I got a 3G iPhone as an impulse buy the other day (they’re plentiful in Oregon it seems, no lines, got one in ten minutes at 2pm on a Friday) but the big downside aside from the higher monthly cost was that my trusty old Belkin car adapter with pre-amp line out sound no longer charged the iPhone. The newest iPhone accepts power on the USB architecture instead of the old firewire one, so most every old car charger no longer charges your iPhone (and being the battery killer the 3G is, this is important to charge it as often as possible).
A bit of research the other day uncovered this list of compatible car chargers (with and without sound output) and I decided to bite the bullet and buy the Kensington LiquidAUX car kit.
After getting the package and setting it up, I have to say it does exactly what it should, charging the 3G iPhone and transmitting sound via the line out cord into my car’s aux-in jack. The extra cool bonus feature is that the wireless remote actually works on my iPhone, allowing me to now skip songs, pause playback, and toggle shuffle directly from my steering wheel without taking my eyes off the road. I really didn’t expect the wireless remote (with included steering mount) to function on an iPhone, but it does and it’s great.
So high marks all around for this. If you have a new iPhone, and you want to charge/listen to your iPhone in the car, this Kensington option is a good one (there’s a $5 more expensive version with a iPhone holder on a stalk that I didn’t need, but you might).
A Whole Lotta Nothing 
Naw so far the GPS has worked pretty well and placed me where it should.
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Have you tried the iPhone 3G’s GPS yet? Does it think you’re in Texas? There’s an obscure bug that only seems to affect people in Utah (who it thinks are in Minnesota) and Oregon (Texas).
See my blog for details and please post about it if you have the issue – this seems entirely outside the awareness of the blogosphere, and more importantly of Apple.
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I would have bought this one but I don’t have an AUX on my car radio. I had to settle for the Griffin iTrip AutoPilot which is similar in functionality but there’s no wireless remote (just a remote on the charger plug itself for play/pause/skip)
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Most of the time the GPS knows exactly where I am (usually my driveway, in Soldotna, Alaska), but occasionally it thinks i’m in Berkeley, California.
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Do you use it as a phone in your car with this rig, and if so, how?
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I do use it as a phone, but since I don’t have a newer car with Bluetooth connectivity, I have to undock the phone and answer it by hand.
In a car with a bluetooth setup, it’s really perfect since it auto-pauses the song and lets you pick up the call on your car, then resumes music when the call is done.
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I bought it after reading it here and it is amazing…thanks
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Do you know anyone who doesn’t want an iPhone but can buy it for $200? I am stuck in the middle of my ATT contract with my blackberry and can only purchase the phone at full price. Let me know I want to buy the $200 phone. Thanks!
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Thanks Matt!
Now I know which one I’ll be getting.
Rudy
Social Media Guru at Trulia
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I was on board until you mentioned having to undock everytime you wanted to take a call without the benefit of a built-in Bluetooth system in your car. So you have to undock even if you use a Bluetooth headset, for instance?
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Julie, I kind of meant “undock” because I have to actually pick up the phone to use it.
If you had a bluetooth mic in your ear or a bluetooth carkit, it should all work automatically and pause the music, and connect the call as you’d want it to.
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well then that’s great! Thanks for helping me find a solution!
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