I can confirm that embedded artwork inside an MP3 that's loaded onto an SD card show's correctly on the Mk7 media screen, but I think the artwork has to be less than 500x500px. I took samples with 640x640 and 320x320 artwork, and only the 320 artwork showed up.
When it comes to music, I prepare and manage all my MP3s external to iTunes, and just use that to get them onto my iPhone. I use a few different bits of software for this, depending on what I'm doing:
EZ CD Audio Converter (
http://www.poikosoft.com) for ripping, converting and removing DRM - Not Free
Tag&Rename (
http://www.softpointer.com/tr.htm) for tagging and renaming funnily enough! - Not Free
MediaMonkey (
http://www.mediamonkey.com) for embedding artwork - Free
You can probably do everything you want with one piece of software, but I'm used to doing things in steps! I just use Google to get my artwork and that way I get exactly what I want, with all the right tags. Regarding the size of the artwork, all of mine is high resolution, so not suitable for the Mk7 media. However, there is a free piece of software that lets you dynamically re-size embedded artwork in bulk:
Sansa MP3 Art Sizer (
http://hcware.t15.org/mp3art)
So, all I have done is copied any MP3s I want in my new GTI into a separate folder, and run them against this software. To change the preferred pixel size and quality, you have to alter the shortcut by adding some settings after the .exe:
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Sanse Mp3 Art Sizer\SanseMp3ArtSizer.exe" SanseMp3ArtSizer.exe /320/100
This would give you a 320x320 JPEG, 100% quality.
Hope that helps!
