Quick look: Belkin Aircast bluetooth car kit

[WorknMan]

This is my first impressions of the Belkin Aircast Bluetooth hands-free car kit after having played with it for about 20 minutes using the Android Galaxy Nexus and Slacker radio:

(Watch the video on the right)

http://www.belkin.com/IWCatProductPa...duct_Id=530115

Amazon link:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...00_i00_details

WHAT WORKS:

- Mounting the device to dashboard, no problems

- Bluetooth pairing: Works exactly the way it shows in the video. Once you've got it paired up to the phone, just press the button the next time you get in the car, and it just works, assuming you have bluetooth on your phone turned on

- Audio streaming: Sounds as good as it does with a cable connected directly to the aux port. Some Amazon reviewers reported static/humming, and they recommended some kind of loopback device, but it worked fine for me

- Charging over USB

- Voice navigation works, and I imagine that anything that uses sound would

- Hold the button a few seconds to disconnect

WHAT MOSTLY WORKS

- Press and hold to make a call - I didn't get to speak to anyone, but successfully left a voice mail. It mostly correctly interprets what I say, but sometimes is way off. Then again, I suppose this isn't much different than the phone, but it's a little harder this way

- Double tapping to skip tracks... there's sort of a rhythm to it that you have to get used to

WHAT DOESN'T WORK

- Pressing the button to start music doesn't work, at least not with Slacker. I don't have any music loaded on the phone, so not sure if this would work with the stock player

- Pressing the button to pause music doesn't work with Slacker

OTHER NOTES

- I still want to test actually talking to someone and receiving phone calls, as well as other music players, and see how well it works with the iPad.

- If your lighter/power adapter is more than 3-4 inches from your aux jack, you're gonna need an extension cable, which means a clusterfuck of wires in front of your dash. Cable management will be required

Overall, I'd say if you just want a device that lets you play sound and music over your audio speakers without needing to connect to the aux port every time you get in the car, this device is a winner. However, I'm less bullish on its capability to automate making calls and other tasks using that button. If I can figure out how to get music going with that button, I wouldn't even have to take the phone out of my pocket when I get in the car, unless I need to charge.

[WorknMan]

BTW: I should've mentioned that the cable extender you're probably going to need to reach the aux port does come with the unit.

[Shane R. Monroe]

Nice .. Thanks for that ... It MIGHT be worth it if it works with the built in music app - it sure won't work with Subsonic if it doesn't work with Slacker. that removes a lot of value to me.

[WorknMan]

Well, I tinkered around with it for about another 45 minutes, and I can say it works like a motherfucker with the stock music app If you have it running when you get in the car, press the little button and it automagically starts playing music when it connects.

As for Slacker, I found that there are apps in the market that let you customize the 'default' music app. At first, I tried this one:

https://market.android.com/details?i...her.pro.plugin

And it didn't work with Slacker.

Then I tried this one (Media Button Router):

http://code.google.com/p/media-button-router

This actually got the play/pause on Slacker working, which meant as long as Slacker was running, when I connected and press the button to play music, it would.

I REALLY wanted to try this other app, but didn't find it in the market while I was outside on my phone:

https://market.android.com/details?i...e=related_apps

So I'm guessing you're going to have different results with different music apps, and you may need a 'specialized' bluetooth app like the one I downloaded, so if your music app of choice is stubborn, I think you can get it working with some persistence. The cool thing is that with Slacker, it automatically pauses when I turn off the car and the bluetooth disconnects. So when I get back in, I connect and press the button, and presto... I gots music (Sorry, I didn't test this with the stock app.)

I also tested making/receiving a call with the button. My dad said he could tell I was in the car (said it sounded like it does when my stepmom calls him using her hands-free bluetooth kit), but we had a 5 minute conversation and no problems hearing/understanding each other. The normalization was a bit off... the call volume was louder than the music, though I'm not sure if this can be fixed with tinkering. It was a bit annoying, but helluva lot better than the alternative

[WorknMan]

Oh, just to clarify... when I say a music app may or may not work out of the box with this thing, ANY app that plays sound should work; it's just a matter of whether you'll be able to control them with the button without using voodoo or a 3rd party app. So, it may just be a matter of having to control the apps on the phone itself. But if you're doing that already using a direct connection to the aux port, this is kind of a step up from that

In the case of Slacker, audio works out of the box, as does skipping tracks with the button. What DOESN'T work is play/pause using the button, which you need a separate app for, or to change a setting in the OS somewhere that I don't know about.

Edit:
Here's another app:
http://www.appbrain.com/app/headset-....headsetbutton

There are several more of these.

[WorknMan]

Ok, last post tonight I went out and tried both of the 'Headset' apps I linked to, and they did absolutely nothing on the Gnex. The only one I've found that works so far as Media Button Router, but that doesn't allow you to customize the button actions. For me though, it does what I need it to do.

[WorknMan]

Ok, just a quick follow-up. All of my previous posts were sort of academic, just checking out the unit. I've had a few chances to use this thing since getting it (I work from home so don't drive a whole lot), and am happy to report that I really like it. Being able to get tunes by pressing a button on the dash, without ever having to take the phone out of my pocket, is such a novel concept for me, I'm still amazed by it every time I get in the car. And no more having to wait for a red light before I can skip tracks on Slacker

[Shane R. Monroe]

I wish I knew how Subsonic would work. Probably poorly.

[WorknMan]

If you wanna PM me your user info, I could give it a shot hehe

But if I were you and had a pretty static music library that didn't change a whole lot, I'd just get a stereo with a USB stick or card reader. Getting a device like this doesn't make much sense to me, unless you want to use a streaming service with a 'dynamic' playlist.