Swapping the stock nav system.
 

Is anyone thinking of swapping out the stock nav system for another unit
with more features :iono:?

I do, after I upgrade speakers and install amp.

I don't like XM Sat radio and I don't like recent Pioneer units. I always choose Sirius over XM, so its going to be Kenwood for me.

But first the couple of month I'll see what stock unit can do.

Yeah I'll use it for a while and then swap it out eventually. Hopefully there will be a nice aftermarket unit that uses the stock GPS antenna and USB/Aux jacks so installation will be easy.

I might relent not too long after android head units start hitting the market en masse.

Yea, I saw that android one in a review... Looks like a start of a new generation, and bout time....

Looking at the current trend, it may take a while. Kenwood, Pioneer, Alpine all opt-out for 'app-compatible' modes. Switching to Android is not on their roadmaps anytime soon.

Google won't do it, because this is not a hot market that can drive a lot of revenues (only if Apple will go out with iCar-type of hardware, but I doubt it)

It will only be small manufactures, mostly China-based. But it will be a compromised experience. You can buy plenty of those already on eBay. Not good for the most part.

I'm tempted to swap mine out for a navigation with mirror link.

Both GPS and XM (Sirius) antennas are standard across units. All that is needed - adapter to plug them in. Thats a 2 cent piece.

USB, AUX, that will depend on the replacement unit.

Ist that the one? http://www.cultofandroid.com/6862/in...de-car-stereo/

EPIC fail - Froyo 2.2 is 2,5 years old already! And it had terrible memory management!

I like mirror link decks as the interface will be dependant of the application.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcHjtBkPEuU&feature=youtube_gdata_player"]SONY MirrorLink 2 DIN AVC headunit XAV601BT/701HD Promo Video Android/iPhone - YouTube[/ame]

Yea, that's the unit I saw.... I figure car audio is always behind on tech, check gps...

And since cell phones are getting so advance (android 4.0?)... I thought android should make an appearance in car audio...

I just happen to know something about electronics :) Sony XAV units up until last year used very unresponsive screen panels. Good resolution, great picture - horrible responsiveness, and horrible software.

I hope things are better for 2012 models.

This Clarion unit doesn't even use Google Maps - they went with Navigon. BTW, Android 5.0 is already in the works, which makes any 2.x unit obsolete by 2 major releases.

Knowing how hardware requirement were increased for 4.0 (ICS), I doubt it will be easily upgradable either. Clarion put so much bloatware into this unit - no wonder it took 2 years to hit the market.

I might change it down the road if it becomes a hassle and/or swap some speakers for better ones. Although, wiring and I don't get along too well. :bonk:

http://store.sony.com/webapp/wcs/sto...52921666438838

XAV-601BT
Advanced Response User Interface
Select between 2D or 3D icons and screen visualizers and enjoy fast touch screen response when selecting sources, transitioning between menu screens and searching through your USB music content.

Hmm, I upgraded to BeSpoke on my FR-S so I'll try it out for a while before I make any decisions, but this seems to be a really nice unit.

Only thing about these aftermarket head units is that a lot of their functionality requires them to tether to the internet via a smartphone, and whereas the stock unit routes the USB port / AUX down below your shifter, you're going to have to plug that stuff into the aftermarket head unit's faceplate.

I'm doing it after all my major mods. The stock head-unit is my only issue with the BRZ but the least of my worries. Sony MirrorLink seems cool and I like it but with all head-units i'm very skeptical.

You do realize that Sirus & XM are the same company now, right? Same stations, just a few different.

I'll wait for a nice Android-based nav unit to come out.

Company and used technology are different things.

Trivia:

1) XM has 4 satellites on geostationary orbit (2 used, with 2 down), while Sirius combines 1 geostationary-positioned satellite and 3 satellites on elliptical orbit, circling over NA (over simplifying, because its a complex figure-8 orbit). At any given time you have at least 3 Sirius satellites in your line of site (ideally, but very often).

2) Sirius is more aggressive in positioning terrestrial repeaters in my metropolitan area.

Going further north, XM gets worst reception, as clear line of site is required between your XM antenna and XM stationary satellite. Further you go north, the lower satellite is positioned on the sky for you, thus more easily can be obstructed by buildings, terrain, etc (its called satellite elevation). In case of Sirius you have moving targets in addition to stationary satellite.

These factors combined result in better reception on Sirius in our mountain areas. I rarely have Sirius reception drops on mountain backroads, while XM is always off, if I'm on the wrong side of the mountain.

3) Then, there are signal encoding differences and used compression rates that affect audio stream quality.

4) Then, there is Sirius Backseat TV, which I don't use but its a fun stuff to look into later. But that is a separate subject.

To sum-up - I consider Sirius platform more technologically advanced and more robust compared to XM.

The XM and Sirius offerings aren't the same. I personally prefer Sirius over XM even with the "same" channels due to the hosts, program formats, etc. Given that the BRZ has XM, I might stick with that for awhile.

Yeah, that's about sums it up.
Just drove some local 'twisties' (SE Michigan), and whenever there was a hill on the south side of the road - I'd lose SAT reception. It sucked. Nav was acting up too, more than a dozen times showing me driving on the water.
Given that the Nav (unlike my older Subies) doesn't seem to be connected to anything else in the car - I think I'm gonna be looking for something decent pretty soon.

I dunno what all the hoopla about app activated automotive head units are...

The only things i want my HU to do are Music, Video and NAV.

Whats this fascination with Apps? Whos playing angry birds on their damn car while they drive? or checking in on facebook......

With that said, here's my HU choice:
http://mobile.jvc.com/product.jsp?mo...hId=126&page=2

Depends on how much/far you drive everyday.. I wouldn't mind checking my news/updates/tweets while I'm stuck in traffic :D

Playing poker online during bumper-to-bumper rush hour doesn't sound too bad either.. or maybe watching Netflix in 4G areas :thumbsup: