Ummm, the Parrot solution is available and does work. The question is quality of the mic, but Mikey has said that only 4 or 5 of his customers were not satisfied hence the reason for the review. I think that the BMW solution is nice but just can't cough up the 500 dollars to buy that unit.

 

in for an EAS solution I hate non-functional buttons in the car and I now have a Bluetooth phone

 

I just got the TomTom One for christmas. It has a bluetooth function. Allows me to answer and send calls from it! Yep!

 

What happens if one does not have the Nav system? Can you display caller/telephone directory information through the H-K head unit? Can you also work with the steering wheel control buttons? Will your solution mute the stereo source (AM/FM/CD/iPod/Aux-In) and route the reception through the stereo speakers while the call is in progress?

A market opportunity of sorts is going to be opening up in California around the middle of 2007 for a Bluetooth solution as citations will start to be written for people that are talking on their cell phone while driving. Hope you plan on having a product by then. i never really "got" the utility of the Jabra-like ear clips - too much like the Borg....

 

My wife's car has NAV and the parrot Evo kit, and we mounted the mic right between the Tach and the speedo, the wire just ducks into the steering colum plastic, then down under the knee bolster to where we put mounted the two boxes. Install was clean and easy, took about an hour, and thats the first time I've ever had those parts of the interior apart, so it took me a little longer than it should have. Looks totally stealth, and sound quality is GREAT. Did you adjust the volumes and stuff, you've got to tune things so feedback isn't an issue, just set the volume appropriate for the mic location you've chosen, and then it works great. The steering column location even works for my wife driving with the windows down below about 45!

 

Just a bump really.
E.A.S. is there any further updates as yet ?
If it fits what I`m looking for ,I will be all over it

 

Nothing yet - we're taking a minor (much needed) break until after the holidays. We're back on schedule next week for development.

We'll keep the forums updated when new details are ready.

 

Installed the Parrot EVO and newministuff control unit this week. To be totally honest it works great. I have had no issues with it at all.

 

I am interested to see what EAS comes up with

 

Hopefully you will be responding to my questions as well? I would really like a Bluetooth solution that would work with the H-K headunit and the MFSW that does not require the Nav. system.

 

The headunit used with the H/K is the exact same headunit if you don't have the H/K, so you can take that out of the equation.

Also, I have never seen or heard of a BT kit for the MINI that -requires- the factory Nav system, so you can take that out of the equation.

That means all you need to be looking for is a BT kit that uses the MFSW buttons.

 

Count me in for one if it's priced reasonably. As has already been said, Mikey the MINI at NewMINIStuff makes some nice stuff too.

 

Egde is correct on all counts there.

 

Curiousity overwhelms... how did the install go?

 

First off, thank you for the clarification. With the emphasized point in mind, my understanding of available products are the following:

1. OEM solution from the MINI dealer,
2. Parrot EVO with harness from NewMINIstuff.com and
3. Hopefully soon, the European Auto Source solution.

If there are any solutions that I have overlooked, I would really appreciate someone posting URL(s) to the other solution(s).

In the interim, I will await further updates from tom @ eas on the eas offering for the MINI. Can I presume that the eas offering for the MINI will be in production before say March, 2007? Or????

 

I don't like to give deadlines since this puts pressure on development, but we should see something available much earlier than March.

 

Can you give a price range you expect it to come in at and will it utilize the MFSW buttons?

 

Cannot give a price range at this time as we are still in development. This is intended to use your factory MFSW and/or radio buttons.

 

I am not trying to put pressure on anyone; my primary motivating event is the July 2007 timeframe for drivers that are using their cellphones while driving to be cited in California. As I have previously stated, the Bluetooth earpieces (for lack of a better characterization) underwhelm me. March is kind of my internal decision point. If there is any hiccup with my first choice and I have to go to Plan B, I want to have some time left to get Plan B installed and operational before July, 2007.

 

You bring up a very good point on the new law changes - we have this in mind as well. We continue development early next week.

 

Will the eas Bluetooth solution that is being worked on be compatible with the eas DICE iPod solution? If so, I might bite the bullet and replace the MINI iPod interface with the eas DICE iPod solution.

 

This is my question exactly (thanks)

I dont have either yet and a "package deal" would be wonderful !

 

No need to worry, neither of the iPod kits (MINI or DICE) will affect Bluetooth operation.

 

Can't wait to see your kit.

 

Can anyone tell me exactly what they bought to set up the Parrot bluetooth solution as invisibly as possible (with MFSW and headliner mic space)? I'm looking at NewMiniStuff but can't quite figure out exactly which parts I need (starting from scratch)...