A few years ago, I added Pioneer's first-generation iPod adapter to my car's stereo system. One of my original gripes about the iPod adapter was that the iPod cable was hardwired to the iPod adapter box. This is good for a couple of reasons, as it does ensure that that cable won't come loose during or after installation, but it's also a pain the butt if Apple decides to change the iPod cable to something different. The iPhone was just on the cusp of that; for instance, data sync via my iPod's Firewire cable doesn't work, only charging. The new iPhone 3G apparently takes it one step further by disabling the 12V charging through Firewire, which is how most car audio manufacturers chose to power the iPod (this is because the car's electrical system is 12V already, so there's no need to convert it down to 5V for USB).
When I hooked my iPhone into my car today, it popped up a screen I hadn't seen before, which said that the device (Pioneer iPod adapter) was not designed with the iPhone in mind. This is expected, so while I can't access all the iPhone's capabilities through the Pioneer headunit (nor would I expect it to) it does seem to function fine as if it was just a normal iPod. My Pioneer iPod adapter also still charges my first-generation iPhone, which is something it won't do for the new iPhone 3G.
Keeping in mind that the iPhone 3G needs more power than the iPhone, compatibility with chargers seems like it should have been one of those things that Apple would have paid more attention to. Of course, perhaps this was all a clever ploy on Apple's part to be able to drive manufacturers to pay for the "Made for iPhone" logo.
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