Perhaps a little off-topic but I find it so interesting how when I call Pioneer support, they point fingers and blame all of the iPod connection issues on Apple and their firmware.
Maybe Pioneer should start emulating Apple a bit more in terms of their responsiveness in resolving firmware issues instead of faulting other companies for being attentive to the needs of their customers. Just my rant...
The funny thing about that is this is an accessory that is programmable and meant specifically for the ipod, aka ipod compatible. and ONLY with that ipod, not hundreds or even thousadns of accessories. So isn't it their job to stay on top of what apple is doing and not apple's job to ensure it works with ALL accessories on the market? I mean it makes more sense to have Pioneer fix their unit so it works properly then tell a company that sells 10 million of them a quarter to fix their ipods for a single accessory that maybe a few thousand people.
I mean its very easy to play the blame game, but we are waiting for months to get a firmware update to get their product to work properly meanwhile the only thing I have with issues with the ipod is this car stereo.
So wtf ever Pioneer. The world should taylor to your poor quality control and lack of talent engineers instead of having great quality and excelleent engineers, (like apple does)
Anyone wonder what Apple could do if they made a car stereo, I think it would be the iphone epidemic all over again.
Speaking of which, anyone time how long it takes the iphone to boot up from power on? 30 seconds from start to finish. But not really an apples to apples comparison haha, pun intended.
or, perhaps Apple should just run their ipods as mass storage devices, instead of using their controlling "Apple owns the world" software, and quit releasing updates disabling features like charging and video output.
Apple isn't the problem, since every other iPod ready unit on the market has no problem.
cranbers and CatchMe, I completely agree. I could be crazy but it seems like the tight iPod integration is one of the main selling points of this unit. At least that's what I considered to be one of the most eye-catching features when I purchased this unit. People can say what they like about Apple not supporting standards or whatever but just look at the MP3 player markest share breakdown. The iPod IS the standard. Just my humble opinion..
It sucks that iPod is the only thing really supported, don't get me wrong I have an iPod, but I love my zune.
I get all the music in the world for free, well 95% of what I want. The zune pass service just rocks.
I'm going to hook up the video interface from the zune to the unit, it might work out quite nice.
all this false hope is killing me guiz, cmon pioneer restore my faith in your company!!!!
Just kick back, put on some Journey, and wait.
Doooooon't Stop.... Belieeevinnn.
Hold on to that Feaeaeaeaelingggg!!!
LOL too funny.
It sucks that iPod is the only thing really supported,
I agree. I was disappointed to find out many of the features I was trying, like speed recognition, doesn't work on anything else, include SD. There are still people out there that don't own one.
all this false hope is killing me guiz, cmon pioneer restore my faith in your company!!!!
Just kick back, put on some Journey, and wait.
Doooooon't Stop.... Belieeevinnn.
Hold on to that Feaeaeaeaelingggg!!!
LOL too funny.
I have just called Pioneer Cust. support rep.:
"They know about issues . . they are testing beta update . . . boot time will be about twice faster . .they do not have exact date, but it will be sometimes next month . ."
bobD
Perhaps a little off-topic but I find it so interesting how when I call Pioneer support, they point fingers and blame all of the iPod connection issues on Apple and their firmware.
Maybe Pioneer should start emulating Apple a bit more in terms of their responsiveness in resolving firmware issues instead of faulting other companies for being attentive to the needs of their customers. Just my rant...
Agreed. After working great for a while, my F series started dropping my Ipod. I called Pioneer. The guy kept asking what Ipod firmware I have. I told him (nicely, a few times) that the unit worked fine with the same Ipod (firmware), then started to drop it. He quickly said, I'd need to send it back and, before I could say a word, he transferred me to a thread where I was supposed to enter my zip and get the address of the local authorized service center. That wasn't needed of course.
Horrible customer service is both pissing people off and probably costing Pioneer in unnecessary returns.
Agreed. After working great for a while, my F series started dropping my Ipod. I called Pioneer. The guy kept asking what Ipod firmware I have. I told him (nicely, a few times) that the unit worked fine with the same Ipod (firmware), then started to drop it. He quickly said, I'd need to send it back and, before I could say a word, he transferred me to a thread where I was supposed to enter my zip and get the address of the local authorized service center. That wasn't needed of course.
Horrible customer service is both pissing people off and probably costing Pioneer in unnecessary returns.
They're probably sick of all the daily calls they get about the unit, and just try to end them as quick as they can. I don't want to defend Pioneer since I think their service sucks, but put yourself in their shoes. I'd say they get AT LEAST one call every 10 minutes about the F series, and that would annoy anybody beyond belief. Although I still think that's poor service, it is understandable.
The good news is an update has been confirmed, and although a set date has not yet been made, we can count on it getting to us before Thanksgiving. And I think the longer it takes, the better, as I've mentioned above. Waiting day by day is only going to make it seem like forever, like a little kid counting down the days till Christmas.
This is probably irrelevant but I would be REALLY interested in knowing what kind of team Pioneer has coding their F-Series software. Did they outsource this task to a bunch of drunken chimpanzees who are addicted to nicotine and working on Commodore 64's? It would certainly give a whole new meaning to the term "code monkeys" 
a lot of code writing done by these big companies is done by either overseas companies or domestic, either way it's usually one or two people who "know what they're doing" and a bunch of inexperienced programmers usually led by a "team leader" who clearly doesn't take the time to check everyone's work, which is understandable, it takers a looooooong time to look over someone's coding mess, so they put it to the test (normally no more than a a couple of months then is released) the best they can and God knows what their criteria is, but clearly loads of mistakes and bugs are ignored, budget is one big issue since there's a certain amount of money is allocated for a certain project...once they reach that budget the team is pushed and pushed to release the FW no matter what...and booooom!! you got yourself a ticking bomb...I've worked extensively with new consumer electronics products, as a technician, tester and dealer...and this is becoming more and more frequent unfortuately. The MO these days to certain companies is to have consumer's troubleshoot it, then they'll fix the bugs, which trust me when you're behind a desk with tons of pressure, seems the best thing to do...remember this a "niche" product, not as important for them as a brand new plasma or lcd for instance would be.....priorities are always priorities when it comes to revenue.....
