15
Jun
2012
Akihabara News: Now you can control and enjoy music, navigation and other smartphone apps safely while on the move. With the first MirrorLink™ compatible in-car AV centre head unit from Sony, you’re always in touch with your digital world while you’re behind the wheel. (more…)
04
Mar
2011
GPS Business News: A new report from market research firm In-Stat forecasts that over 35 million in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) systems are expected to ship in 2015 as automakers are starting to capitalize on the demand for the same dynamic multimedia experience in the car that consumers have become accustomed to in the home.
“Along with a rich multimedia experience, today’s drivers and passengers are also demanding constant connectivity in the car,” said Stephanie Ethier, Senior Analyst at In-Stat.
“The majority of automakers are embracing this demand for connectivity and forming strategic partnerships with technology and software companies to offer solutions that will enable consumers to access digital content in and out of the automobile via both wired and wireless options.”
04
Feb
2011
Pioneer.eu: Pioneer introduces 5 new in-car multimedia stations designed to offer the widest multimedia possibilities. The top 4 models allow not just high-quality CD, DVD and video (DivX) playback, but connection to all portable sources, including iPod, iPhone, USB and SD (now with high capacity 32GB compatibility).
The AVH series consists of two single DIN models, AVH-6300BT and AVH-5300DVD (available in March), and three double DIN units, the AVH-P4300DVD, AVH-3300BT (available now) and AVH-2300DVD (also March). The AVH-6300BT, AVH-5300DVD and AVH-2300DVD feature a new tuner chipset, optimised for usage in cars with an active antenna.
All new models come equipped with clear graphical interfaces and large LCD touch screens to make communication and control simple while on the road. The compact 1-DIN AVH-6300BT and AVH-5300DVD units have a motorised display that folds out at the touch of a button, revealing a 7-inch touch screen that can easily be stowed away when not needed.
The same 7-inch (17,8 cm) touch screen can be found on the double DIN AVH-P4300DVD, whereas the AVH-3300BT and AVH-2300DVD feature a slightly smaller 5,8-inch (14,7 cm) touch screen. Customisable button illumination, personalised menus and a variety of background designs allow you to perfectly match your system to your car interior or mood.
With an integrated Parrot Bluetooth module, the AVH-6300BT and AVH-3300BT are hands-free communication capable. Bluetooth is also available on the AVH-P4300DVD with the addition of an optional Bluetooth adapter.
iPod/iPhone Direct Control lets you control your portable device directly from your AVH headunit: all the content stored on the digital media player becomes accessible via an intuitive user interface. With Quicklinks you can jump to your source menu or songs, artists and albums lists with one touch of the screen. Simply sliding a finger over the screen to browse through media lists or using ABC search to jump to the first letter of a song make it easy to navigate around the system.
The App Mode feature (which can only be accessed when the car is in park and the hand brake is fully engaged) lets you view a connected iPhone or iPod touch’s video content from Safari, YouTube and other select apps directly on the hi-res screen. Audio from these video sources and compatible apps can be heard through the vehicle’s speakers while driving.
Each unit features built-in connectivity to USB storage devices, SD memory cards, now both with high capacity 32GB compatibility (except for the AVH-2300DVD), and devices with mini-jack AV outputs for diverse media playback capabilities. Dual Zone technology in the top four models allows passengers to watch a DVD in the back of the car while the driver listens to music and navigation guidance in the front.
Audio output for the top 4 systems is enhanced by Pioneer’s MOSFET 50 W x 4 amplification, 4-Volt pre-amp outputs, High-Pass/Low-Pass crossovers for subwoofer integration and Pioneer’s Advanced Sound Retriever which restores the musical details lost in the creation of compressed music files.
With an 8-band Graphic Equaliser (GEQ) audio can be tuned to your personal taste, whereas an Auto Equaliser enables automatic tailoring of the sound to your car (optional microphone required). Additionally, the top 4 AVH series receivers feature Pioneer’s Sonic Center Control, which adjusts the timing of selected speakers to shift the sonic centre of the system to a specific area of the car.
The AVH-6300BT and AVH-5300DVD come with built-in anti-theft protection. Part of the face plate is detachable, leaving a blank panel in the dashboard which makes the unit useless to thieves.
