NEW YORK — It has been a busy fall for car electronics manufacturers, with almost daily product introductions. Some of these were presented at the Mobile Electronics Retailers Association (MERA) KnowledgeFest trade show, while others made their own independent splashes.
Pioneer is offering multiple connectivity options in single-DIN CD-r ceivers starting at an everyday $90 for the DEH-2500UI (above). Android compatibility enables compatible heads to select music stored on a USB-connected Android phone by file name and folder when the phone is placed in mass-storage mode. The front-panel Made for iPhone/iPod USB connection lets users access and play music stored on an Apple mobile device from the head unit’s front-panel controls.
Rockford’s Lightning Audio plans fourth-quarter shipments of the LA Two series of 10- and 12-inch 2- and 4-ohm dual-voicecoil subwoofers. The $129 10-inch model comes in a 2-ohm and 4-ohm version, each delivering up to 500 watts with 84dB sensitivity at 1 watt/1 meter. The 2- and 4-ohm versions of the 12-inch sub features the same specs at $139.
Boss Audio’s $229-suggested 810DBI is a single- DIN head unit with iPhone cradle, turning the phone into the car’s prime source of music. The 810DBI comes with a cradle for the iPhone 4 and 4S, but a 3G/3GS cradle can be ordered separately. The head unit features AM/FM tuner, 4×80-watt max amplifier, stereo Bluetooth, front auxiliary port, and full-size USB connector. The central display shows station information plus settings for the unit’s built-in equalizer.
Three Sony head units compatible with both the Android and iPhone versions of the App Remote app include the $160-everyday MEXBT4100P (below). Via the app, the heads, shipping in November, communicate with Bluetooth-connected Android smartphones and USBconnected iPhones to deliver multiple new features in the car, including more robust wireless Bluetooth control of music stored on Android phones. The app turns connected Android phones and iPhones into touchscreen remotes to select sources such as AM/FM, CD, USB and aux in. The Android version of the app also converts text messages to voice, and it expands a head unit’s wireless Bluetooth control of Android-stored music beyond track up/down, play/pause and fast-forward/ rewind to include the selection of stored music by title, artist, album, and genre.
