HD Radio Portables, PNDs Due In 2009

By Joseph Palenchar and Amy Gilroy On Jan 19 2009 - 8:00am

HD Radio developer iBiquity expects a handful of portable radios and personal navigation devices (PNDs) to be available this year with HD Radio reception.

The portables will include an MP3 player with embedded HD Radio and an antenna embedded in the headset, said iBiquity COO Jeffrey Jury. Another will be a stand-alone AM/FM headset portable, and a third will be an HD Radio accessory that attaches to MP3 players. They were on display along with PNDs without visible brand names in iBiquity's booth.

With HD Radio receivers built in, PNDs will receive high-speed, frequently updated, live traffic information, currently available through broadcaster Clear Channel on its HD Radio stations.

At International CES, Dual unveiled the first PND with HD Radio, which reproduces HD Radio audio programming and receives HD Radio traffic data. Dual's XNAV43HD includes maps of North America and text-to-speech pronunciation of street names. It is expected to ship this spring at a suggested retail of $279.

The advantage of traffic delivered over HD Radio is that it is refreshed more frequently and includes more information than standard RDS-based traffic reports, said Dual. For instance, the broader HD Radio pipe can deliver 500 incident reports to the device per minute vs. RDS, which can deliver only about 50 incidents per minute, added HD Radio developer iBiquity.

Also on display at the HD Radio booth was a Dual prototype in-dash navigation/radio capable of receiving HD Radio traffic reports. It was also shown at the 2008 CES.