14 replies to this topic

[SwissV8]

When my Evora arrived just over a week ago, I was a bit disappointed to see that Lotus are still installing the Pioneer AVIC F930BT, as this has been discontinued and replaced by the F940.

As far as I can tell, the hardware is actually the same (at least spec-wise), but there are some big improvements in the software. The maps have changed from Tele Atlas to NavTeq (which seems to bring improvements), and there is a new "Advanced App Mode".

The Advanced App Mode brings the ability to run compatible Apps on your iPhone 4, and have the display appear on the Nav System (where you can fully interact with the App using the touch screen). This enables, for example, the use of the native Contacts, Calendar and Phone Apps directly from the Nav, but more interesting is DashCommand. If you want access to your ODBII data, you can use DashCommand to have all the data appear on the Nav System in real-time... pretty cool!

Anyway, the reason for this post is to let owners of the F930 know that Pioneer have made a new firmware update available which upgrades the F930 to the F940 software. This includes the NavTeq maps, the Advanced App Mode, and all other improvements Downside is that you have to buy it, even if your F930 is only a week old like mine is ... and it ain't cheap at £119 plus P&P.

Well, after all the troubles I had with the Evora while on holiday, I've decided to upgrade my Tech Toys - I've ordered the Pioneer firmware update, together with a WiFi ODBII interface. I'll then add DashCommand to the iPhone and see how it all works! If anyone out there is interested, I'll post up some results when I get the whole lot up and running.

[Moxie]

Rob,

Thanks for this. After a 1,400 mile roadtrip, I'm more than ready for an upgrade and very interested in whatever you post.

Do you have a URL for ordering the firmware upgrade. And which WiFi ODBII interface did you go with? I'd love to get all that data onscreen.

I actually found the 930 to be adequate, but the one thing that drove me nuts was that I couldn't get it bright enough to read easily on a sunny day. Any idea if the 940 is brighter?

Thanks,

Matt

[Bibs]

Did you adjust the brightness by holding down the mode key to get to the settings?

[Moxie]

Affirmative. In fairness, it's probably partly to due to wearing polarized sunglasses as well.

[SwissV8]

Matt, here's the link to the pioneer map & firmware update for Europe:

http://www.navigatio...zMAAAE22O8isLvB

BUT, I haven't yet found the equivalent update for the US model .
This might be because the 930 has been discontinued in the US, but is (for some strange reason) still available in Europe alongside the new 940. Maybe if you hunt around a bit more, you'll be able to find it.

One thing that really annoyed me when entering a destination on the 930 Nav is that you always have to enter a house number as part of the address. When you're on holiday, and just wanting to head to a particular village somewhere in the mountains, a street and and house number are usually not known, but the 930 forces you to pick one. This has been fixed with the 940, along with other improvements.

For the ODBII interface, I ordered the PLX Kiwi WiFi for iPhone. It's not the cheapest, but seems to be compatible with a wide range of Apps, and has generally received good feedback. Just after ordering, I received an email to tell me the Kiwi is on backorder as it is just being updated to version 2. Estimated dispatch time is about a week from now.

Sorry, but can't comment on the brightness just yet, although I never had a problem with the 930 brightness, even with sunglasses on!

[insertaliashere]

Thanks for the heads up!
I tried messing around with the options on the pioneer unit... and i couldn't find any options for adjusting the brightness.
I would actually like to turn it down.

[Bibs]

Hold down the mode key, the one under the volume dial, for perhaps 10 seconds. Remember to save the option rather than just press another button to get out of it.

Matt, wear your sunglasses upside down. You'll be fine

[Moxie]

Polarized sunglasses would have to go sideways. That's why they suck when using an iPhone or iPad. once you rotate the screen to landscape orientation it goes completely black. Pain in the ass.

Anyway, thanks for all the info Rob. Very cool about the PLX. I have a Contour+ camera, which includes GPS mapping (example starting at 1:15) and it would be cool to be able to add the PLX data as a synced overlay or screen in screen. Can you record the video from the PLX?

