Pioneer has outed a pair of new in-car stereos, the MVH-8300BT and MVH-7300, which each prioritize external digital media sources like iPods and iPhones. Each has a 3-inch LCD TFT display and a 7-way rotary controller; the button backlighting and wallpaper can be customized to match your dashboard, too.
Inputs include USB, an SD card slot and an aux-in, and if you hook up your iPod or iPhone you can see album art, playlists, videos and other content on the Pioneer’s display. There’s also App Mode, which displays content from third-party iOS apps on the head-unit, as long as those apps have some sort of video output support.
There’s MP3, WMA and AAC support, and up to 32GB SDHC cards can be read; Pioneer also throws in an 8-band equalizer and various audio DSP tech to tweak the best out of compressed music. Finally, the MVH-8300BT gets Parrot Bluetooth hands-free. No word on pricing or availability at this stage.
MotionX-GPS has been a solid choice in the iPhone and iPad navigation game for some time now, but only recently has started to stretch its legs a bit. The app now has compatibility with a series of JVC and Pioneer head units (listed out below) that enables full-screen 3D navigation. In this mode the mobile device basically turns in to a remote control with a simplified interface, with POI searching and of course media playback. Connectivity is not using the Terminal Mode standard, this works exclusively with the iPhone and iPad, and we’re told that sadly the company has no plans on supporting any other platforms going forward. So, if you’re not on iOS you’ll just have to find your own way to wherever you’re going.
Android has really blown up since its slow initial start. You can find the OS inside hoards of smartphones and tablets today and Android is starting to show up in places you might not expect at all. One of those unexpected places is inside a new prototype cycling computer from Pioneer.
The device is a computer for bicyclists that helps them keep track of vital details while they are riding. The cyclometer can track the users speed, cadence, heart rate, and power. The device in prototype form has a 2.2-inch LCD screen, a trackball for navigation, and a pedal monitor for measuring forces on the crank.
I am surprised the prototype doesn’t use a touchscreen, this seems a perfect occasion to use one. Perhaps that is an effort to keep the cost down. The device supports ANT+ and has a microSD card slot and a microUSB port. The battery promises 12 hour so use per charge and the computer itself is under 100g.
It’s not often we fall for a landline telephone, but Pioneer’s angular TF-FN2000 has that certain magic sparkle to get us excited. The wireless DECT handsets don’t exactly push the boat out in terms of functionality, but they do pack an answering machine and easily spotted LCD display.
Red, black and white versions will be available when the TF-FN2000 goes on sale in Japan at the end of January 2011; Pioneer will also be offering extra wireless handsets. No word on pricing, nor whether international buyers will get a chance to express their love for boxy phones and retro graphics.
Pioneer is a huge brand in the home theater market and the company has announced that it is finally shipping its new line of 3D Blu-ray players to consumers everywhere. The new players are the BDP-430, the BDP-41FD, and the BDP-43FD and they all share many of the same features.
Those shared features include faster load times than previous players, steaming capability, WiFi ready, and support for control via a new iPhone app. The players use the new HDMI 1.4a standard for 3D support and has Pioneer PureCinema tech for upconverting SD to 1080p.
The players come with integrated Ethernet ports and can be fitted with the optional WiFi adapter Pioneer offers for accessing steaming content like YouTube, Netflix, and more as well as getting updates for firmware and BD Live features. The iControlAV app is for the iPhone and iPod touch and lets the devices be full function remote controls for the players. The BDP-430 sells for $299, the Elite BDP-41FD sells for $399, and the BDP-43FD sells for $499.
Way back in March of this year Pioneer unveiled the CDJ-350 and DJM-350 DJ gear for pros and beginner DJs to rock out with. That gear was in black and looked like all the other DJ gear we see. Pioneer has announced a new version of the CDJ-350 and the DJM-350 that come in a cool white color.
This is the gear that a Storm Trooper turned DJ would want to rock the Deathstar with. Other than the color, the gear has the same specs as the black offerings from earlier in the year. The CDJ-350-W media player has a BEAT display that helps the DJ to see where the beat position of a song is. It also has a beat loop, loop divide, and hot loop function. The device has tons of other features as well.
The DJM-350-W is a DJ mixer with functions that are the same as the black version and similar to other DJM mixers offered by Pioneer. It offers four effects including noise, short echo, filter, and jet. It converts analog signals to digital, and has multiple other features as well. The packaged pearl white DJ system with two CDJ-350W and one DJM-350-W will sell for $2445 and will ship in January.
Today take a trip down fibber lane with Chris Davies as he informs the world about The Convergence Con. Next check out the $200 Pioneer BDR-206MBK BDXL burner that’ll let you make your own Blu-ray disks (at $100 a pop, even if you mess em up!) See a Facebook intern Facebook Maps the World via social networking relationships. And don’t forget! Take a peek at both of our SlashGear AND our Android Community giveaways of the Google Cr-48 Laptop! Free! So freaking free! All this and more on none other than your friendly neighborhood SlashGear Morning Wrap-Up!
By now it’s common knowledge that printer hardware is merely the gateway to the addictive – and expensive – drug that is printer ink; could the same be happening with optical media? Pioneer has launched the first BDXL drive, the Pioneer BDR-206MBK, capable of burning up to 128GB Blu-ray discs, and while it’s $199 itself, a single 100GB disc is around half that amount alone.
With a single, quad-layer 128GB BDXL disc, you could store the equivalent of 27 single-layer DVDs in fact, but you’ll pay handsomely for the privilege. Happily the BDR-206MBK can also read BD-ROM discs, read/write triple/dual/single layer BD-R and BD-RE discs, read DVD-ROM, and read/write most DVD and CD formats.
