Our friends at Pioneer recently launched their new AVIC-F series of multi-functional navigation systems at their Road Show 2008 event in Southern California. Yours truly was one of the invitees to check out what may be the hottest mobile audio product of the year.

The Pioneer AVIC series has been a very popular platform upon which to build a mobile entertainment system. Even our own Project Evo has received the Pioneer treatment, upgrading what is the most rudimentary sound system ever in a vehicle! Needless to say, the AVIC-N4 has been providing awesome tunes via iPOD and XM, while making sure we never get lost to a WebRidesTV.com Shootout location.

Premier-branded AVIC-F90BT - $1,200 MSRP

The new AVIC-F series presents a turning point in Pioneer’s product line-up, offering a laundry list of features that have yet to be found in aftermarket and OE mobile audio equipment. Aside from common features such as iPOD connectivity, satellite radio ready, DVD playback and the like, the new AVIC-F series offers:

• Sophisticated voice recognition feature collaborated with Voicebox Technologies, allowing users to control connected iPod players and compatible Bluetooth enabled cell phones by voice; the beauty of the system exists in the system’s ability to recognize commands such as “Let’s hear artist Usher,” rather than having to conform your commands to preset voice recognition parameters such as those found in OE systems
• Users can also exploit the same voice recognition technology to make phone calls, thereby eliminating the need to pick up the phone and manually select the phone number to dial
• A new solid state / flash memory navigation data system, eliminating mapping DVD-ROM disks altogether, which result in quicker mapping capability as well as an “always on” state
• MSN Direct connectivity, a paid subscription service through which users will receive updated traffic, weather, gas prices and movie time information for many cities in the US and Canada; this service, in different variations, is currently available for smart phones, select portable navigation devices and even coffee makers!
• An SD (Secure Digital) slot, which can be used to update POI (points of interest) or music playback
• Up to 32,768 customizable illumination colors, which can be fine tuned to fit the instrumentation and dash lighting color of virtually any vehicle

Pioneer AVIC-F900BT - $1,100 MSRP

Pioneer AVIC-F700BT - $850 MSRP

With mobile phone use being banned or limited in many states, voice command and Bluetooth hands free is going to be an important in-car feature. With the new AVIC-F series, the driver is in for a real treat, as all units offer voice command, cool looks, great sound and increased safety.

Sourcebox
Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc.
Long Beach, CA
www.pioneerelectronics.com