in the compatibility list it's written that some ipod may have problems with audio/video sync...

 

Here's the "solution" to your problem....

http://www.mini-me.com/_downloads/pdf/USB_EN.pdf

With the iPod classic:


I think it's a software problem, probably a future update will fix it! (hopefully.... because also my iPod nano 5th gen that i bought just for the country have the same problem :( )

 

Jesus Christ, quit bitching about everything. At least with the Mini you get a cable at all. Go buy a fully optioned M3 convertible for $85K. THEN you can ***** because that doesn't come with ANY cable at all. Hell, buy an X6M for over $100K. That doesn't come with one either.

Holy crap, I haven't seen a post yet where you weren't bitching about something you think is owed to you. I don't know where your sense of entitlement comes from but let it go. That's one of the reasons America is going into the *******. Everyone thinks they're owed stuff.

If you're so disappointed in the CM, sell it and move on.

 

The correct cable comes with the car, relax. Thanks to Nimrandir for pointing out why I am having a problem. If you read the thread others report that the supplied cable works just fine with newer model iPods.

 

Thanks! I bet this is the reason. I'm using an 80GB iPOd Video (pre-Classic) so it is probably just compatibility. Oh well.

 

Thanks but again I will point out that the supplied cable DOES support video. Cable appears not to be the problem, rather software compatibility with my generation of iPod seems to be the culprit.

 

The cable that was supplied with my Countryman is part 2179623-01. I just tested it with my iPad and when I play a video the audio does indeed play as well, however it is out of sync with the video

So perhaps my iPod is too old to be compatible with Connected for full A/V functionality, but you would think the iPad would work fine.

Has anyone else experienced out of sync audio when playing a video? Has everyone received the same cable as I have?

 

Selecting MINI Connected from the main menu presents several options, the first three being:
Roadside Assistance
Customer Relations
Your Service Center

All three of these have 0 as the phone number and I can't find where to change this? Should this have been setup by the dealer? Does anyone have actual phone numbers stored in these locations?

 

I installed the new version of Pandora Radio on my iPad and tested it in ky Countryman. You need to launch Pandora on your device and then you will see a Pandora selection under Radio on the screen. Works very well and you can easily select from your stations and indicate thumbs up and down as well as bookmark Favorites.

However, Pandora is not integrated in to the MINI Connected app which means you are either using the MINI Connected app or Pandora, not both simultaneously. I think it would provide greater functionality if Pandora was accessed through the MINI Connected area rather than radio that way you have access to all Connected features. This is probably a minor nit but won't really know until someone tests in real driving situations.

 

I am quite surprised to find that the voice guidance volume is not configurable to automatically lower the volume of whatever is playing at the time a guidance instruction is played. The guidance voice volume van be controlled but only by changing the volume **** while am voice command is playing. So, if you are playing music loudly, you need to turn up the voice guidance volume above the level of the music you are playing. If you then lower the volume of the music, the voice guidance volume will remain at the previously set high level and blow you away.

Every other nav system I have ever used would in some way either mute the music or otherwise lower the volume of the music before issuing a voice guidance command. I am shocked that this has been omitted from the MINI system. That is a serious deficiency in usability as far as I am concerned.

 

There are 2 cables.
I was using the incorrect one for the 1st month until I figured out the issue. The correct one has a simple Y junction. The incorrect one (for me) had a rectangular junction, this would not allow any video to pass. I was having fits reading the comments about how the video came up, we have an ipod at this time, and I finally tried the Y connector and it works great. The rectangular one had been in the car and the sales staff used it to show some features. I wonder what model MINI it fits, it is NOT Countryman video compatable.

 

I believe I have the right cable. Video plays fine. The audio portion of the video does not. What model iPod do you have? Can you also report back with the part number on the cable?

 

We have an ipod4. We loaded the MINI apps and, within the ipods capabilities, the apps work fine.
The cable that works is part # 61 12 2 179 623. Came in a bag with a card stock instruction sheet in 8 languages.
Stamped into the molded rectangular junction of the non-functional cable is 0 440 796. Again, plugs into the ipod/iphone and the Aux/USB ports of the Countryman but it will not pass video.

 

Thanks Mike. I have the right cable. My iPod may just be too old.

When you have a chance, can you verify that the audio is in sync with video? It is ntnin sync when playing from my iPad.

 

Yeah, i think that the dealer had to program it...

So that means that in the future there will be the chance to have not-bmw software! Interesting... This will give Connected more chances to operate... Maybe the facebook app will work in the same way!

 

Is there a manual for the nav system that can be downloaded? I've seen the Mini Connected PDF, but not one for nav.

 

Not that I can find. The manual in Owners Lounge is not the same as included with the car and does not include the Nav section.

 

Can't Pandora play music in the background when you switch back to MINI Connected?

 

I'll have to try this again. As I recall, on my iPad when the Connected app is running and I pressed the Home key in order to launch Pandora, the Connected app closed and its functions were no longer available on the MINI Connected module. Perhaps I need to try it in reverse, launch Pandora and the Connected. Will try again when I have some time.

 

that should work as Pandora allows for multi-tasking while minimized. I will test it out tomorrow when I take delivery and have a 3 hour drive home.

 

A few impressions after a day and a half with Nav/Connected...

