Technical Port 68R adapter for Smartphone

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Technical Port 68R adapter for Smartphone

noe9

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First of all I wanted to say hi as I'm a new on the forums.

I just bought a fiat 500 for my girlfriend.


The car is 2010 and is equipped with the 68R Port option and a Blue&Me Map satnav device (using TomTom maps). Unfortunately both the device, and the maps (dated 2009) are terrible so to speak.


As everyone now has a smartphone and in my opinion a standalone satnav device is a thing of the past I started to look for a smartphone cradle / adapter for the 68R port.


I was quite surprised that I could not find anything in google or on ebay.


Hence my question, has anyone seen a port 68R smartphone holder or a 68R / USB adapter?


I know that I can off course use a standard one with a USB cigarette charger however having already the nice port I wanted to avoid additional cabling and a dedicated smartphone adapter seems like a perfect solution.



 
Doesn't exist, the cost to make something like this which would only be used by a small amount of people who own 500's would be exorbitant.
 
Doesn't exist, the cost to make something like this which would only be used by a small amount of people who own 500's would be exorbitant.

This.

It's something FIAT should look into though -- they ought to partner with Google and Apple and come up with some cradle adapters. Nearly everyone has a smartphone these days.

On the subject of a smartphone adapter, there was someoneone on this forum who started a thread to gauge interest on a Port 68R cradle jury-rigged into iPhone charging mount. He'd made a rough working prototype for himself. AFAIK he disappeared after that -- no updates since, as is often the case.

I think anybody who's determined enough could just tear out an existing Port 68R cradle and solder/rig the necessary connections to charge a smartphone.
 
I suppose this will be my next step, if I can't find anything in the aftermarket i will rig the existing one


I guess the port only supplies the 5V current as there are ony 2 pins actually used on it?
 
If you want a better satnav option for the port you can buy the TomTom Go500 it comes with free lifetime maps updates and Free Lifetime HD Traffic, and at £150 all in its a lot cheaper than the Fiat option.

With a little modification it fits the Standard 68R TomTom Cradle as it uses the same power connectors as the old satnav

See Here

https://www.fiatforum.com/500/328022-new-satnav-options-blue-me-dash-socket.html
 
If you want a better satnav option for the port you can buy the TomTom Go500 it comes with free lifetime maps updates and Free Lifetime HD Traffic, and at £150 all in its a lot cheaper than the Fiat option.

With a little modification it fits the Standard 68R TomTom Cradle as it uses the same power connectors as the old satnav

See Here

https://www.fiatforum.com/500/328022-new-satnav-options-blue-me-dash-socket.html

Great article, the GO 500 comes in UK & ROA at £150 and Europe at £175, so make sure which one you want.
 
I have the GO500 too, great unit, large display, easy to use

Thanks, I may pick one up, we have the original GO (no numbers just GO) which needs replacing.

btw: I bought the Samsung Note-3 last year moving away from Apple, I am thinking about using that and unsure which screen / dashmount to get, I will search the forum first, any products which may come to mind will help.
 
The standard TomTom unit is an option, still I think a smartphone is the way to go (i can get any sat nav including TomTom app, AND a real time traffic / speed camera warning APP running at the same time)

Will post once i figure out how to modify the cradle
 
I used to to use my iPhone 5 for navigation, until I discovered the luxurious Go 500 from TomTom.
Huge clear screen, free map updates, and no mobile phone data usage. At night it also automatically switches to 'night mode' muting the colours so it's visible but not so bright that it's distracting. Don't miss the phone at all .
 
I suppose this will be my next step, if I can't find anything in the aftermarket i will rig the existing one


I guess the port only supplies the 5V current as there are ony 2 pins actually used on it?


I think it is a full USB port with a special connector and connects to the blue and me convergence unit. I believe it simply replaces the glove box USB port featured on some older Fiat models.

It should give exactly the same functionality as the normal USB port.
 
I used to to use my iPhone 5 for navigation, until I discovered the luxurious Go 500 from TomTom.
Huge clear screen, free map updates, and no mobile phone data usage.

I used the TomTom app for iPhone for years and now use the Tom Tom Go 500 connected via my iPhone's hotspot for live traffic IQ.

They both do the same thing pretty much, but the Go 500 has a bigger screen and is a bit easier to read. Oh, and the Go series has free lifetime traffic IQ. I'm really tempted by the Go 600 for the bigger screen and higher resolution, but I'll probably just wait for the next generation models :D
 
I think it is a full USB port with a special connector and connects to the blue and me convergence unit. I believe it simply replaces the glove box USB port featured on some older Fiat models.

It should give exactly the same functionality as the normal USB port.

I believe this is not the case, as the Blue & Me Nav unit uses Bluetooth to interface with the system (you need to establish a connection with the B&M module for the limited B&M integration to work. Not that it does anything useful apart from using the car's speakers for the for the voice guide)

The 68R connector only has 2 pins going to the port as far as I checked, and that makes me think it just gets +5V or +12V and Ground via the port... Need to check that as in case of using +12V I need to add 12V/5V logic

As for using an iPhone for the SatNav, I believe this is not the best option due to the iPhone's limited screen size.

Personally I prefer to use an Android Smartphone for the Nav as you can get a 5" or even a 6" model on the cheap today... and that certainly beats any TomTom unit, not to mention having the possibility to have live speed cam / police patrol warnings with a dedicated app.

Also you dont need to have data traffic enabled at all if you just want the maps as every descent SatNav now (TomTom, Sygic, Garmin, iGO) offers offline maps for download on your phone...
In case you are the Windows Phone guy... all Nokia Phones have lifetime Nokia Maps SatNav, with offline maps available, and having used that as well I can say it's quite good considering the fact it costs nothing.
 
I believe this is not the case, as the Blue & Me Nav unit uses Bluetooth to interface with the system (you need to establish a connection with the B&M module for the limited B&M integration to work. Not that it does anything useful apart from using the car's speakers for the for the voice guide)

The 68R connector only has 2 pins going to the port as far as I checked, and that makes me think it just gets +5V or +12V and Ground via the port... Need to check that as in case of using +12V I need to add 12V/5V logic

As for using an iPhone for the SatNav, I believe this is not the best option due to the iPhone's limited screen size.

Personally I prefer to use an Android Smartphone for the Nav as you can get a 5" or even a 6" model on the cheap today... and that certainly beats any TomTom unit, not to mention having the possibility to have live speed cam / police patrol warnings with a dedicated app.

Also you dont need to have data traffic enabled at all if you just want the maps as every descent SatNav now (TomTom, Sygic, Garmin, iGO) offers offline maps for download on your phone...
In case you are the Windows Phone guy... all Nokia Phones have lifetime Nokia Maps SatNav, with offline maps available, and having used that as well I can say it's quite good considering the fact it costs nothing.

The blue and me tomtom doesn't even use the car speakers to announce turns etc.
you are right about the port though. The only thing it does is provide power to the cradle to power the tomtom. No USB functions at all.
 
How about this one on Panda. It could work in other models.
DSC_0270.jpg
03_infotainment.jpg
 
Got one of those for our 500 which works a treat, best phone holder I've used and if you use Google maps its a fifth the price of a Tom Tom live 2 for the fiat's.
 
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