Infiniti News: Infiniti Updates Infotainment Systems for 2020 Model Year

[Drew Dowdell]

Infiniti will be releasing the next generation of their infotainment system, InTouch, for the 2020 model year.  Most of their lineup, except the QX60, get the updated system.  The biggest news is that the new system will now support Apple CarPlay and Android Auto standard.  The system can get over the air updates via their home's wifi or systems with navigation can have a data plan to do the updates. The navigation system can also receive real-time traffic data for re-routing and turn-by-turn directions. 

Infiniti has upgraded the interface to be easier to use and has added more processing power behind the system. They've also upgraded the bluetooth module for easier pairing and a better microphone for improved voice quality. 

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[FAPTurbo]

sucks to be the 13 people who bought the 2019 models

[balthazar]

1 hour ago, Drew Dowdell said:

Infiniti has upgraded the interface to be easier to use and has added more processing power behind the system. They've also upgraded the bluetooth module for easier pairing and a better microphone for improved voice quality. 

 

Amazing that this is what passes for a critical buying criteria now.

[Robert Hall]

10 minutes ago, balthazar said:

Amazing that this is what passes for a critical buying criteria now.

Ease of operability and integration of the infotainment system is critical..I couldn't imagine buying something new that doesn't have Apple Car Play and good bluetooth pairing w/ my iPhone.    That would be as crazy as buying a car 30 years ago with only an AM/FM radio and no cassette deck or CD player. 

Edited November 1, 2019 by Robert Hall

[balthazar]

I guess ride, braking, acceleration, handling, room, etc are merely secondary now. Either that, or future advancement is basically done.

[Drew Dowdell]

20 minutes ago, balthazar said:

Amazing that this is what passes for a critical buying criteria now.

Infiniti's infotainment system has been among the worst for years now. It wasn't even good when it was new. Any improvements are welcome.

Cadillac has the best pairing system at the moment. Just hold your phone up to a certain spot on the Infotainment system and it will pair automagically. This is on the XT6, CT4, and CT5. 

1 minute ago, balthazar said:

I guess ride, braking, acceleration, handling, room, etc are merely secondary now. Either that, or future advancement is basically done.

No, but the infotainment system being frustrating to use is one of the things that struck the Q50 from my list.  They depreciate like a rock, so they were on my radar for low-mileage used options.

[Robert Hall]

9 minutes ago, balthazar said:

I guess ride, braking, acceleration, handling, room, etc are merely secondary now. Either that, or future advancement is basically done.

Those are all important, but cabin tech is something you deal with every time you get in a vehicle.. if it's dated,  a bad design or works poorly that would be a source of constant irritation. 

Edited November 1, 2019 by Robert Hall

[G. David Felt]

39 minutes ago, balthazar said:

I guess ride, braking, acceleration, handling, room, etc are merely secondary now. Either that, or future advancement is basically done.

Yes Tech is more important than those things for allot of people who only see an Auto as an appliance for getting from point A to B and Back. Sadly, we on C&G are a dying breed of auto enthusiasts. 

[frogger]

Waze + Spotify/Tidal = decent commute.

 

 

[riviera74]

The upgrades are vital and should have been done three years ago.  I doubt it will move the sales needle but it should incentivize Infiniti buyers to trade in for the infotainment upgrades.  I personally doubt these upgrades would be put in a 2015-19 model.

[oldshurst442]

4 hours ago, frogger said:

Waze + Spotify/Tidal = decent commute.

 

 

 

I thought not having your T-Tops leak while driving in rain equaled a decent commute.

My my...times, they have a-changed...

 

[Robert Hall]

4 hours ago, frogger said:

Waze + Spotify/Tidal = decent commute.

 

 

Waze + Amazon Music / Sirius XM for me.    And not having to drive at all is the best commute. 

[oldshurst442]

4 minutes ago, Robert Hall said:

Waze + Amazon Music / Sirius XM for me.    And not having to drive at all is the best commute. 

USB key or Acura radio memory equals music for the traveling or the trusting AM dial  listening to sports talk radio equals decent commute for me. 

I wish T-Tops was still an option for cars.  *SIGH*  

Edited November 1, 2019 by oldshurst442

[USA-1]

On 11/1/2019 at 9:07 AM, Robert Hall said:

Ease of operability and integration of the infotainment system is critical..I couldn't imagine buying something new that doesn't have Apple Car Play and good bluetooth pairing w/ my iPhone.    That would be as crazy as buying a car 30 years ago with only an AM/FM radio and no cassette deck or CD player. 