1. Not super impressed by the Nav system when I have several Garmin portable nav systems that give spoken street names and detailed map info. It will work though and the ability to always have updated Google searches and drop them into the Nav system is a plus.

2. As far as Nav volume...it seemed to mute the music when I was in certain modes, but not others...I will have to try them all again, but I think it would lower the volume of the music when I was in radio stations (satellite and air), but not when I was streaming Pandora, iPhone music files or Web radio. Makes sense since those modes are originating on the iPhone and the radio is integrated directly into the head unit. Perhaps future software updates will take care of that problem. There are just so many sources for music/audio and each one has it's own inherent volume level based on type of compression...makes it kind of hard to manage them all though and got blasted out of my seat a few times.

3. Pandora and Connected definitely not able to run at the same time even when starting Pandora first and then connected.

4. I wish there were a guide with all possible voice commands for activating...seems like the ability to control most of what's in connected/nav/phone is usable through voice commands, but the instruction manual sucks in this regard.

5. Telephone audio quality is good, mic seems sensitive and never had problem with others hearing me.

6. The "News" RSS feed in Connected is great...though the feature to have them read aloud is pretty rough. There were some sentences that came out being read to fast and the pronunciation was way off and made me laugh out loud several times.

7. Seems like Facebook just displays the News Feed from contacts updates, but not the personal messages or wall posts? Hopefully that will get more refined with time. Fun that you can post "canned" statuses that include outside temps, mileage range...

8. I will definitely buy the iPhone 4 cradle for the armrest as there isn't a good place to put it since the bad design of the emergency brake doesn't really allow for the front rail to be used with a phone holder. I hope it doesn't take a year for the snap in iPhone 4 adapter to come out and there will be an iPhone 5 by this summer. I am sure it is going to cost a fortune for the adapter as well.

That's about it for now...I will try video through connected tomorrow. i did try my USB thumb drive in the glove compartment USB connection and it did not recognize it.

 

Thank you very much for your feedback from my original list of issues. By the way, I have forwarded the list to Vinnie Kung, the product manager at MINI USA, and his response was "This is great to hear. Gotta take the bad with the good. We are aware of some of the glitches but the team in engineering is aware and working on these. Thanks for forwarding this."

Anyway, I have just a few comments on your findings...

I haven't tried the Nav system with anything but my iPod playing, so I will need to check if the auto-muting works in that mode. I don't think Source should present a problem for auto-muting since ALL sources are auto-muted upon an incoming telephone call so it can be done. My old Q7 muted regardless of source and even my Porsche with a third party iPod gateway will still lower prevailing volume any time a nav guidance command is issued. This is one feature that I really hope is corrected in a future software update.

Too bad. Thought the launch order may make a difference. Could be that the MINI Connected app simply does not take advantage of iOS 4.2 multitasking yet.

The voice commands are listed in the back of the users manual. Unfortunately, not all the commands listed actually do anything and some are very vague. So yes I agree, the manual sucks in this regard. We may need to post our findings on which commands actually work. I can't find a way to dial a specific contact by voice yet, you?

Did you move the mic position or is it in the standard passenger side slot as delivered?

Thanks for experimenting with this new feature.

Anxious to read your results. Please be sure to check if the video and audio are in sync.

Same here as previously noted. Wish this worked as it would allow us to place iPod (no video) in glovebox or use a USB stick there.

Lets continue to post finding here as we learn them. Thanks!

 

I really hope Mini listens to it's customers and resolves as many of the issues as it can....in a timely manner too. Fingers crossed.

 

The thing is, it shouldn't matter what MINI Connected is doing in relation to multitasking, because if it didn't take advantage of multitasking then Pandora would play.

I think what is possibly happening is that the MINI Connected app is registered to the same kind of audio playback as Pandora, so when Connected is launched it is shutting down Pandora even if it's not going to play anything. This would be a great thing for MINI to test because I'm sure lots of people have all kinds of audio they would like be be playing in the background, not just from Pandora but also a large variety of sports apps that have audio feeds of games you can play in the background.

If you are in touch with the product manager could you forward these thoughts onto him? Also I am a full-time iOS developer, if he needs more technical detail on these issues I would be happy to provide them if he wants to email me directly. I have other more specific thoughts about the application I'd like to pass along too...

I don't have a Countryman yet but should have one in the order queue shortly, so I can't test things in the car itself (though I have downloaded and am running Connected).

Speaking of testing, I have both Pandora and MINI Connected installed - I can run Pandora, start a song playing, and then when I go back to MINI Connected it keeps playing. For whoever was having this issues, does this only happen in the car? Do you have iOS 4.0 or higher?

 

Unfortunately, my conduit to Vinne Kung is via the good folks at motoringfile.com. They would not provide me with Vinnie's email for obvious reasons but offered to forward my comments to him on my behalf. (Yes, I have tried to send him email using standard email address conventions, just have no confirmation if they were received or not.) So, this was mostly a one shot deal. If a continuing dialog was desired, Vinnie would have contacted me directly.

My limited testing of the apps was on an iPad running 4.2. Could not get Pandora and Connected to operate simultaneously. Did not try different launch sequence that OrgegonMountainMan did with the same results, though we do not know which version of iOS he is running.

I remain hopeful that these issues will get worked out over time. Some may never be worked out. I'd really like the Nav guidance command issue to get resolved as a priority.