CES 2009: Audiovox Debuts Car PlayStation2

By Amy Gilroy and Joseph Palenchar -- TWICE, January 8, 2009

Las Vegas — Audiovox said it will be the first to combine a PlayStation2 computer/game console in a car video product, as one of several initiatives by the company to innovate in a sluggish market. 

Audiovox will offer in about six months, a car overhead monitor with a built in PlayStation2 that has been reconfigured to work in a car environment at a price $200 above a standard 10-inch overhead monitor/DVD system, it said. The system will have a 10.2-inch widescreen display, and when it drops down, the PlayStation is revealed. It will ship with wireless controllers and headphones and a wireless remote.

The unit will be joined by two standalone PlayStation car models without monitors that either drop down from the car ceiling or affix to the headrest.

 These work with most car video systems (both aftermarket and OEM). Audiovox also announced on the eve of CES, an agreement with  Qualcomm’s MediaFLO to pipe 25 channels of live video into cars using an add-on module under $500.

"We want to step out in front," in a market where many companies are pulling back on innovation during these "challenging times," said Audiovox Electronics president Tom Malone. 

The company also recently became the main distributor for Sirius as well as continuing its role as distributor for XM in satellite radio.

Audiovox is also debuting voice activated car radios for late summer/early fall under Jensen and Advent that use voice to control iPod functions and hands free calling. Also new are the company's slimmest Small Wonder camcorders under the RCA brand. They include video management software that is built directly into the units and so they require no CD-ROMs for use with a PC.

In home audio, Audiovox unveiled its first two tabletop AM/FM/Internet radios, both with built-in Wi-Fi, and two tabletop iPod-docking AM/FM radios, one with HD Radio and iTunes tagging. All four single-chassis models bear the Acoustics Research brand.

 The iPod-docking AM/FM radios, due in the first quarter, are the $249-suggested ART 1 and $199-suggested ART 7. Both 30-watt models are the brand’s first iPod-docking radios with Works With iPhone certification. The ART 7 is also the brand’s first HD Radio with iTunes tagging. The ART 7 features dual alarms and “soft-wake” feature. The ART 1 features real-wood veneer cabinet, round front-panel display, nature sounds, dual alarms and nap function but no HD Radio.

 The two Wi-Fi AM/FM/Internet radios, dubbed Infinite Radios, include the $129-suggested ARIR200, first shown last year and now due in mid-February. The other Internet radio is the $199-suggested ARIR600i, which adds iPod dock and integrated 2.1 speaker system. It’s due in mid-May.

 Both Internet radios feature analog AM/FM tuner, USB port, 512MB memory to record up to 10 hours of Internet or AM/FM radio, access to Audiovox’s 12,000-station Internet Radio Personal Portal and access to Slacker’s Personal Radio Music Service. Slacker features millions of tracks that users can assemble into up to 100 genre stations and more than 10,000 artist stations. Users also create their own music libraries using Slacker content.

Both models also come with prepaid WeatherBug subscription, which delivers audible one- and three-day forecasts and continuous emergency weather alerts via text-to-speech conversion in a choice of four synthesized voices.

 The ARIR200 doubles as an alarm clock and features six station presets per radio source. The ARIR600i adds iPod dock and 2.1-channel speaker system, and six presets per radio source.