Fastfwd

So yesterday while I was on the bike trainer I get a call to my mobile. 2nd evening in a row that I see this number on call ID and the first evening all I got was someone really confused and barely able to speak english or french before I hung up.

So I pick up the phone; once again get put on hold for 2-3 seconds before I hear a click and the same not quite english voice tries to sell me XM service for my new TL.

I buy a car from you Acura and you pass me on to someone who will call my mobile and put me on hold so sell me some 3rd party service?

A lot of companies should take example on Apple. I use their product from the phone to the TV and obviously laptops. It all works well together and customer service and very important.

Now in what world does someone buy a TL and does not own a smartphone? Why would someone who can have XM or Internet radio on his phone want to pay extra to get XM in his car? And why is it that car electronics are so badly integrated and so out of date even on the day the car comes out? All I wanted was a way to get my iPhone to use the car's amp and microphone.

Bluetooth does it semi-well but only for calls in the 2008. No music. No using the car's microphone for siri or dictation. I bought an adapter for the music and it works pretty well do but this should really be built-in from day 1.

Mobiles are more powerful and more updatable than anything you can possibly put in a car. The car electronics should be about speakers, microphone and maybe a bigger screen.

That is all.

JackSampson

iTrader: (2)

I think Ford has what you are looking for. Sync or something.

Fastfwd

A good effort on their part but they also need to let go and just let the mobile do its thing. The car should just be a set of peripherals(speakers, microphone, buttons, screen)

Jackass

You do realize that not all parts of the country have good mobile data services? Try driving through the Ozarks in Missouri or through the middle of Iowa trying to use Pandora on your phone for your music source. There is still a valid use of XM in a vehicle. Now I think their pricing is out of line now for their service now that mobile devices have so much power and flexibility. And not everyone has a smart phone. I know plenty of people who drive cars as nice and nicer than the TL that do not have smart phones. Many people refuse to pay the fees associated with a smart phone, and many just refuse to deal with the hassle of a smart phone.

One difficulty with being able to provide a seamless experience in the vehicle for your smartphone is what models do they want to support? What vendor? What features? How do they integrate? How reliable will it be? Will it last 10-15 years? What interface will it use? Will the features work in more than one world market?

Think about how difficult it would be for a car manufacturer to make a system native to a car that provides full integration that will work with any flavor iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, or what ever phone flavor comes in the next 15 years. They all must work seamlessly and in a similar and supportable manner.

Apple is almost always late to the party with some type of feature they bring to their phones. The difference is when they do bring it, it is so much more polished, simple, and reliable than anyone else that has been doing it already. Rarely are any of their features ground breaking and new in the mobile world, they just work without hassle.

To note: I did not have a smartphone when I bought my TL.

turbo_oxide

^-- this guy

ZLTFUL

Bad example. I live in Iowa and have yet to find a part of the state where I can't stream using Verizon.

Fastfwd

I guess that was a case of me living in my own little world where all my friends have smartphones and everyone gets 3G or LTE all the time.

To be fair all the music I listen to in the car is pre-downloaded(podcasts, playlists) and I use Navigon for offline maps so data access while I drive is useless. I just think that my phone is a better device than whatever comes with any car but maybe that's just me.

Aman

Considering how cheap the 3G TL is getting these days and the fact that it started selling in 2003, I think it's a little much to expect it to be perfectly in tune with 2012 electronics.

Fastfwd

If I was product manager on the TL line I would have made sure that the 2008 refresh(the one I own) would have a simple way of connection to iPods as this was clearly the dominant brand/model at the time.

They did pay a company to come out with Acuralink but this is really a pretty poor patch for a somewhat simple electronics problem.

ez12a

...it's a 4 year old car... the iPhone 3G was released in July 2008, a far cry from what it is now. The original iphone in 2007. Do you think Acura had enough time to "adapt" to a phone that was released for a few months for the 2008 refresh (which technically comes late 2007)? They didnt even know if it was popular yet.

also, not everyone has an ipod or iphone, not to mention it probably costs a licensing fee to put that proprietary port inside a car. Aux was then provided as input.

i think the OP is pointless.