One for the early-adopters, then; everyone else might do well to wait a while until media prices trickle down to more affordable levels.
Press Release:
Pioneer Ships First BDXL Computer Drive to Read and Write New Blu-ray Disc Recording Format
Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc. continues its innovation in the optical disc drive category with today’s announcement of its new professional, high definition BDXL internal Blu-ray Disc drive. The Pioneer BDR-206MBK, BDXL writer for Windows based1 personal computers, is the first drive to read and write using the new multi-layer recordable Blu-ray Disc format. BDXL more than doubles the current maximum Blu-ray Disc storage capacity and is ideal for various commercial uses such as video and broadcast archiving and storage, capturing and playback of high definition programming or data archiving needs. The BDR-206MBK also enhances recording accuracy and further limits artificial noise for quality playback.
By integrating additional layers to traditional Blu-ray Discs, BDXL offers up to 128 GB of storage capacity on a quadruple layer disc. The BDR-206MBK drive allows users to read/write BD-R XL and BD-RE XL triple layer (100GB) and BD-R XL quadruple layer (128GB) discs. Additionally, the drive can play back and record on virtually all disc formats including CD, DVD, and Blu-ray Disc. The drive comes bundled with CyberLink software to support BDXL and is ready for use out of the box. For a limited time, Pioneer is including a piece of BD-R XL 100GB media for free with each drive.
Further enhancing the user experience, Pioneer has incorporated proprietary technologies to significantly improve recording and playback quality. Its Limit Equalizer technology improves RF signals generated when reading data from Blu-ray Discs and enables improved playback capability. Along with a new, airtight structure that helps keep the drive quiet and protects against contaminants and dust particles, the Disc Vibration Stabilizer feature helps protect the disc from warping during the writing process, resulting in a higher quality written disc.
The BDR-206MBK is currently available for a suggested retail price of $199. The BDXL drive can be purchased at Fry’s Electronics and at www.pioneerelectronics.com.
Pioneer’s head-up display ambitions – which the company showed off at CEATEC 2010 earlier this year – look headed to a commercial release, with Microvision announcing that it will be providing its PicoP laser projection engine for the Pioneer Network Vision system. We shouldn’t have too long to wait until the results start showing up in front of our eyes, either, as Pioneer is targeting commercial introduction of an in-vehicle HUD in 2012.
Video demo after the cut
However, automotive is just one angle the HUD system is being fettled for. Pioneer is apparently planning to use PicoP-based display engines in other consumer and after-market automotive products, though exact details of what we can expect – a Pioneer PMP, perhaps? – are unknown.
Rather than being a standalone system, Pioneer’s Network Vision tech paired via Bluetooth or WiFi with a smartphone running your choice of PND app. The company suggests that by keeping notifications and GPS directions on the screen and at the regular eye-line level rather than on a dashboard display, driver safety will be improved.
MicroVision and Pioneer to Jointly Commercialize Innovative Laser Display Products
MicroVision, Inc. (NASDAQ: MVIS), a leader in innovative ultra-miniature laser display technology, announced today that it has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Pioneer Corporation, one of the top original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) of high-performance audio, video and computer equipment for the home, car and business markets, to develop, manufacture and distribute display engines and display engine subsystems for consumer and in-vehicle head-up displays (HUDs) using the MicroVision PicoP(R) laser display technology.
Earlier this year, the two companies executed a joint development agreement to develop two critical components of the PicoP display engine: a laser light source module using direct red, blue, and green lasers and a separate display engine subsystem based on MicroVision’s patented PicoP laser scanning technology. Both are key pieces of the next-generation PicoP display engine that will offer OEMs significant commercial advantages in price, size, power, and performance for embedded solutions ranging from cell phones and eyewear, to airplanes and automobiles.
The MOU establishes the framework of a future manufacturing and commercial distribution agreement for PicoP-based display engines to be used in consumer, after-market and embedded automotive products. Pioneer has announced it is targeting commercial introduction of an in-vehicle HUD using PicoP technology into the consumer market in 2012.
“Pioneer has a strong history of bringing cutting edge technologies to mass markets,” stated Alexander Tokman, president and CEO of MicroVision. “We believe that by combining our respective market and product development capabilities, and leveraging best practices in manufacturing, MicroVision and Pioneer can accelerate introducing next-generation laser display products while reducing the total cost for both companies in getting there.”
Both Pioneer and MicroVision were recently recognized as finalists for the CEATEC Innovation Awards for 2010. Pioneer was recognized in the Automotive category for its demonstration of a HUD using laser scanning technology provided by MicroVision, and MicroVision was recognized in the Components category for its SHOWWX(TM) laser pico projector, powered by the PicoP display engine.
Pioneer brought along its latest in-car technology to CEATEC 2010 this week, with a demo of their work-in-progress Network Vision HUD (head-up display). The system – which was being demonstrated to SlashGear Japan with screens showing the moving road ahead, and a partial windshield which you could peer through – projects animations, directions and general guidance glyphs onto the glass, overlaid on top of what’s happening in the real world.
Video demo after the cut
It’s a little like automated reality for your car, though obviously more mindful of the fact that you’re first and foremost supposed to be paying attention to your driving. Rather than integrate the whole PND system into the car, Pioneer’s setup allows you to pair a smartphone running your choice of PND app via Bluetooth or WiFi.
An RGB laser pico-projector system creates the graphics, and according to SlashGear Japan was reasonably visible even with the showfloor lighting. Pioneer reckon that by avoiding the need to glance down at a dedicated or in-dash GPS you’ll spend more time watching the road, and are hoping to commercialize the system in the future.
