aj6

For cool factor, this is a neat gadget and can fill in some of the void left by the base model infotainment system. However...

Until voice recognition reaches the point of fast and reliable response to command features within the system, this is a non-starter for 99+% of people out there. I'm very much into Android, but I don't want this in my car. Not yet.

Smartphones and tablets are phenomenal their ability to do all the things you just mentioned, yet you still have it with you the moment you leave the vehicle. The form factor and usability of the design of these items we carry makes the clunky bastardization of MMI/Android look absolutely prehistoric in comparison. Why spend a thousand dollars to break up the symbiotic design and function of the car, when you already have the capabilities you wish for in a device that is a half decade ahead of your alternative? It's showy, but is it truly useful?

Spoonie G

I'm starting to get it. You can use a Bluetooth ODB2 connector and the Torque app and have a display of all your engine parameters (Oil-Temp, Voltage, Turbo, Load, Etc...) right on the MMI display. I have it already on my android phone and its pretty cool.

jmick21

+1 to all of that, I definitely fall in the same category.

I'll post my current, cheaper, solution to this in a couple weeks. I don't have Nav+, so I usually end up setting my Galaxy S5 right in front of the 5.8" screen and hoping it doesn't fall off while in traffic. Sometimes this is unsafely distracting, but it's the most convenient location for viewing Google Nav and all the other apps mroberte stated.

The idea came a couple days before I even saw you post this product. My thought was: why not use android's 'Car Mode' and/or apps to control all of the media because everything about it is better than this car's stock system. So I started designing this smartphone holder/case in Solidworks to slide over the factory screen and allow the phone to sit right in front of it. Hopefully I'll have it 3D printed in the next few weeks.

Coincidentally it's the exact same idea as this NaviTouch product, but in a much less attractive form factor (physical holder, no 7" screen). Although expensive, I'll also probably get this at some point in the future.

mroberte

My old car I was looking into getting something 3D printed to hold my phone in place of the Double din slot, it would of been perfect. I have a Note2 now and I literally can't put it anywhere in the car except under the armest - defeating the purpose of seeing any navigation.

Would love to have my android mirrored on the MMI screen as this would be the perfect solution, however then I wouldn't have any way to control the input (touchscreen) as it would still be under the armrest. Was trying to figure out a way to connect a mirrorlink solution to the screen using the AMI cable (I don't have this option either) - but looks like the whole VIM situation is another cost as well.

Thinking about just buying this as a christmas gift to myself. The installation looks pretty elaborate tho.

jmick21

The installation does look pretty involved, which would concern me if I didn't already play around with things from installing the backup camera. Did you install the backup camera mod? I'm trying to figure out all of the harnesses to see if this would still plug-and-play with the backup camera mod. It looks like there's RCA video inputs for the backup camera, which couldrequire some custom wiring of the two harnesses.

There's just way too many hypothetical situations, so I'd be very interested in hearing about your experiences if you pull the trigger haha.

mroberte

So I asked them specifically about the backup mod and gave them a link to the product along with asking about the harness. They said it would be completely compatible as it acts similar to the factory one - however I'm not completely sure they really looked as they were mentioning the RCA inputs - which the backup mod doesn't use.

I'm going to purchase probably this week so I can have it during my two weeks of christmas work break to install. The backup mod wasn't too hard to install, however it did take me a little time (I had the proper tools too). I'm assuming this will take me a few hours and I'll try and document as much as possible and make a write-up for those interested.

Some other things I asked:
1) Is screen capacitive or multitouch? - no its resistive.
2) Is stylus required for screen input? - no you can use fingers
3) Can this be rooted and do you support future OS upgrades? - Not sure about rooting, but they will be providing future updates (lollipop hopefully)
4) Will you specifically support android auto SDK? - They didn't know what this meant (weird).
5) If you do not have the AMI port, but just the 3.5mm jack, is the sound sent to my speakers using this port? Yes and no, the normal music is piped through all speakers, where navigation is only sent through one speaker (front).

If anyone else has questions, post them and I'll send another email to the company. - Robert

jmick21

I figured their answers would be about as helpful as those... oh well. I'm thinking the backup mod should work by daisy chaining the harnesses in the right way, I guess we'll see. Decided to go with APR mods for Christmas instead of this system.

Thanks for contacting them and being willing to make a write-up for it, that will be fantastic! Might upgrade to this in the spring if it ends up functioning well. Good luck with the purchase and install!

drober30

I agree with what your saying but one of the features I like most is that the navigation search can use Google. I searched for obscure hard to find places and they always came up. This is way better than all my other systems that relied on a built in database of POIs.

mroberte

With a data connection from you existing phone and plan, you will be running full on google maps app so you will have the same functionality and better than what the current MMI Plus has. Along with installing any other app you might have.

Got an email back from Navtech with some unfortunate news for those that have already purchased the backup camera mod.

I'm thinking that the backup camera should be able to work since it basically just plugs into the existing and new harnesses. I'll see what I can find out - just doesn't make sense to me that it wouldn't work.

mroberte

Purchased!! I also purchased the MMI touchpad dial to try and figure out how to make the touch input into a USB mouse. Stay tuned for my review, and installation write-up!