RichardP
09-05-2005, 12:29 PM
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/richard.parkinson7/BMW/IMG_0793.jpg
This device has be mentioned from time to time on this forum, but usually embedded in another thread, so I’d be surprised if many people have heard of it, it’s the IV-II, you can see some of the details at www.intravention.co.uk (http://www.intravention.co.uk/new_www/)
As the unit is still in testing, the web site does not really give a clear indication of what this device can do, especially on the Nav screen, so I thought I’d give a quick summary:
The device connects the BMW i-bus to the alpine Ai-Net interface as used by all current Alpine head units and CD Changers etc. (except the F#1 series). I’ve got the CHA-S634 CD changer with MP3 capability so this description is base around using that, but I know other testers who are using the KCA-420i iPod interface and the functionality is similar, the KCA-420i basically emulates a CDC but allows you to change selection modes – Artist, Playlist and Album rather than physical CD’s. I’ve got one on order and it should arrive soon.
As anyone who has a Nav screen knows, the standard screen is divided into either two or three areas depending if it is setup to use split screen or wide screen mode. The IV replaces the text which would be displayed by the standard BMW CDC interface with it’s own, much as a couple of other devices do (ice->Link and Neo iOn), it’s not just a ‘silent’ interface like a SoundGate, SoundLinx, ICD or BlitzSafe devices that use the older Alpine m-bus interface. I used to have one of these (I’ll not say which one!) and it didn’t work very well at all.
The top area of the screen usually displays the current file name, folder name, disk number, track number, current track time (updated every second) and selection mode (pressing the < > key changes between track and folder selection mode) – all at the same time.
The bottom area displays the IV menu system, you use this to control features that are not directly available from buttons on the head unit or to display the ID3 tags for Album, Artist and Track name. The menu area is controlled using the Nav system command wheel, rotating it moves up and down, pressing it selects the highlighted item. You can control Random play mode, Repeat mode etc. by clicking on menu items. You can even search for a track to play while listening to another!
Oh, and one other thing, the main text area does not change size, in the latest firmware that I’m using the size is fixed to the smaller size, but it’s possible to fix it to the larger size or leave it in the automatic mode, where it will display the large font for short track names and the smaller font for longer ones.
I could take lots of screen shots to show you the various menus etc. but they are all displayed here (http://www.intravention.co.uk/new_www/menus/index.html ) so I’ve just shown you one of the IV playing a track with the ID3 info showing at the top of the post.
Overall the unit performs very well indeed, with completely seamless integration into the BMW system. There are still a couple of bugs, this is still a test unit after all, but they are getting fixed quite quickly now and even in the current test state the functionality is amazing.
This device has be mentioned from time to time on this forum, but usually embedded in another thread, so I’d be surprised if many people have heard of it, it’s the IV-II, you can see some of the details at www.intravention.co.uk (http://www.intravention.co.uk/new_www/)
As the unit is still in testing, the web site does not really give a clear indication of what this device can do, especially on the Nav screen, so I thought I’d give a quick summary:
The device connects the BMW i-bus to the alpine Ai-Net interface as used by all current Alpine head units and CD Changers etc. (except the F#1 series). I’ve got the CHA-S634 CD changer with MP3 capability so this description is base around using that, but I know other testers who are using the KCA-420i iPod interface and the functionality is similar, the KCA-420i basically emulates a CDC but allows you to change selection modes – Artist, Playlist and Album rather than physical CD’s. I’ve got one on order and it should arrive soon.
As anyone who has a Nav screen knows, the standard screen is divided into either two or three areas depending if it is setup to use split screen or wide screen mode. The IV replaces the text which would be displayed by the standard BMW CDC interface with it’s own, much as a couple of other devices do (ice->Link and Neo iOn), it’s not just a ‘silent’ interface like a SoundGate, SoundLinx, ICD or BlitzSafe devices that use the older Alpine m-bus interface. I used to have one of these (I’ll not say which one!) and it didn’t work very well at all.
The top area of the screen usually displays the current file name, folder name, disk number, track number, current track time (updated every second) and selection mode (pressing the < > key changes between track and folder selection mode) – all at the same time.
The bottom area displays the IV menu system, you use this to control features that are not directly available from buttons on the head unit or to display the ID3 tags for Album, Artist and Track name. The menu area is controlled using the Nav system command wheel, rotating it moves up and down, pressing it selects the highlighted item. You can control Random play mode, Repeat mode etc. by clicking on menu items. You can even search for a track to play while listening to another!
Oh, and one other thing, the main text area does not change size, in the latest firmware that I’m using the size is fixed to the smaller size, but it’s possible to fix it to the larger size or leave it in the automatic mode, where it will display the large font for short track names and the smaller font for longer ones.
I could take lots of screen shots to show you the various menus etc. but they are all displayed here (http://www.intravention.co.uk/new_www/menus/index.html ) so I’ve just shown you one of the IV playing a track with the ID3 info showing at the top of the post.
Overall the unit performs very well indeed, with completely seamless integration into the BMW system. There are still a couple of bugs, this is still a test unit after all, but they are getting fixed quite quickly now and even in the current test state the functionality is amazing.
