CJITTY

**NOTE**
Any updates I have on my experience with this mod will be added to this first post with dates...check back often as I will keep you all posted as best I can.
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Hey Everyone, your boy Uncle Jitty decided to post up this Informational Thread on the VAIS Technologies Android In Vehicle Infotainment Center (IVIC) and post a quick demo video of this in action in my LS600hL. I have had a few questions PM'd to me so I thought this would help some of you all out by starting this thread.

There are a couple of bonus extras I added to the setup to make it even more enjoyable. I highly recommend folks get this, especially those of you with Android phones and self parking feature.

Notes:
* Currently this is on sale on VAIS's website..about $150 off than when first released in 2012.. so it may be a good time to scoop this up now. I think this is the only product of it's kind on the market. Look at it this way, if you don't have the hookup at the dealer to get your NAV system updated for less than $300, then you can pay a little extra for this and use any NAV Android App you want and updates are free that way...win!

* Will work perfectly on LS's WITH the self parking feature. *If you DO NOT have self parking, you will lose your oem backup camera when in reverse feature but otherwise the system works just fine. There are some work arounds but it requires wiring from what I understand. If anyone has determined the fix..please post in this thread to help others.

*I thought I bought a genuine Samsung MHL HDMI adapter from Amazon, but I think they were duped as well as me..so, I had to return it and currently using a cheap MHL adapter that is being replaced with a real Samsung adapter for better performance.

Update 3/30/2013- Went to Best Buy today to see if they had an authentic Samsung OEM MHL HDMI adapter and they did. $40 and I can say 100% that the one I got from Amazon was a FAKE. The one I bought today had much better packaging, Samsung OEM Hologram and the adapter felt about 5x heavier in weight and overall build quality. Needless to say, after installing the new MHL adapter, the system works perfectly now with no glitching, which is a clear sign the MHL adapter is getting interference. The fakes have no shielding which is probably the cause of my issues from the Amazon "Genuine Adapter". Don't go cheap on this one folks, get the real deal and go to a reputable store and put your hands on one. I have attached some pics of the packaging in hopes you can avoid a fake MHL HDMI puchase. I sent my other one back to Amazon for refund so i can't compare the two boxes side by side...

*The white MHL cable I used in the video to connect to my phone was temporary, I am now using the OEM Samsung MHL HDMI connector and using a 2.1 amp car charger using the the 12v power outlet in the armrest. The MHL connector requires a power source, so there is a micro usb port on the MHL connector. The white cable is an All in One MHL Adapter and was causing the system to glitch and is better suited for basic home use applications, not for the IVIC. As VAIS recommends, only use a Genuine OEM Samsung MHL HDMI adapter for this setup. I can confirm this is true.

Update 3/31/2013
Here are some things you may want to consider to enhance your experience with this VAIS Android IVIC system
* I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANYTHING THAT HAPPENS TO YOUR PHONE, YOUR IVIC, YOUR CAR OR ANYTHING ELSE YOU HAVE!!!! DO SO AT YOUR OWN RISK.

1. install an app made by VAIS Technology called "IVIC Port". This app auto rotates your phone screen to Landscape and other settings you may find useful while operating your IVIC. FREE!

2. Rooting is NOT REQUIRED to use the IVIC. But, I did to allow for some phone tweaks you cannot do unless you are rooted.
There are plenty of YouTube videos with crystal clear instructions on how to do it and it takes literally seconds. Simply search YouTube for "How to Root (Your Phone Name) (Your Carrier)" You can always unroot if you need to send your phone in for warranty work or anything.

3. After rooting, Flash a Kernel that allows you to control "USB Fast Charging". Since your phone will be on at all times while connected MHL HDMI, it will drain slightly more than it can charge since the phone is seeing the power source as a USB device vs AC Connected Wall Charger. I flashed the Perseus Kernel which has very customizable power control settings. The stock kernel does not allow for this adjustment. I set mine to around 750mA for USB charging which while MHL HDMI connected charges at a rate at around 1% every 10 minutes or so. So far so good.

