Buick Intellilink Question

[the_yeti]

Is there any decent technical review on the Buick Intellilink. Im am most interested on the functionality of Gracenote, and how it works. For example, I have my USB stick inserted, and its Indexing, and creating cover art as it is supposed to. But where does it store this index? If I create a playlist, where is that stored?

How does it work? There is not an internet connection in the car, so I am guessing Satellite radio. If I cancel my radio subscription, will Gracenote stop working?

I work in tech, and am used to new product reviews on phones, ipads, surfaces, etc... Piles and Piles or reviews on functionality, UI design, external connectivity, etc.. All I can seem to find is watered down press releases on the Intellilink.

Do they use the same system in Europe, does the Opal Intellilink have more information if I search Google.de ? Has anyone here found anything?

 

[eminelo]

My 2011 has a hard drive, but not intellilink. I assume your car has both, and that is your storage? Just a guess...

 

[Harshman]

Did you Google 'Gracenote'? Pretty sure I have no idea what you are trying to find, so...
http://www.gracenote.com/auto/

 

[IndyGS]

I was always under the impression that album art was stored on the device. If there are tracks on my iPod that I haven't added album art to (usually albums that I've ripped from CD and forgot to tell iTunes to "Get Album Art"), Intellilink displays a generic icon based on the genre I have entered. If you buy albums from iTunes, Amazon, etc. on the other hand, the album art is usually already included.

I could be wrong, but I don't think there is any live "fetching" of album art and track data. I had a problem awhile back where entire albums weren't showing up after indexing. After nearly a year, I finally got the answer that if you don't have a genre specified, Intellilink will just skip over indexing that album. If it were actively fetching data via some network connection, it seems like it could have used the artist name, album name, etc. to fetch the genre, and then proceed with indexing.

I think "indexing" is really just Intellilink making it's own note of where each song is stored on your device, so it can start playing the song faster when you select it. I've honestly considered removing all album art from my iPod though. Sometimes, there is significant lag in playing a new song, and it seems to be related to waiting for the album art to load. Though, I also have an old iPod Classic that I leave in the car all the time. Maybe the iPod is just on its way out.

- - - Updated - - -

I should also mention that I canceled my satellite radio, and it had no effect on album art and track info being displayed.

 

[xxsupergman25xx]

im not exactly sure it doesnt fetch or already have SOME album art stored somewhere on the 2013 model anyway, because when i test drove the 2013 verano and regal, i connected my note 3 over bluetooth and it had some album art im 100% sure was not stored on my songs. I have a generic rock folder with a generic rock logo and on the regal it showed a different album art which was the artist, hell if i really know. Blows my mind why they cant use a uniform system for album arts on cars. I ended up just putting a 7inch android tablet over the current 8 in screen for a much much more functional and appealing look.

 

[the_yeti]

See, this is the issue. There is no documentation. It does pull pictures from somewhere, as I am seeing art I know is not associated in the folder. Another weird issue is that not all folders are in alphabetical order. For example, I have 3 folders, artist - title. The artist are mostly in alphabetical order when browsing folder list, but not all. Guns and Roses is the first folder you see, way before Alice in Chains. Does any of this really matter? No, as long as it works. I am just surprised at the lack of real technical reviews and detail.

 

[xxsupergman25xx]

if it makes u feel any better the 2014 intellilink 2 doesnt pull album art from anywhere and theres a 100% clear, visible, selectable option that says "VIDEO" but noone at buick had any idea how to play one or what it was for. i tried a few video formats of divx, mp4, and they didnt work. It reads the library pretty perfect but cant figure out what tags they use to read the songs because some show album art with folder.jpg and some dont work at all, i even embedded album art into the song and it didnt work. thats when i gave up put an andoid tablet there instead and said screw the backup cam. might be replacing it with a 10" windows tablet soon.