Current model cars are now USB compatible including the precious ipod connector.

ez12a

adding to my post, HFL is its own system (an Acura technology). This lets a universal system initiate calls on up to 5(?) phones, as long as they have a bluetooth connection.

Even though it can be a pain in the ass, imo HFL is a more robust system than a simple bluetooth speakerphone/mic. Not all phones (and their vocie recognition, or address books for that matter) are made equal, but HFL does its best to standardize calling.

Jackass

However the iPod had been out for a while. My 2006 tC had an option for a radio that supported iPod connectivity. However it wasn't very integrated since Scion uses basically a semi-aftermarket Pioneer headunit. And of course I didn't have that radio because I refused to drink the Apple Kool-Aid and overpay for my MP3 player at the time.

Oh how I wish we all lived in this world with LTE for all!! In KC 3G speeds on just about any network are more than enough to stream. But when I travel out of the metro, speeds tank pretty bad once I get about 50 miles out no matter if I am on ATT, Tmo, or Sprint that streaming gets spotty.

And you are as guilty of using a bad example as I. Not everyone uses Verizon. They just cost too much for my preference. iWireless throttles T-Mobile data back to 56k when I am up there which basically makes my phone useless. When I am home in KC, I am able to stream with no issues and do quite often.

ez12a

I think this is where Acura had to make a decision. Either adopt a proprietary port and pay Apple a licensing fee, or use a universal AUX port. I think they chose the safer route.

I just find it incredulous that the OP expects the latest iphone features to work with a HFL system that was designed prior to even the original iphone (referring to the HFL in 04-06). Granted they added address book import which makes it a lot more useful in 07-08, but it's laughable that one should expect Siri integration.

Fastfwd

Granted they went the safer route. Car guys probably don't care about getting the latest and greatest electronics technology. Just the best mechanics.

Which is my point exactly. Why must the 2008 TL use the same electronics as the 2004 TL? Why do they not update the bluetooth technology or do they expect people to use the electronics in a 2008 car the same way they were used in 2004? Siri would work if the 2008 car used the 2008 bluetooth profile.

I guess the answer is that you use your brand new phone and connect to it using the 2004 bluetooth profile and the 1970s(60s?) 1/8" stereo plug. If TVs were made like cars you would connect your blu-ray player using a coax cable instead of component/hdmi.

As I have said I'm a gadget guy. This is clearly not the norm for car guys.

Will Y.

I got my TL new, still do not own a smart phone and pay for XM on the car.
I don't text or websurf with a phone, so I haven't needed anything other than my Razr V3, which still works flawlessly with the HFL and stays charged for several days.
Works for me, even as a lawyer living in West Los Angeles.

I also don't have to pay or expense that $30/mo. charge for text/data for a smart phone, which adds up to $1100 every 3 years.
Tech moves on, but I don't have to.

Ken1997TL

You should realize that it takes AT MINIMUM 2 or 3 years from concept to final product in the Automotive world.

For the Acura TL to have bluetooth technology in 2003 was rather advanced...

Aman

There wasn't a refresh for 2008, but one for 2007. After that they were all busy working on the 4G TL, which likely has a much better integration (I haven't played with its system).

When you buy a last-model year car, chances are it'll be a little bit behind the times when it comes to stuff like this. At least take solace in the fact that your car's better looking than the 4G (subjective, I know)

Ken1997TL

Exactly. It was for the 2007 model year which means it came out in the fall of 2006 if I remember correctly. Meaning the designs and technology available was solidified in 2004/2005.

VanyDotK

iTrader: (6)

On another note, I strongly recommend using a google voice number if you ever subscribe or are currently subscribed to Sirius/XM because if you ever cancel (which is a battle in itself, took me 45 mins to get to somebody) they will call you 3 times a day to get you to rejoin, I've had this happen to me several times, I've told them to stop calling and they would still call. Anyway, I resubscribed for football season and I gave them a google voice number. I cancel and sure enough they call, I simply went to my google voice setup and blocked their number. No more calls.