4. Install a Free App called "Screen Standby" in the Google Play Store. This app can sense when you connect to MHL HDMI and turns your phone screen off without putting it to sleep. This is very helpful in preventing battery drain and it just makes sense to turn that screen off when you have your car nav screen on mirroring the display or if you are hooked up to your LCD at home. This app requires ROOT.

5. I wanted to save even more battery life on my phone by installing another free app called "Car Kit". This app DOES NOT require root and can sense that I am connected to a power source and automatically turn on the phone bluetooth control. In my case, once i connect to my IVIC, the app senses the power and turns on the bluetooth and begins pairing the car OEM BT for phone calls, then the BT connection to the IVIC, and then the BT connection to that $9 BT Mouse I picked up on EBAY. When I disconnect the power/MHL cord from my phone, it turns off the bluetooth and kills all BT connections and saving battery life in general. Of course when turning off the car, the BT connections will end but I noticed while at the house, the BT mouse has enough range to stay connected. So, this app ends that as well automatically. Once I get back in car and plug back in, the mouse will auto connect within a few seconds. Not bad for a cheapo mouse.

Update 4/1/2013
* Your up and down steering wheel controls will still work for some apps like Music Player and others. It does not work on the PowerAmp app for some reason. Also..your volume control on your steering wheel works as well for head unit volume. The ivic port app auto fixes your phone volume output and you can adjust that line out volume..default is 14 of 15. Volume levels are about even if you are switching from another factory source like FM when you select ivic

Update 5/7/2013
* As I mentioned, one of the downsides is not being able to run your OEM Satellite Radio while your IVIC is connected to your phone since the IVIC is considered to the head unit as an additional source (CD Changer to be exact). So I signed up to get live XM Radio app. It is an additional $22 a year with my multi radio discount, but well worth the $2 a month to keep my satellite radio while this is in use. I didn't realize the XM/Sirius app allows for customizing the type of music you get on a particular channel. It is called myXM and for example on XM backspin (old school hip hop), you can tell the app to give you more 80s or more 90s tracks and more east coast or more west coast style..interesting for sure. Plus it acts like a DVR and saves the point you stopped listening.

Update 9/3/2013

I sent this into the VAIS forum today and they are looking into the issues, but I still love my VAIS IVIC system despite these minor issues.

Ben/Eugene and fellow VAIS IVIC owners,

Here is a quick update on some of the issues I have observed

Vehicle: 2008 Lexus LS600hL with Self Park
Phone: Samsung Galaxy Note 2
Network: AT&T
MHL Adapter: Authentic Samsung purchased from Best Buy

Issue #1. Glitching observed when phone switches from 3G/EVDO/4G/LTE networks

I have spent some extensive time on the road and going to less poplulated areas and of course the phone will often jump networks when on the highway. I can say with 100% certainty that my Samsung Galaxy Note 2 phone on AT&T will cause blue screen glitches as the phone is switching networks. You can see the glitching occurring while observing the LTE/4G and EV icons appearing as the phone tries to lock in a network. This happened several times along the same route in both directions. When in a highly populated area with strong LTE signal, the glitching does not occur.

My Solution so far is to force the phone to stay in 4G mode only and turn off LTE. That seemed to reduce the issue significantly, but when the phone goes from 4G down to EV (3G) on AT&T, it would glitch slightly and eventually I would lose music streaming on my XM Radio App, iHeart Radio or any other streaming media and I have to wait to get back into a strong 3G or 4G area.

Issue #2. Factory GPS icon disappears occassionally causing factory navigation to lose tracking.

Since installing the IVIC, there appears to be an intermittent issue involving the factory navigation. On the 2007+ Lexus LS vehicles, there is a "GPS" icon that displays near the upper left corner of the factory NAV screen. Sometimes when starting the car, the GPS icon will not display. As long as you stay on a main road, the car will track, but if you go on an unmapped section, the car will lose position on the map if the GPS icon is not on. For some reason, by plugging in my phone to the cigarette lighter whether hooked up to MHL adapter or just straight from the 12v plug, the GPS icon will appear again within a few seconds and not disappear.