Yep, cassette deck and 12 disc CD changer in the C5, state of the art for 1998! 20 years later, 2018 Silverado has bluetooth connection for phone and mp3's along with Android Auto and Apple Car Play

[USA-1]

Can't live without the clarity of SiriusXM or my mp3's. FM has nothing but commercials anymore.

[ocnblu]

It amused me how much time the sales chick spent trying to explain all the cabin tech in my new truck.  I use bluetooth with my flip phone.  And I listen to two FM stations, both public, so no commercials.  The rest of it can rot.

Edited November 5, 2019 by ocnblu

[frogger]

On 11/1/2019 at 5:43 PM, Robert Hall said:

Waze + Amazon Music / Sirius XM for me.    And not having to drive at all is the best commute. 

Library for Amazon Music is really lousy up here unfortunately.  I'm on a Spotify family plan so it comes to $36 a year.

[oldshurst442]

Spotify has a family plan?   LOL

So...us being in Canada, not only are we paying extremely high internet fees for 5 minutes worth of world wide web surfing, we also got to pay for music that we should already own on minimum 3 mediums...   Casette (recorded over the radio for free I might add) Cassette and/or LP and upgraded to CD in the 1990s and then just transfered on MP3 later on...

I will NEVER pay for online music services.  I will GLADLY buy the CD/Blue Ray or LP of the artist's album but I NEVER pay for a Spotify type service or XM satellite radio.  

I never enjoyed Howard Stern and I do have satellite TV for sports viewing so that nullifies any reason for satellite radiuo services for.

PS:  I got some Cassettes that are no longer in good condition along with a few LPs that are scratched but those albums have been replaced by CDs plus I got a shyte ton of other CDs as well that are immaculate still.  If I dont have a song that I have listened to when I was young, there is youtube.  

Most of what I enjoy listening to while I drive are on a USB key or in my car's  radio's memory banks on a playlist from music that I bought and just transferred there.   

[oldshurst442]

My both kids are simply not into music the way I was therefore there is no need for me to invest in Spotify music services or heartthrob concert tickets.

They listen to music but youtube is good enough for them. They dont want  to listen to their teen idol artists  24/7...

[Robert Hall]

I use a USB drive loaded w/ music sometimes, but accessing it through the UConnect touch screen is so slow that's it is impractical to use.  Streaming from Amazon Music on my phone over bluetooth is much faster.   Same content for the most part (since I've bought most of my CDs from Amazon for over 20 years and Amazon makes purchases available to stream, and the USB content is my iTunes library which was ripped from those CDs).   Plus I can discover content I don't have through Amazon Music playlists, found some interesting stuff. 

I didn't have Sirius XM before this Jeep, but really like it, to the point of never using AM or FM anymore..I don't like the advertising and limited content on AM or FM.

I also like to stream podcasts from Overcast on my iPhone as well. 

Having a lot of choices for content consumption and finding what works for you is great. 

Edited November 5, 2019 by Robert Hall

[oldshurst442]

16 minutes ago, Robert Hall said:

Having a lot of choices for content consumption and finding what works for you is great. 

That is the bottom line. 

I just speak for myself. 

[G. David Felt]

2 hours ago, oldshurst442 said:

Spotify has a family plan?   LOL

So...us being in Canada, not only are we paying extremely high internet fees for 5 minutes worth of world wide web surfing, we also got to pay for music that we should already own on minimum 3 mediums...   Casette (recorded over the radio for free I might add) Cassette and/or LP and upgraded to CD in the 1990s and then just transfered on MP3 later on...

I will NEVER pay for online music services.  I will GLADLY buy the CD/Blue Ray or LP of the artist's album but I NEVER pay for a Spotify type service or XM satellite radio.  

I never enjoyed Howard Stern and I do have satellite TV for sports viewing so that nullifies any reason for satellite radiuo services for.

PS:  I got some Cassettes that are no longer in good condition along with a few LPs that are scratched but those albums have been replaced by CDs plus I got a shyte ton of other CDs as well that are immaculate still.  If I dont have a song that I have listened to when I was young, there is youtube.  

Most of what I enjoy listening to while I drive are on a USB key or in my car's  radio's memory banks on a playlist from music that I bought and just transferred there.   

