone and car. Lightning does not have the capability to send an analog signal, so Apple's adapter will not work in those vehicles.Many other cars use a simple USB port to connect to a white iPhone cable. In these systems, the car receives audio as a digital signal, and plays it through the speakers using the car stereo's own digital analog converter, so the new Lightning port should work with the new device's own cable.CNET asked various automakers if their models would be compatible. As of this writing, Ford was the only one to respond. A spokesman for Ford said the company had been able to test iOS 6 with Sync, the system that integrates music players and phones with Ford vehicles. However, Ford was not able to test the new hardware from Apple, nor the release version of iOS 6, so would not comment on compatibility. Other automakers would likely have been in a similar position.
Thursday, May 7, 2015
Sunday, May 3, 2015
Apple signs cloud deal with Warner Music
Apple signs cloud deal with Warner Music
A frugal Google?The features that Google and Apple are working on are supposed to be much richer than Amazon's, music sources said. One surprise about the competition among these Internet titans is that Google is having a hard time licensing music. All the industry sources I have talked to say that top labels were practically hyperventilating at the possibility that Google would make a foray into the space. They were thrilled that the sector would finally see a deep-pocketed iTunes competitor, one that could match the kind of hardware and software one-two punch that Apple delivers. Google's Android mobile operating system has proven popular with the public and top handset manufacturers. Google Music could have a large audience the day it launches. That said, Google and the labels also have a history of haggling over money. Warner, the company that has already signed with Apple, pulled its music videos from YouTube in 2009 following a contract dispute. The two sides eventually came to an agreement. Here's the big question now: Is Google serious about looking for an alternative way into cloud music, or is this a negotiating tactic? I wrote this week that acquiring Pandora, which the Web's most popular radio service, might help give Google some added negotiating leverage in talks with the labels. Here's the one card, though, that nobody in the music industry wants Google to play. The search company could just decide to pull out and stick with YouTube, which just happens to be one of the Web's most popular music sites. Anyone can listen to free music there by watching the scores of music videos there. If Google chose this path, it wouldn't be the first time the search company has indicated it would launch a standalone music service and then pull out. Music industry sources said Google has expressed interest in opening a music store multiple times in the past during discussions with record-label execs. In 2009, some of the big record companies were led to believe that a Google search feature that focused on music was the start of something bigger.Google directed people, who had keyed in the name of a song into its search field, to audio previews of the track. This was later scrapped and Google didn't make another peep about music until last year, when it started talking about the cloud. So, it's not guaranteed that we will get head-to-head competition between Google and Apple some of us hoped to see. We can console ourselves with this: by all appearances, Apple's cloud-music service is on the way.
A frugal Google?The features that Google and Apple are working on are supposed to be much richer than Amazon's, music sources said. One surprise about the competition among these Internet titans is that Google is having a hard time licensing music. All the industry sources I have talked to say that top labels were practically hyperventilating at the possibility that Google would make a foray into the space. They were thrilled that the sector would finally see a deep-pocketed iTunes competitor, one that could match the kind of hardware and software one-two punch that Apple delivers. Google's Android mobile operating system has proven popular with the public and top handset manufacturers. Google Music could have a large audience the day it launches. That said, Google and the labels also have a history of haggling over money. Warner, the company that has already signed with Apple, pulled its music videos from YouTube in 2009 following a contract dispute. The two sides eventually came to an agreement. Here's the big question now: Is Google serious about looking for an alternative way into cloud music, or is this a negotiating tactic? I wrote this week that acquiring Pandora, which the Web's most popular radio service, might help give Google some added negotiating leverage in talks with the labels. Here's the one card, though, that nobody in the music industry wants Google to play. The search company could just decide to pull out and stick with YouTube, which just happens to be one of the Web's most popular music sites. Anyone can listen to free music there by watching the scores of music videos there. If Google chose this path, it wouldn't be the first time the search company has indicated it would launch a standalone music service and then pull out. Music industry sources said Google has expressed interest in opening a music store multiple times in the past during discussions with record-label execs. In 2009, some of the big record companies were led to believe that a Google search feature that focused on music was the start of something bigger.Google directed people, who had keyed in the name of a song into its search field, to audio previews of the track. This was later scrapped and Google didn't make another peep about music until last year, when it started talking about the cloud. So, it's not guaranteed that we will get head-to-head competition between Google and Apple some of us hoped to see. We can console ourselves with this: by all appearances, Apple's cloud-music service is on the way.
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