[insertaliashere]

Thanks for the help, Bibs!
I accidentally discovered that pulling the handbrake allows access to more options. Hah

[SwissV8]

Thanks for the help, Bibs!
I accidentally discovered that pulling the handbrake allows access to more options. Hah

There's an option in the settings to turn Safe Mode on and off. When Safe Mode is on, many settings are disabled if the handbrake is not engaged. If you turn Safe Mode off, these feature remain enabled even while driving.

This feature confused us a bit while we were on holiday, as we couldn't figure out why the address entry on the Nav was sometimes disabled. Figured it out eventually though!

[SwissV8]

Pioneer software update arrived yesterday, so I'll install later today
Sadly though, the Kiwi ODBII interface will not arrive until September due to the current version being updated
Still, better to wait and get the new version instead of rushing and getting an out-of-date unit.

At least this evening I'll be able to try out the new App Mode and see how well iPhone Apps run on the Nav Unit interface.

[trooperiziz]

I was tempted to buy a kiwi wifi interface, but the blurb stated that it would take some power from the battery even when the car was turned off, which concerned me a bit. I quite often leave my cars a couple of weeks without driving them, i'd hate to come back to a dead car! Did that concern you?

[SwissV8]

I was tempted to buy a kiwi wifi interface, but the blurb stated that it would take some power from the battery even when the car was turned off, which concerned me a bit. I quite often leave my cars a couple of weeks without driving them, i'd hate to come back to a dead car! Did that concern you?

Yep, I saw that as well. Seems v1 had an on/off switch, and v2 now has some fancier power save mode. To be honest, it doesnt really worry me too much, as I had a quick-disconnect battery terminal fitted before collecting the car. This, combined with the new battery easy-access cover that Lotus are now using on new Evoras means that I can easily disconnect/reconnect he battery whenever the car won't be used for longer periods.

I'd actually be more concerned about the power consumption of the alarm system!

[SwissV8]

Installed the Pioneer firmware update on Friday - very easy to do, and the process went smoothly. Pioneer's instructions tell you to park somewhere and put the handbrake on. They also tell you not to switch the engine off while doing the update, which isn't very practical as the update actually takes about 25 mins to install!! I did it while driving home from the office on Friday, no problem.

First impressions are a bit mixed. Although the general update seems fine, I was particularly interested in the new Advanced App Mode... and this doesn't seem that great

I'm not yet sure what technology pioneer use to get the display of the iPhone to appear on the Nav screen, but from the appearance it seems that the signal is effectively an analog video signal, which results in less than perfect quality on the Nav display. I would have expected it to be more like an external digital monitor, allowing the iPhone software to scale the user interface to match the exact resolution of the Nav display.

I tried out dash command, and this App allows you to select from many different dashboard designs. The default looks quite good (on the iPhone), but doesn't correctly scale to the Nav screen



The problem is that the 930 Nav adds a column of buttons on the right of the screen (for managing the Nav system navigation), and I can't find a way to get the Nav to hide these buttons. Consequently, part of the DashCommand display is hidden behind these buttons.

As far as I can tell, DashCommand was written and tested to work with the Pioneer AppRadio series of head units, but does not cope well with the new GPS head units that include the Advance App Mode features. Similar story for other Apps that I tried - they seem to mostly work, but the integration is not great.



I'm actually an iPhone App developer, so I've contacted Pioneer to try to get more info about writing Apps that are compatible with the head units. I'll investigate further and see what I can find out.

So far though, the initial impression is that there is still a fair bit of progress to be made before these iPhone Apps really integrate well into the in-dash systems

[SwissV8]

Another quick update: Solved the display problem with the Dash Command App. Seems that you have to start the App on the iPhone before connecting to the SatNav. If you do this, the Dash Command UI resizes itself correctly for the available screen space on the Nav. I also received the new Kiwi 2 ODBII interface this morning, so just gave it a quick test. All works fine, and I can get Dash Command displaying a load of OBDII data in real-time on the SatNav screen . Only problem now is, as my Evora is currently unusable due it's Comms failure errors, I can't really do much useful testing with the Kiwi