iBiquity bags the 2013 Buick Enclave with IntelliLink

[gosmith123]

HD Radio appears to be standard in all Enclave models, included with the IntelliLink system:

http://media.gm.com/media/us/en/bui...ontent/Pages/news/us/en/2012/Apr/0403_enclave

This appears to be another Sync-type system. JD Powers wacked Ford from 5th place in reliability down to 23rd because of problems with MyFordTouch/Sync, and the difficulties in using them. The DOT/NTSB have expressed concerns about driver-distraction with these systems, and for now, have made suggestions to the automakers on a voluntary-basis. Ford has a 45 minute video shown to customers how to use their systems, and it takes about six steps to tune to regular radio stations:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/06/business/after-ratings-drop-ford-reworks-touch-screens.html?_r=1

Ford still does not offer a stand-alone, factory-installed HD Radio system. Are there any automakes that do offer it, besides BMW and Volvo, where it can be replaced by dealerships for being "defective"?

 

[KB1OKL]

This appears to be another Sync-type system. JD Powers wacked Ford from 5th place in reliability down to 23rd because of problems with MyFordTouch/Sync, and the difficulties in using them. The DOT/NTSB have expressed concerns about driver-distraction with these systems, and for now, have made suggestions to the automakers on a voluntary-basis. Ford has a 45 minute video shown to customers how to use their systems, and it takes about six steps to tune to regular radio stations:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/06/business/after-ratings-drop-ford-reworks-touch-screens.html?_r=1

That's ridiculous, I have a 5 band Blaupunkt radio (2 satellite, 2 FM and 1 AM band) in my Pontiac and all you have to do is change the band with a press of the dedicated band button and then select the station with the modern preset buttons, all you have to do to save a station is hold the preset button in for about a second. If I had had to watch a 45 minute video to learn how to operate it, I would have bought an old Craig or Pioneer under dash radio and screwed it in!

 

[ddsparxx]

I certainly prefer knobs and buttons on the dashboard than the InTelliLink/MyBuickTouch/MyFordTouch gimmicky stuff that several automakers are trying to force us to accept.

 

[tomservo]

I don't like touchscreens or the advanced and complicated systems modern cars are being equipped with, either, but none of this has anything to do with HD Radio.

A glorified radio that takes six steps to change the station is trash regardless of what features it has because it was designed by engineers and not people who actually think about how normal people use things.

 

[gosmith123]

I don't like touchscreens or the advanced and complicated systems modern cars are being equipped with, either, but none of this has anything to do with HD Radio.

A glorified radio that takes six steps to change the station is trash regardless of what features it has because it was designed by engineers and not people who actually think about how normal people use things.

It has plenty to do with HD Radio. This is where Struble is hiding his gimmick. Bob's latest column had to do with being on the "digital stack", or be left behind, meaning Sync-type systems. Remember that Ford suit who wrote that open-letter to broadcasters, demeaning analog, saying the same thing about the "digital stack"? Bob can also hide the costs of installing HD from consumers and the lawyers being part of these systems. I recall one of the CEO's of Bob's radio investors saying that multicasting was a bomb, so he was all excited about Artist Experience (which will never work properly). See, Bob's gimmick is all about colorful displays and menus, and being a storefront for iTunes.

 

[gosmith123]

@KB1OKL: Yea, give me knobs, anytime!

 

[dumber than a box of hair]

I find it truly amazing that after being thoroughly trashed in the automotive press, especially in the enthusiast magazines like Motor Trend and Car & Driver where the manufacturers spend tons of money, systems like iDrive and Sync are still around, when just about every review says they're monumental distractions to the driver.

I hate to say it, but these kinds of system make an argument for regulating them out of existence. Given the kind of distraction cell phones supposedly are, it won't be long before the safety nannies start zeroing in on systems like these.

 

[flytrap]

I hate these new radios especially the aftermarket type. A car radio should be easy to use. I hate having to hunt all over the radio to find the AM/FM switch or to adjust the treble and bass. Too many menus. And don't even get me started on trying to set the clock. I wish we still had car radios like they did in the 60s and 70's just 2 knobs. one for the station and the other for the volume.

 

[ddsparxx]

I know this has nothing to do with HD, does anybody remember what was in the dashboard of the 1986-1990 Buick Riviera? I remembered the needlessly complex controls involving a cathode-ray tube that may have also have a touch screen.

 

[rbrucecarter5]

They just threw the kitchen sink at the radio:

High-resolution color display with touch-screen control
Bluetooth with hands-free (for phone calls) and A2DP audio-streaming protocol support
Address book download and hands-free calling
USB port
Auxiliary audio input port
Redundant steering wheel controls
Enhanced voice recognition powered by Nuance
AM/FM/Audio CD/MP3 CD/ HD Radio
SiriusXM Satellite Radio and data services
Selected Smartphone apps can be controlled through the IntelliLink interface via the touch-screen, steering wheel controls or voice commands. The first apps to be supported are Pandora and Stitcher
Supports playback of MP3 files stored on flash memory drives.

HD is probably there just because the chipset supports it. Given the miniscule, non-existant antenna in new cars, coupled with the fact that newer car radios stress this other cr@p like color displays and touch screens, with radio reception being listed 8th on the list - I doubt anybody will even notice that HD radio is in the radio - let alone be able to make it work with that miserable antenna, except for the dozen or so HD enthusiasts who frequent this board. Everybody else will be using the auxiliary input, digital formats, etc. Heck, they talk about its phone capabilities before they do any type of music reproduction!

 

[gosmith123]

HD is probably there just because the chipset supports it. Given the miniscule, non-existant antenna in new cars, coupled with the fact that newer car radios stress this other cr@p like color displays and touch screens, with radio reception being listed 8th on the list - I doubt anybody will even notice that HD radio is in the radio - let alone be able to make it work with that miserable antenna, except for the dozen or so HD enthusiasts who frequent this board.

I'm sure that is what Struble is counting on, but he gets credit for making a sale!

 

[Savage]

The content of this thread graphically demonstrates the endless capacity HD perpetrators have for self delusion. The system debuted a decade ago to universal ennui, especially after the consumer and broadcast markets asked for real-world demonstration of HD's "advantages." Then came the band-aid parade of supposed "improvements": AM-HD 24 hours! iTunes tagging! Oops, did we say the coverage is great? You're right, it sucks, so here's a tenfold increase in digital power! Asymmetry! Artist Experience! (.....laetrile?.....crystal worship.....refinancing from Fannie Mae....?)

So now - after the jarring (for iBiquity, always late to the Reality Table) revelation that a grand total of 37 radio stations have added HD in over TWO years, amounting to a net loss in number of stations broadcasting HD - the strategy appears to be getting HD into the marketplace by stealth and then deceitfully bragging about success. What planet do these people live on? I guess they really think this latest desperate lunge for what they call "acceptance" will actually work.

For HD to ever be the digital standard: (1) it has to work in the real world. It can't. (2) People have to want it. Nobody cares and they never will. (3) There has to be a real, quantifiable advantage to radio broadcasters. There isn't and there never will be, so nobody will install it.

Real-world HD story: on the Philly board here a poster is waxing enthusastic about some kind of rock format which is available via HD-3 and web stream. Another poster asks which he prefers. The OP says, well, the HD-3 "has been failing me lately," so he almost always defaults to the web.

Says. It. All. Sic transit IBOC.

 

[tomservo]

Toyota is now offering HD radio with the Panasonic head unit in the new Scion IQ.

What surprised me was the HD radio ability was specifically mentioned in the advertisement on television. Not Pandora, not mp3 capability, but HD radio?

How odd.