ceremorphosis

One of the very few annoyances I have about my über-reliant, safe and sporty car is the lack of AUX in for my iPods and iPhone. I am relegated to using FM transmitters which can be touch-and-go in the radio-saturated DC/NoVA/MD metro area. I used the Kensington Digital FM transmitter which mostly positive results. This weekend, though, I picked up the new Belkin TuneCast.

Unlike previous TuneCast products, this version is made for the iPhone. More iMarketing? Nope, the nomenclature actually does indicate a difference. Upon plugging my iPhone into the TuneCast, I did not have to deal with the “This device is not made for the iPhone. Would you like to turn off your phone, rendering the device useless, or deal with the annoying GSM buzz when you have a phone call or SMS incoming?” popup message. (Interestingly, that message does popup when I start the car if I plug in the phone before ignition.)

The big auto-scan button works pretty well. I had bad result in the parking garage at Tysons Corner – but that’s to be expected in a monstrous steel and concrete cavern. Out on the road, finding a good frequency has been relatively smooth. The sound quality is very good – an improvement over even the Kensington, which was much better than most transmitters.

If you have an iPhone and are stuck with FM transmission, I recommend the Belkin TuneCast.