It is hard to determine what exactly is causing it, whether interference from the phone, IVIC or if it has to do with power loss to the nav/radio unit since it is tied into the IVIC via plug n play and the IVIC is taking power from the remote GPS receiver. Others on the club lexus forum who have devices that plug n play have also noticed odd GPS behavior. I do know that by connecting my phone to a power source appears to help this issue.

These issues do not change my perception on the device because the pros clearly outweigh these occasional cons which can be mitigated with minimal effort, but I wanted to share these details in hopes that it may be something that can be investigated as a potential issue.


Since getting the real MHL Samsung adapter, I have not had any glitches at all. System works great. I will probably do an updated video soon showing more apps and perhaps do one while in motion to show nav apps functionality
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*My good friend Whitetooth who has a 600h over in Germany has figured out a way to use this with the iPhone, so be sure to keep up with him on his thread in the Audio Forum. VAIS is still working on this so I think that will be coming soon for you iOS folks. Here is Whitetooth's post for you iPhone folks >>>>> https://www.clublexus.com/forums/lex...d-screens.html

*Sorry for shaky video, I am not trying to win an Emmy for production so deal with it..

Hit me up here on this thread if you have any questions..enjoy

Tee

Another great write up man!

adamls2

That is too legit!!! Have to make this happen! Just to show off this off to people that ride with me + the mouse on top of that is killer! Great write up and explanation, props uncle Jitty!

Lextrician

as soon or if they fix the back up cam im on it.

tnbigdawg

iTrader: (3)

Same here! But I have a feeling it's not their priority right now because the rear camera issue has always been a problem since the ML+

LXurious

Integrating your own mouse to be like the 2013 lexus I see you thuggin it out lol. Quick question where were u using the mouse on the center console aka my elbow pad? Im on the iphone but everday I see more and more things that make me want to covert and get the samsung S4.

CJITTY

What up brotha 600...yeah man, this is a small mouse that i got from Ebay..I basically operate it on the front armrest lol. Plenty of room because the sensor below the mouse is toward the back of it so I can let the front of the mouse hang off the front of the armrest a little if I need more room..but so far so good. I even leave it on..it turns off when it loses the signal from the phone and then wakes up in a few secs once you return. It does have on/off switch and takes two AAA batteries. Come on over to Android my friend...it will complete your 600 lol

whitetooth

Great idea to connect a BT mouse! Especially the scroll wheel is helpful as the Lexus display is much slower in reaction as an Android phone and pages tends to become longer and longer.

Let's spend some time to find options. One can be a touchpad similar to pocktouch




but this is w/o the scroll wheel.

Another option is the new Lexus mouse as input but as it is not bluetooth a connector is required

lexusondubs

iTrader: (9)

can you use the factory touchscreen to access the apps on the phone ??

LXurious

Im really tempted to get the S4 and use it. Does it also show up on the Rear Entertainment screen? I wonder if you can text through the screen?

CJITTY

Yes you can..which is why the ivic requires a bluetooth connection as well. Since using the mouse however, I noticed the accuracy when touching the screen while ivic is running is off a little but when using the mouse pointer it is 100% accurate. There is a custom setup that takes about 5 minutes to realign everything for touch accuracy. .I just havent done it since using the mouse. The screen doesn't let you swipe or drag which is why I prefer the mouse better anyway

CJITTY

I honestly have not tried the back screen thing yet. I believe it should work since the head unit is seeing it as a source. You can use literally any app on your phone since the ivic is just mirroring. So I use the voice to text for hands free texting and it works great I created a shortcut widget for the S Voice app and I click the microphone and say "Text such and such Hey Im running late" and it does the rest for me.

305Busa

I need this in my life. Someone point me in the right direction to get this working on the Iphone please.

CJITTY

Did you see Whitetooth's post in the Audio Forum? He uses lightening HDMI adapter and having success with a few tweaks...you should be able to use the Bluetooth Mouse as well. This should hold you over until an official release..guessing

Check this out Busa ----> https://www.clublexus.com/forums/lex...d-screens.html

CJITTY

Update 4/7/2013

Added this minature handheld bluetooth keyboard with integrated touch pad that works perfect with Android. I use this when sitting in the car waiting around to do a lot of typing while using ivic.. .not while driving of course. Works perfectly!!

About $20 shipped on Amazon Prime...