All Pioneer’s 2011 AVH multimedia receivers are NavGate ready, allowing you to enhance your AV system with fast and precise navigation capabilities by connecting Pioneer’s AVIC-F220 NavGate upgrade unit.
07
Jan
2011
Techradar: At CES in 2008, Pioneer was one of the most exciting brands at the show.
It launched new world-beating 9th-generation Kuro plasma TVs and showcased some staggering PDP tech that’s still to be matched by any of the other big brands three years on.
But however much we don’t want to believe it, Kuro is dead. And Pioneer’s press conference at this year’s CES show concentrated solely on in-car mobile products.
Some journalists abandoned the queue for the press conference when they heard it was mobile products only, but they missed the launch of some fairly nifty in-car systems.
Possibly the most intriguing of Pioneer’s new in-car products are two in-dash car stereos which come with Aha Radio integration. The AVIC-Z130BT and AVIC-X930BT both sport touchscreen interfaces and allow you to keep in touch with your favourite social networking sites while you’re driving your car.
Yeah, sounds pretty dangerous to us, too. However, rather than having to read your Twitter or Facebook feeds off the screen, these stereos will actually read them out to you through your car’s stereo system.
So now, instead of driving to work listening to [your favourite feel-good album here], you can listen to a robotic Microsoft Sam-style computer voice reading out your mum’s tweets about baking soda and nail polish.
The system will also download and play your podcasts and all manner of other social web features, all of which require the use of your phone’s 3G connection.
During the press conference, Ted Cardenas, director of marketing for the car electronics division at Pioneer, also announced the new Pioneer SPX-SC101 SmartCradle for use with the Apple iPhone.
It’s designed to turn the iPhone into a more usable device for in-car satellite navigation. It’s a lot like a standard sat nav cradle, and is similar to many already released in that it has its own external GPS receiver, a gyroscope and an accelerometer to boost the iPhone’s GPS performance.
It includes video and audio-out functionality, which means you should be able to use a compatible in-dash screen instead of the one on your iPhone. Helpful if you’ve got a nifty in-dash stereo with a big and sexy display. No, we don’t have one either.
And finally, Pioneer also announced the expansion of its in-car Pandora internet radio range of products – there are now twelve Pioneer systems that support the service, although as Pandora is still blocked in the UK, don’t expect to see these features our side of the pond.
28
Apr
2009
NewLaunches: Fujitsu Micro today introduced the world’s first 1394 Automotive controller that transmits high-definition video over the 1394 in-vehicle multimedia network.
The new Fujitsu MB88395 controller can simultaneously transmit multiple streams around the vehicle, such as HD video (1,280 dots x 720 lines) from Blu-Ray DVDs, digital TV, and car navigation images.
The Fujitsu MB88395 uses a high-speed 800Mbps physical layer and link layer, along with the Fujitsu proprietary SmartCODEC, which provides high compression and can transmit HD video without perceptible latency.
This combination brings the rich-HD experience to rear-seat entertainment, reduces vehicle weight and improves fuel efficiency.
The combination reduces the system cost of in-vehicle multimedia networks by up to 30 percent, while reducing the number of wire harnesses by a maximum of 70 percent, and can reduce the environmental impact by approximately 10kg of carbon dioxide (CO2) per year for a car traveling 10,000km. That roughly translates to the amount of CO2 a beech tree absorbs in one year.
21
Dec
2007
itVARnews: Intex Technologies (India) Ltd, Intex Technologies, an 11-year-old IT Hardware and Electronics company, headquartered at New Delhi has marked 104th out of 200 fastest growing IT companies in India (Dataquest, July, 2007), has introduced In-Car MP3/CD receiver as a substantial product-line extension of its recently launched In-Car Accessories range.
The company debuted in this segment just a few months ago with Car Speakers and MP3 FM Modulators with an aim to widen excellence and leadership in its well-established range of multimedia subwoofers/ speakers to other synergetic products.
The total output measures around 50 X 4 W. Some of the other features enhancing user friendliness and adding value to the whole package are detachable panel, subwoofer output, dot matrix liquid crystal & ID3 tag display, and WMA playability and folder/file search besides regular functions.