OK - I'm not all that old. At least I don't think I am, but when I was born, no cars had FM radios. The only thing you could listen to in a car was AM. Even by the time I started driving, few cars had more than AM. Now, the choices of what you can listen to anywhere, but especially in your car, are amazing. I. for one, am thrilled with these options as I like a very broad spectrum of music, most of which is rarely played on any radio station.
The other day I was driving from Milwaukee to Madison, a 90-minute drive, and the entire trip I listened to one of my own personal stations that I created on Pandora. Pandora is a really wonderful music service that creates stations from artists or songs that you feed it. I've been a member almost from their inception, which I believe was in 2006. If you like music and can't find the music you like most on the radio, then Pandora is a real bargain, even for the upgraded service called Pandora One.
Recently, Pandora released an app for BlackBerry phones that allows you to listen to your stations wherever you have BlackBerry service. Apps are also available for Android, iPhone, palm prē and Windows Mobile devices. My BlackBerry service is from Sprint and is available virtually everywhere in the U.S. and quite a few places outside the U.S. Installing the Pandora app on my BlackBerry Pearl was a snap. Once installed I could listen to my stations wherever I had service. And, since my plan includes unlimited data, there was no extra cost to do so.
So, how did I get the music to play through my car's sound system? I have a 2006 Nissan 250Z Grand Touring Roadster. This car came with a navigation system, but did not have satellite radio, Bluetooth or an iPod interface. Before I bought it, I checked to see if there was an aftermarket way to get those three conveniences added without changing anything, or nearly anything, visible inside the car. There was. It wasn't cheap, but I've had the car for more than 4 years now and I think it was worth every penny.
There were two primary pieces that were needed with several optional pieces available, depending on your needs. Keep in mind that the links in this post are to the current web pages and the products have likely changed in the last 4 years. The first piece was an interface to my navigation screen. This allows me to see what I'm doing when making choices, e.g., what music source to use and track information. A switch is mounted in front of the shifter to choose between the signal from the interface and normal navigation.
Connected to that is the versatile part that allows me to pick and choose what I want to connect to my sound system or navigation screen. This is the Alpine Vehicle Hub Pro. This piece of equipment sends audio signals to the audio system and video information through the navigation interface to the navigation screen. I added modules that connect to the hub for XM, Bluetooth and an iPod interface (the latter included with the Alpine Hub; a cable is additional). Everything was purchased from and installed by a local company, RAXX, that specializes in aftermarket car upgrades to audio and other systems. Soon, I plan to add a rear-view camera that I can use when backing up. This will also connect via the Vehicle Hub Pro to my navigation screen.
My iPod simply connects to a cable that's in an accessory box behind the seats. Since that box has a cover, it's not visible to anybody looking to steal. XM programming adds even more listening options. The Bluetooth adapter is different from Bluetooth that comes from the factory in today's car models. Instead of activating it from your steering wheel, it is always active and takes orders from the device that it is paired with. When I'm playing Pandora on my Pearl, all I do is choose the option to send the signal to Bluetooth, choose the Bluetooth interface from the Vehicle Hub options on my Navigation screen and that's it! Works perfectly. I guess we've come a long way since that old AM-only car radio. With thousands of songs on my iPod, over 100 XM stations and Pandora, I can listen to anything I want when driving.
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