A lot of talk at the CES 2011 in Las Vegas is about connected cars, and one way of getting this done fairly cheaply could be to use the new iPhone car cradle that Pioneer are showcasing.
You need to attach it to your dashboard, or windscreen if you prefer, using the suction attachment.
What is basically does is give you somewhere to put your iPhone or iPod Touch as you drive. The cradle swivels and includes a GPS enhancer to give a more accurate geographical reading.
Other features include a speaker to let you speak normally while using the hands free facility and audio output. The whole thing connects with a recharger to help you keep using your phone on long journeys.
So there you have it; an in car phone holder, a speaker facility and a GPS receiver for $129. Too expensive? The product’s release in a couple of months will be real test of whether people see this is a reasonable price.
The people at Pioneer have also been busy tying up a deal to work with Aha Radio with will see them start to provide voice activated social updates to car drivers. These updates will come from Twitter, Yelp, Facebook and podcasts. It works by reading updating from the internet and then transmitting them through a computerized voice.
The Aha Radio service is going to be launched on the Pioneer AVICZ130BT and the Pioneer X930BT models. The price hasn’t yet been released but we can expect them to hit the market last on this year.
If that wasn’t enough in car excitement, Pioneer are also putting Pandora Radio in 9 different devices this year, compared to just 2 in 2010.
What you have to decide now is: Do I go with a dedicated system like the Parrot Asteroid or take the cheaper option with a cradle like this? which method is going to suit you?
