On this occasion E-Bay might your friend, you can find the iO-Play unit for sale on there for around the £70 plus postage, for example
Here but be sure to check with the seller for postage charges to the USA as it will pop the price up a little bit - Great bit of kit and I use it every day for the handsfree from the phone. At the same time as being able to get the phone audio through the car speakers you can also get the TomTom nav instructions through the car deck while the radio is being used (so you still get the RDS traffic alerts over the radio).
I have to say this is the best gadget I have fitted to the car in quite sometime, to save me posting a direct link to the UK based forum, I have taken the entry and will post it below for information purposes:
So what’s this got to do with GPS I hear you ask, well some of you might remember the TomTom Bluetooth Car Connect accessory that was mysteriously dropped before it was ever released, but this unit offers greater potential than I ever remember reading about on the adverts for the TT unit.
This device can be used for hands free via Bluetooth for voice calls to/ from your mobile phone, the audio is routed through the car speakers. In addition it offers support to the A2DP Bluetooth profile which is employed for stereo audio playback. Now for the “connection” with the GPS industry, this device is so easy to pair and connect to any of the TomTom Go range (x10. x20. x30 and x40) the audio quality is far better than FM Tx and far less messy than a wired connection, less spaghetti strewn all over the inside of the car is always a step in the right direction.
Nicely packaged box, once open all the contents are revealed, the two orange boxes are the Bluetooth module and the four channel 15 Watt amplifier unit, a few cables are supplied that go between the boxes and the car head unit. The easy connection to the car deck is via ISO plugs, if your car deck doesn’t have these connectors then adaptors should be available to suit most factory installed equipment. An external microphone is supplied which has a rather long 3 meter cable which is great – too often microphone cables are too short – its easier to hide excess cable than have to purchase extension leads.
The only part you can see when in use is the small control unit, everything else gets buried behind the dashboard of the vehicle.
All cabled up and ready to go, this will give you an idea of how much cable and kit needs to be hidden behind the dash, if space is tight you might have some fun with this, but the two main orange boxes can be located in the glove box if required due to the generous length of interconnecting cable to the first unit.
For the Volvo I have had to purchase adaptor cables to the ISO plugs needed, it would have been possible to chop the plugs off and rewire the car with the correct connectors, but this takes considerable time so I took the easy option (Halfords).
Both Orange boxes are now hidden in the rather cavernous void behind where the stereo fits.
The next job is to hide all the cables back in the dash without impeding the fitment and security of the stereo.
All done, the little control unit is secured to the vehicle with some self adhesive tape (supplied with the kit), to degrease the surface prior to attachment I use those hand towels you get with a certain brand of Deep Fried Chicken from an American state.
In use:
I have the TomTom 940 connected to the device using the A2DP connection for the HiFi sound output, the instructions are still routed via the internal speaker on the navigation device. Doing this allows the unit to be set not to pause the music while playing navigation instructions. At the same time the TomTom is connected the iPhone is connected for the Hands Free mode this package offers. If the phone rings and you answer it the audio from the phone is routed through the car speakers, the HiFi output from the TomTom is muted.
Pairing the device to both the TomTom and the phone is very easy, and subsequent connections between the hardware have never failed (unlike the TomTom connection to the car stereo via Bluetooth which has a 50% chance of working).
So why is this device so clever and of interest to those of use using GPS devices?
Well if you want the quality that Bluetooth Audio (HiFi/ A2DP) offers but don’t want to invest in a new stereo, and also desire a hands free kit that works without any problems feeding the audio signal through the car speakers then this product is worth considering. I have tried it with the 720, 930 and 940 as well as a number of different phones, it can store up to 5 different devices in its memory which is also handy for users of multiple devices. These units can be found for sale on the internet for around £70 although the RRP is £107 - Mike
Since the above was written I have now added a large 7" screen double DIN stereo that does all sorts of functions including GPS/ DVD/ rear view camera etc, and while the new deck supports Bluetooth I still prefer the iO-Play module for the handsfree, it is just reliable in use and has never let me down. You also have the option to route the TomTom Nav instructions via the Bluetooth connection which does provide a function desired by the OP, a way to mute the radio and get the spoken instructions via the car speakers, hands free still works and over rides all other audio, this device just opens up a wealth of options for differing connectivity to the TomTom and phone - Mike
Linear Mode
