jeffreyy

I was at the dealer today and saw a document showing current UHI availability for the US market. I only got a brief look but the v600 and v710 were listed as well as a lot of other models.

SUNILP

I believe usa gets v600 and v710 only.

TheKing

Which dealership was this? I would love to call them get a part number for the UHI unit!
I live in the Washington DC area, and I actually ordered the v710 cradle (for my new v710 phone), hoping that it would come with UHI. I guess I'll know in about a week ...

wingless

Any idea on the timing? My '05 was ordered with the telephone preparation and has been waiting for the new telephone. My sales guy keeps telling me 2-weeks-to-go. It would be nice to know the truth.

jeffreyy

All the dates on the sheet were 7/2004. So, they should be available. There were more phones than the v600 and v710. Those were the only 2 I was interested in, so that is all I remember.

wingless

My telephone conversation with MB USA today revealed that, for the '05 vehicles, the telephone handset is currently available, but the cradle is not yet ready. They are currently 3 - 4 weeks out.

yukpo

I am very interested in integrating V710 into my 02 W203 (currently Timeport Installed). Can anyone confirm that if new PSE and the cradle are the only parts I will be needed for integration and if new PSE will work on current CANBUS based system?
Thanks in advance.

Wolfman

Interesting...

After a conversation with a technical support person at MBUSA (not a dealer) it was confirmed that the V600 will be offered (CDMA, TDMA, GSM), but that it would continue to be a proprietary phone like the V60, not a generic one.

The GSM version is supposed to be out in November. He also stated that UHI will NOT become available in the US because it does not support CDMA or TDMA.

This is somewhat contradicting information and while this wouldn't be the first time I hear incorrect info from MBUSA directly, I thought I share this info...

Wolfman

Jeffreyy, can you get your hands on the mentioned release document and post it here?

freakinfreak

Motorola only manufacturers the v600 in GSM form.

Wolfman

I guess that's where the V710 comes into play (CDMA). I only inquired on the V600 because of my provider (GSM). I assume it's the same footprint anyway.

The issue I have is that the tech specifically stated that it will be a MB proprietary phone and I just couldn't believe what I heard...

Wolfman

Rudegar

The footprint is quite different. The CDMA V710 is wider and longer than the GSM V600 though not as thick as the V60s.

jeffreyy

Wolfman,

I can try but I won't push too hard if it is dealer-confidential or internal use only. I was just glad they let me peruse it briefly. I don't want to abuse their trust.

I may have over-stated it being UHI. It did not specifically say UHI on it, I sort of surmised that given that it seemed to be a cradle with different handsets. I am still not 100% clear on what exactly UHI implies. So, sorry if that caused any confusion.

Let's just say I saw a sheet which detailed new handsets for multiple US carriers with release dates at the VPC and in dealers of 7/2004. If that date has slipped since the things were printed, that is beyond my knowledge.

Jeff

Wolfman

Rudegar, Jeffreyy

Thanks for the info. Btw, I have only seen the V600 in person and wanted to switch to it as it had the options I am looking for.

I am sure that many on the board feel the same way in not wanting to be locked into a proprietary outdated phones that are simply overprized. This is not a question of being able to afford it either, just the feeling of being ripped-off (same feeling I have when I have to pay $20 for a quart of oil at a gas station in Europe)...

The UHI solution that MB has implemented across the world (besides the US of course) is the best step forward. Using standard, not proprietary phones, people can switch between phone makes/models by simply pulling the cradle from a standard connector and replace it with the fitting cradle of the new one (provided they make cradles for it, but the selection so far is not bad at all).
Switching phones is also easy with GSM as the key info is on a small chip that can be transferred to any other GSM phone (not so with CDMA or TDMA).

I was of course hoping that MBUSA would consider the same UHI approach in the US which would make the upgrade an easy and local event, but it appears that this option may not be the case.

Wolfman

mb230s

MikBox will give you that for $200. www.mikbox.com

weinschela

Mikbox doesn't work for those of us with late model W211's. I hope we can put a "yet" in that sentence, but the W211s have interfaces that so far Mikbox does not handle.

Wolfman

I know that and have been on the waiting list, but will opt for the UHI setup instead. We switch phones often enough that I really like the plug-n-play cradle option. This way software compatibility is also ensured (provided Motorola gets their act together)

But I think the mikbox is a really great idea worth supporting! Maybe we can get him to design an iPod interface next

Wolfman

mb230s

Scorchie or Sunman could probably correct me if I'm wrong - BUT - I think the UHI PSEs aren't really "universal". The Motorola one may work for many Motorola non-MB branded phones, but not for Nokia, Siemens, etc. So if you switched to a phone built by another company you would need a new UHI PSE, cradle, cable, etc. Granted right now the MikBox is only for Motorola, but Mik is going to integrate the other major phones as well. I believe he is working on the Timeport PSE first.

Not sure what you mean by the plug-n-play cradle option, but I think the Mikbox basically does the same thing. Plus you can buy cradles online from much cheaper sources than your MB dealer! The MikBox does not need a proprietary cradle to work.