I get what you are saying, my daughter has spotify and added my wife and I on her account. Have to say, I am loving how it just works on my Panasonic Android / Apple head unit in the SS and is commercial free. Has made me decide to update the OEM head unit in my Escalade to an aftermarket unit as it is just awesome. Love listening to my music with no commercials. In regards to XM Satellite Radio, I have it on the Escalade and if it was not for the offer I took at the time when they were merging with Sirius to not loose me, I would not have it today. I now have lifetime on my Escalade for XM, so the best $200 I spent back in 2007 when the merger was anounced and after 57 weeks, took place on March 24th 2008. I will say that much of SiriusXM has talk shows and commercials now and it becomes harder and harder to listen as I hate commercials and talk shows, just let me listen to my music. As such, Spotify and YouTube Music are great. Worth the small yearly cost for commercial free music everywhere.

[Drew Dowdell]

The amazon app on both Android Auto and Apple CarPlay has been miserable lately.... crashes a lot and hard to navigate. 

[G. David Felt]

2 hours ago, Drew Dowdell said:

The amazon app on both Android Auto and Apple CarPlay has been miserable lately.... crashes a lot and hard to navigate. 

What does that app give you on the auto when driving, the ability to order stuff? Yup, probably one of the few people that does not have an amazon account or use them.

[Drew Dowdell]

1 hour ago, dfelt said:

What does that app give you on the auto when driving, the ability to order stuff? Yup, probably one of the few people that does not have an amazon account or use them.

Amazon Music.  It's a subscription service like Apple Music or Spotify, but it comes with your Prime account. 

[Robert Hall]

4 hours ago, Drew Dowdell said:

The amazon app on both Android Auto and Apple CarPlay has been miserable lately.... crashes a lot and hard to navigate. 

Since I don't have Apple Car Play, I just start playing a playlist or album on the app on my phone and stream it to the Jeep head unit over bluetooth or USB..works fine that way. 

2 hours ago, dfelt said:

What does that app give you on the auto when driving, the ability to order stuff? Yup, probably one of the few people that does not have an amazon account or use them.

That's got to be unusual being in the Seattle area but not an Amazon customer.     I've been using Amazon for 22+ years, Prime for at least 15 years.  Get deliveries from them several times a week.

Edited November 5, 2019 by Robert Hall

[frogger]

21 hours ago, oldshurst442 said:

My both kids are simply not into music the way I was therefore there is no need for me to invest in Spotify music services or heartthrob concert tickets

You must not have exposed them to enough Helix or Honeymoon Suite when they were younger.

 

[oldshurst442]

1 hour ago, frogger said:

You must not have exposed them to enough Helix or Honeymoon Suite when they were younger.

 

LOL.

Oh...trust me,  I tried!   I tried teaching them how to spell this way.  "Gimme  me an  R !  (r)   O!  (o)    C!   (c)   K!  (k)...."

But they never wanted to take to it.  

Seriously speaking, I tried making them listen to the classics from the 50s and 80s but my daughter just does not have an interest in music all that much.  She will listen to what her peers listen to,  which are "artists" and "singers" from today.  She does have some interest in music, but it ends there. 

My son, he likes 50s rock.  Bill Hailey.  The Big Bopper.  Several Doo Wop songs.  But 80s rock...he wont touch it as his peers deem that era not cool.  There are a couple of his friends who's daddy's succeeded in winning their kid's hearts to 80s music.  But I failed...   

 

 

[G. David Felt]

20 hours ago, Robert Hall said:

That's got to be unusual being in the Seattle area but not an Amazon customer.     I've been using Amazon for 22+ years, Prime for at least 15 years.  Get deliveries from them several times a week.

Yup with my son working at Amazon, even he says I am weird to not buy from them, use them or have a prime account.

Just never found a reason to use it in comparison to my local retailers. Course, I hate shopping so that could also have something to do with it. Wife loves to shop, so brings home cloths for me to try on, then return what does not fit. Only thing I shop for is Auto's and Home Theater stuff.

 

[Robert Hall]

Just now, dfelt said:

Yup with my son working at Amazon, even he says I am weird to not buy from them, use them or have a prime account.

Just never found a reason to use it in comparison to my local retailers. Course, I hate shopping so that could also have something to do with it. Wife loves to shop, so brings home cloths for me to try on, then return what does not fit. Only thing I shop for is Auto's and Home Theater stuff.

 

The problem with shopping at local retailers is I'd have to leave the house and deal with crowds, deal with parking lots,  etc.   Ordering from my phone or computer is so much more efficient for me.   Content comes to me, rather than me going out and seeking content.    And Prime is great for streaming movies and tv shows. 

Though I do enjoy trips to Ace Hardware and Home Depot for home stuff and don't mind my local grocery.