What is the best way to hook android phones into the 930?

[Junkhead]

Just got a samsung galaxy nexus a few days ago switching from an iphone. What is the best way to hook the phone up to it? Should i just do bluetooth? How about streaming video to it?

 

Thanks for any suggestions

[VBLUE42]

Bluetooth only. You may be able to do video with one of the AV inputs on the unit but you will have to have some sort of conversion cable from whatever video out is available on the Andriod. But if you want iPhone ease of use functions with the unit you will need to get an iPhone.

[Junkhead]

Thanks, I guess I'll have to buy an ipod maybe then to just keep in the vehicle..

[easyeatlanta]

yeah just get an ipod to keep in the glove box or whatever thats what i do

[JohnnyDepp]

One can stream Pandora or whatever you want from an Android phone to the Pioneer units pretty easily, assuming the Bluetooth versions are compatible. Just use the Bluetooth Audio device as the AV source on the Pioneer...don't get the nice Pandora controls other than pause, play, and in some cases, skip....also don't get the "station" art. But it generally works pretty well.

[Suluman78]

I have an htc sensation and so far its work great with my 930bt, I just wish theres was an app or something like that to stream videos and album art like an i phone does. It seems like everybody caters to the iphone and thats it.

[1loudls]

It seems like everybody caters to the iphone and thats it.

there is a reason for this. its because 95% off all mp3 players out there are iPods. also the kind of people who buy $1k radio's are more likely to buy $300-$400 ipods over $40 sansa clips.

 

and even with Android out selling apple in operating systems, android is still split over a 100 different models with no consistent hardware (or even software for that part), the iPhone is still the best selling model of phone. it is way easiers to cater to one company that releases one model a year, than it is to cater to 20 different companies that all release as much as ten or defferent models a year.

[MSmith]

The kind of people that spend $1k are more likely to evaluate between different versions of smart phones rather than mp3 players, so Sansa versus iPod isn't the debate. Of smart phones, as stated Android has a larger market share. The vast majority of them have a micro-usb port, which is an industry standard and could easily be supported. Samsung is the highest selling maker of phones, with specifically their galaxy line having just about the same market share as the 4s while having been on the market for less than 1/2 time period as the 4s. It's expected to pass the 4s in early 2012. Also, Android 2.1-2.3 is on just over 98% of all Android phones out there (with 2.2 being over 35% and 2.3 over 50%) so there isn't the fragmentation incorrectly perceived.

 

Point being...supporting iOS isn't much easier than supporting Android is. As easy as it is to say "Supports iPhone 3G, 3Gs, 4G, with iOS 4 or iOS 5" it's just as easy to say "Supports Android 2.2 - 4.0 with devices containing a Micro USB port". There's also tables on Pioneer's site showing what features are supported in all the different models of Apple products (many listed) and similarly they can easily have officially supported Android devices with a similar table listing them which would capture 90% of the Android market.

 

The actual reason Pioneer doesn't better support it is a few fold, with 2 big reasons being:

1) it's still much newer than iOS and much of it's popularity has come over the 1 - 1.5 years, which also happens to the same time period that Pioneer was developing the head units. So Pioneer would have had to make a leap of faith in Android before it's popularity had been realized, and obviously that wouldn't have happened.

2) the iOS integration is already built into their headsets, where as Android needs to be written. As can be seen by Pioneers lack of updates to existing units, they are pretty slow on updating their software.

 

But I digress. I'm not saying one is better than the other, and I'm not hear to debate the facts. Just giving the counter points to the one side expressed above.

[Junkhead]

thanks for all the replies...

 

In the end i sold the iphone after getting the galaxy nexus. I can tell you the bluetooth quality is amazing when streaming google music via it to the x930. I notice no difference in audio quality. However, it sucks that the screen is just blank and you see nothing on it. I think in the future Pioneer may add google music support, it has become very popular over the last few months. Lots of people are going to start streaming there music eventually.

[1loudls]

The kind of people that spend $1k are more likely to evaluate between different versions of smart phones rather than mp3 players, so Sansa versus iPod isn't the debate.

thats interesting, because when i go out for a run or out to the gym, i never see anyone working out with a G Nex strapped to their arm, its always a nano.

 

The vast majority of them have a micro-usb port, which is an industry standard and could easily be supported.

and while it is an indurtry standard, you cant get music to stream through USB, you would have to "pull" the data from the phone and then decode it in the radio, which the radio has an inferior D/A converter to the one inside of ipods/iphones, and which is why pioneer uses the usb to control the ipod/iphone but gets the audio signal through a direct signal line out, which no android phone has (unless you count the few phones with HDMI)

 

 

Samsung is the highest selling maker of phones, with specifically their galaxy line having just about the same market share as the 4s while having been on the market for less than 1/2 time period as the 4s.

only because the 4S was a joke, and not the "big update" that everybody was expecting (iPhone 5)

 

Also, Android 2.1-2.3 is on just over 98% of all Android phones out there (with 2.2 being over 35% and 2.3 over 50%)

which doesnt cout for any differences in OEM skin's which some are a lot deeper than just a UI skin. which all add up to more differences, but again, even though gingerbread accounts for 55.5% (acording to wikipedia) of all devices running android, there is still probably near a hundred different hardware versions with it. which will create some issues for creating a "standard" interface.

 

again it is easier to cater to a company that releases one MP3 player model, and one phone model each year (the same company BTW) than it is to even atempt to offer a solution to every other manufacture out their with their ten or more different models.

 

it's just as easy to say "Supports Android 2.2 - 4.0 with devices containing a Micro USB port".

again just because they all share a common connector, doesnt mean that connector will work for the task at hand.

 

if it really was so easy, why would they alienate such a large portion of their fan base?

 

interesting enough, how many other company's are in the same boat. this is why there are so few accessorys like sound docks made for android devices.

 

for example: one of the first speaker docks to be released for android phones was the philips AS351/37, which did have a micro usb connector that the phone had to be plugged into only charged the phone, the music was still transmitted via bluetooth. so if it is so easy to do, why didnt they do it with the device that was actuall designed for android phones???

[JohnnyDepp]

The best way is with a long piece of yarn.

[1loudls]

The best way is with a long piece of yarn.

the yarn is easy enough to come by, its finding the right two cans with propper acoustic properties that will be difficult!