Obviously I'm a big fan of the MikBox, it works very well.

weinschela

My understanding is with UHI all you would need to replace is the cradle if you changed handset. Of course its not truly "Universal" becaise they won't have cradles for every phone, but there will certainly be more choice of which phone to use. I just don't understand why they have rejected UHI in the US. If its because it is only for GSM phones, then they should offer it for GSM phones and continue to offer the solution that's out there for CDMA. Instead, they have a proprietray system for both CDMA and GSM. But GSM phones are easier to reprogram than CDMA, with a cable and the right software -- especially Motorola phones (including bit by bit changes in SEEM files), so I would hope that someone will post the files contained in the MB v600 so we can compare it with an off the shelf v600 and see if it can be reprogrammed to interface. I don't know for sure whether this is feasible but it is worth taking a look.

wingless

All I want is full support for all the features. That is, I want my phone book downloaded to the COMMAND, when I snap it into the cradle. I want caller ID names for stored numbers. The COMMAND keypad and controls should operate as intended. And, of course, the steering wheel controls should work to answer or hang up a call.

The $765 hands-free telephone preparation kit was added at the factory for my '05 C320.

Yes, if a non-MB phone will work, then good. But, if the only way to get this to fully integrate is with the MB phone, then that is my choice.

My problem is the waiting game, for MB and Motorola to get this system working.

Wolfman

Incorrect. The UHI is truly universal as long as a cradle is made for it. The PSE, all cabling and the UHI adapter always stays the same. It currently supports Siemens, Nokias, Sony Ericssons and Motorolas (find model details by searching through this forum) and will support new phones as they come to market (at least that's the promise, probably a realistic one as the cradles are not manufactured by MB).

Plug-n-play means that you open your armrest, snap out the cradle (no cables, no tools), snap in the new cradle, plug in the new phone. Done... Switched to another phone with full capability in 20 seconds.

Costs: currently all cradles cost about 140 Euros, but are already selling on Ebay (Germany) for 30-40 Euros. Either way you go, not a significant cost.

Again, mikbox is a great idea and an excellent low cost solution, especially as it may support phones not covered by UHI (like the "not compatible with anything" Samsung phones). The probem I see is software compatibility moving forward and the cost being close to UHI if you don't already have a MB phone kit installed and have to get one from Ebay.

I see it as finally having more than one choice...Pick the one that fits your needs

Wolfman

Wolfman

It's important to understand the mentioned UHI kits are Mercedes solutions with a significantly higher rate of installation than the MBUSA kits, therefore you can expect them to work better (tighter integration) and less software bugs.

Wolfman

Mik

Its true, for cars that don't have any phone kit installed, it might be cheaper to go UHI, and ensure support for more phones.
I don't know why MB is not selling the UHI in the US, but I can only think of two possible reasons. Either its true what someone else mentioned on this forum before, that they have a long time contract with Motorola that prevents them from supporting any other phone, or they realize that in the American market people are much more willing to pay top dollar for such a feature than in any other country, especially Europe, where hands free cellphones have been common for much longer (as have laws regarding the use of cellphones in cars).
Anyways, I think its great if we can just use the European UHI cradles in the US spec cars. But I am afraid that MB won't build cradles for phones like the V710 or any Nextel phones, since those can't be used in Europe. And since the phone interface electronics now sits in the cradle, it won't be as easy as it is now (for the D2B vehicles) to build a homemade cradle out of some professional hands-free-kit cradle.
The mikbox project is not really trying to provide a lowcost alternative to the original MB kit, or the UHI. Its primary goal is to let people use newer phones, who already have a carkit installed and are bound to their ancient phones, or want to use non-MB phones. The second goal is to work with phones that are not at all supported by MB, even in the newer cars or UHI.
And also...its a fun project

Wolfman

Mik,

This is an awesome project and truly the first alternative for Mercedes owners besides the european GSM Phone Installs for MB's. Definitely the way to go if people want to stick with Sprint, Verizon or Nextel

Wolfman

c4791p

You can add me to the list of people waiting for UHI.

Thankfully, my job has me deskbound and relying more on my cellphone/PDA combo while I'm not in a car. On the other hand, my wife's real estate career here in Las Vegas has her on the road a lot with a Sony-Ericsson GSM cell phone stuck to her ear.

For several reasons, mainly DBz decision not to import the 2005 C320S to the US, we had to buy a 2004 late in the year and couldn't find one with phone support installed. On top of that, my wife is extremely particular about the functions of her phone as a handheld. Even though we'll be replacing her T39M World Phone with a new phone, it has to be one she'll be comfortable using while not in her car.

We're probably strange in that we're just not blindly leaping ahead and saying, oh boy MBZ has a cell phone we can get in our car, but are instead saying here's the cell phone we're going to use, now somebody find us a way.

So we're committed to working with Steve since it looks like his phone kit is the way we were seeking. Getting the install kit and UHI we need when it becomes available is for us a good way to go, even if we have to wait a few months for the UHI to be commonly available.

In the mean time, we're reading a lot, listening to comments about various phones and trying several out so we confirm that the $400 we will spend on the phone alone is wisely invested.

Chuck

tivoboy

I wasn't able to find anything on their web site, and all my emails go unanswered.

There was some quote in the beginninog of this thread, that it was on the website, but seaching their site yielded no results.
anyone?