Driving sounds sweet as Ford, GM sign up for iPod

The car has taken another step closer to becoming a full-blown entertainment centre with deals announced between Apple Computer and the top two US carmakers.

General Motors and Ford will integrate Apple's popular iPod into new models, further strengthening Apple's dominant position in the portable music player business.

An iPod that meshes into a car's audio system is another example of how communications boundaries are being erased.

DVD players are popping up in cars, entertaining bored kids. Satellite radio is bringing cable TV-like music channel selection to motorists. Dashboard navigation systems are offering computerised maps.

"There is some integration and convergence going on," said Larry Wu, senior director of automotive emerging technologies at J.D. Power and Associates, an automotive research firm.

Ford said last week that half its vehicle line-up for next year will include a jack to plug in an iPod or any other MP3 player. Drivers can control the music player's volume with their car radio dials.

Then, beginning early next year, Ford will offer a method of more completely integrating the iPod into a car's audio system. Dubbed "TripTunes Advanced", it's tailored exclusively for the iPod.

With TripTunes, an iPod runs through a connection in the glove box and automatically charges while the car is on. Songs playing on an iPod are displayed on the car radio screen. All iPod functions, including volume and track selection, can be controlled by steering wheel settings.

General Motors unveiled its "Personal Audio Link" iPod adapter, which will be introduced on the 2007 Chevrolet HHR, to be released in the US in October. GM expects to make the device available on all 56 of its models, mostly by the end of next year.

The iPod adapter will be sold at GM dealers for less than US$160, ($259) plus an installation fee. The music player will also hook into the car's glove box, and will have similar features to Ford's offering.

IPod adapters for car stereos aren't new. So-called "after-market" adapters are usually plugged into a dashboard cassette deck or synchronised with an unused FM radio frequency.

But those systems are harder to use and don't offer as good a listening experience as an integrated system like Ford and GM plan, says Ted Schadler, an analyst at technology research firm Forrester Research.

And after-market adapters sometimes require fiddling that can be dangerous for drivers, he says.

Integrated iPod systems such as Ford's and GM's aren't exactly new, either. Six of 10 new cars in the US market are already available with some sort of iPod integration system, says Michael Gartenberg, a consumer electronics analyst at JupiterResearch.

BMW, Honda, Toyota, Mercedes and Chrysler all have models with that sort of capacity, he says, and Mazda is following GM and Ford.

By virtue of their market share, however, the decision by Ford and GM to embrace the iPod is significant.

Apple's move into the car increases the utility value of the iPod, says Shaw Wu, an analyst with American Technology Research. "You are going to depend on this product more than before."

Analysts say Apple's links to carmakers will bolster its competitive edge in the portable music player market, where the iPod already has a share of about 70 per cent.

More competition is coming, too. Microsoft confirmed last month it will build its own digital music player, called the Zune. But with the deals announced last week, more than 70 per cent of 2007 model US automobiles will offer iPod integration, Apple says.

- NZPA