Isn't the Pioneer Avic F series hardware designed by MiTac?
Where is the BBB complainer who had the inside tips for the update? Is it still today? Or did the Customer service manager revise it to sometime in the next 12 months or so?
Haha, gotta love the insanity that happened the beginning of this week everone practically pissing their pants. Namely me haha.
Owell what can you do, will it be today? next week or next month or hell next year?
It would be great to know. owell,
i called dealer support services (i'm a delaer 
) the guy knows me already since i've been calling the guy for a while now...he said there's no specific release date, he had a unit on his bench loaded with the FW and he said it does boot faster (no comments on how fast) and the bluetooth issue is fixed, more specifically the blackberry issue 
he didn't want to comment about any other improvements, since some of them are still buggy and they were working on them...i pushed him to give me a ball park timeframe, he said "definetely before thanksgiving....and possibly next week by halloween..." so not sure if i'm just repeating what's been said before, but they're not allowed to give people too much info, since pioneer themselves are clearly scrambling to get this unit right in the first place.....hope it sheds a light...
Yeah, well at least they are actually going to test for bugs before they release it this time.. I can wait for a update to make sure everything works 100%. I may not even update considering leetcoder is about to beat pioneer to the punch..
that would be great...
I ordered F700BT last night from ebay for $529 minus 10% off ebay coupon and 25% cash back form live.com, so total about $350 with shipping - cant go wrong 
Cant wait till next friday to have install it!
Last night I went to BB and play a bit with this unit, and I have to say is slow in response and bootup, but I love the look and interface . I hope that new updates will fix all issues 
Where is the BBB complainer who had the inside tips for the update? Is it still today? Or did the Customer service manager revise it to sometime in the next 12 months or so?
Haha, gotta love the insanity that happened the beginning of this week everone practically pissing their pants. Namely me haha.
Owell what can you do, will it be today? next week or next month or hell next year?
It would be great to know. owell,
I'm right here! all the information I was given was from a customer service manager...Looks like he didnt know shit! So I'm in same boat..I'm waiting until it comes out!
that would be great...I ordered F700BT last night from ebay for $529 minus 10% off ebay coupon and 25% cash back form live.com, so total about $350 with shipping - cant go wrong
Cant wait till next friday to have install it!
Last night I went to BB and play a bit with this unit, and I have to say is slow in response and bootup, but I love the look and interface . I hope that new updates will fix all issues
hey where did you find the 10% off ebay coupon? I am ready to purchase the same one (he had six yesterday hope he still has some left).
that would be great...I ordered F700BT last night from ebay for $529 minus 10% off ebay coupon and 25% cash back form live.com, so total about $350 with shipping - cant go wrong
Cant wait till next friday to have install it!
Last night I went to BB and play a bit with this unit, and I have to say is slow in response and bootup, but I love the look and interface . I hope that new updates will fix all issues
hey where did you find the 10% off ebay coupon? I am ready to purchase the same one (he had six yesterday hope he still has some left).
Ebay send an email wit the coupon, check your ebay account
try this one too - CFALLSAVINGS10P
that would be great...I ordered F700BT last night from ebay for $529 minus 10% off ebay coupon and 25% cash back form live.com, so total about $350 with shipping - cant go wrong
Cant wait till next friday to have install it!
Last night I went to BB and play a bit with this unit, and I have to say is slow in response and bootup, but I love the look and interface . I hope that new updates will fix all issues
Wow, that's a heck of a deal....it beats any pricing i can get as a dealer....that's not fair...hehe...i'm gonna start buying from ebay....
Ok, not that it really matters cause it is a wait and see but, I gave a call to Pioneer today just to see what they are doing.
Issues address (or at least what he said the top issues were)
1) Boot up times. They are looking to decrease the boot up times of the unit. Based on suggestions and complaints received about it thus far.
2) iPod Touch 2.0 connectivity issues. They are currently working with a fix for it, but it is not ready yet. Which is why its not out yet. But, they are addressing the fact that it doesn't work currently.
3) Blackberry phone users. Disconnect or loss of connectivity via bluetooth. Another issue that has be brought to there attention and they are looking to fix it in this coming update.
That's as much as I cared about, really with exception to the blackberry phones cause I don't own one. But, the top two I know everyone wanted fixed.
I also mention to the guy that at least with me. My GPS can be WAY off on directions. It will get me close to a place but, when I mean close I mean like a town or so away. Or on the other side of the town it will put me. Like really off. So he said they do map or GPS software updates about every 6 to 9 months. As the data bases are updated by Tele-Atlas. As of now only some places work fine for me. But, if I go to the city (NYC) I can't trust this thing to get me were I need to be. If i go update I can't trust it. However, it got me to Canada (montreal) just fine. So go figure.
He said a few weeks. However that was said months ago if I remember correctly. I will check back with them in another week and see what's pop'in. Hopefully before the end of the damn year, I will have my iPod working like it should!!!!!!!!
I can not get my touch to work but I tried to connect it to the radio via the usb cord. How are you connecting? via USB or the dedicatied ipod cord?
I can not get my touch to work but I tried to connect it to the radio via the usb cord. How are you connecting? via USB or the dedicatied ipod cord?
You need the F Series iPod cable or the Apple cable that has the USB and AV wires. Just a USB won't cut it.