MacNN reports the Sonance iPort will ship later this month, which must mean next week. Anyway, the iPort is a wall mounted dock that hides all the cables — audio, firewire, dock, others — in the wall. The MacNN story includes nice pictures of the unit, including the beauty shot and a view of the ports and connectors. Sonance makes no end of “architectural-audio” equipment, including those speakers you sometimes find hidden in the wall.

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A short while ago, Monster annouced their iCruze for iPod car audio integration kit.

The iPod and iPod mini can be hidden away and controlled by the CD player that it is connected to. Users can select the songs and playlists of their choice through either the steering wheel controls or the CD player’s controls. The song information can also be viewed on the optional display and the iPod can be mounted anywhere in the vehicle.

The product was developed with assistance from SoundGate, and is said to cost $500. No word on when it’s going to ship, though.

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Denison, I think, was first to market with an iPod car integration kit. Their original Ice > Link debuted during the 1G iPod days, but now they’ve added control and display via compatible head units to the Link: Plus“>Ice > Link: Plus.

Use your radio or iPod to navigate through playlists, albums and songs and access the simple to use ipod interface. The ice>Link interprets the radio controls from your vehicle to the iPod to emulate a fully loaded CD changer with advanced features.

iPod integration kits seem to be proliferating, but the Denison kit seems to differentiate itself by including a bit of software that appears to run on the iPod itself to add control and features not possible through the head unit (though the ”software“ might only be a playlist of special tracks that signal commands via the audio out, as with the iTrip). Their compatibility list includes cars from Audi, BMW/Mini, Chrysler, Ford, GM, Honda/Accura, Jaguar, Landrover, Lexus, Mazda, Mercedes, Nissan/Infiniti, Porsche, Saab, Scion, Subaru, Toyota, Volkswagen, Volvo. At $200, it looks like a deal.

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Recent news related to iPod integration also available in: In Car iPod, InCar iPod, Take 2, iPod News.

[update:] There’s been lots more iPod news since this story came out.

Related iPod stories at MaisonBisson:
Integration: In Car iPod, In Car iPod Take 2, iPod Integration Kits Proliferate For Home And Car, Saab, and PIE iPod Input Adapter.
Hacks, laughs, and background: iPod Hacks, iPod Giggles, What Does Proprietary Mean Anyway?

Technorati Tags: adapter, icruze, integration, ipod, ipod mini, iport, monster, monstercable, sonance, soundgate

Engadget echoed a story from AutoBlog (duh, I just noticed that they’re both from Weblogs Inc.) about an iPod integration kit that works with most all 1998-or-newer cars: iPod2car.

First, it gives a clean line-in to the stero from the iPod, then it gives next and previous track as well as rewind and fastforward control on the stereo. Sure, you can buy a 2005 BMW and get the same deal as an option, but this is cheaper.

Most importantly, it’s compatible with both my Scion xB and Sandee’s Honda Civic. The FAQ answers some questions, and links to the installation manual.

The manual also helps answer some basic questions about the xB stereo. For instance, all Toyota (1998 – 2005), Scion (2003-2005), and Isuzu (1998 – 2003) factory stereos apparently have the same connections. But, Toyotas require a cable adapter that’s only available from the dealer (part #08695-00370). With this in mind, I can probably get a cheaper audio-only input adapter. I went looking for such a solution before, but details about the Scion radio are scarce.

Also in iPod2car FAQs is a link to carstereohelp.com’s stereo removal guides. And, back at Autoblog, they’ve got an entire section devoted to the xB.

Then, for home-use, I can’t help but like the Bose SoundDock.

Related iPod stories at MaisonBisson:
Integration: In Car iPod, In Car iPod Take 2, iPod Integration Kits Proliferate For Home And Car, Saab, and PIE iPod Input Adapter.
Hacks, laughs, and background: iPod Hacks, iPod Giggles, What Does Proprietary Mean Anyway?

Technorati Tags: adapter, bose, civic, engadget, honda, honda civic, icruze, integration, ipod, ipod2car, scion, scion xb, toyota