Alpine Shows First 8” Car In-Dash AV Radio

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Alpine has figured out a way to place an 8-inch WVGA screen in a car radio with navigation that fits in a standard double DIN dash opening.

It uses a kit interface to give the 8-inch screen a “factory fit” appearance on its new INE-Z928HD navi/radio.

Alpine logoThe same radio also now gives you control of Pandora from an Android or BlackBerry phone as well as the iPhone and it lets you create new Pandora stations from the car radio.

The INE-Z928HD is also the first car radio with a “Smart Reception Management” in HD Radio.   You can adjust the radio so its optimized to pick up your favorite type of stations (HD radio, multicast stations or traditional FM channels, or a blend) when you are in poor reception area.

Other key features of the navigation/radio include Bluetooth with audio streaming and fast phone book search.  For navigation, users view realistic 3D maps and receive free lifetime TMC traffic monitoring.  The deck is also SiriusXM ready and it has iPod/iPhone control.

The optional “Perfect FIT” kits for the radio match ten popular vehicle platforms and come with car-specific wiring harnesses.

The INE-Z928HD will ship in May at a price to be announced.

Alpine is also showing a car radio that caters to Android and BlackBerry smartphone owners.    When streaming from an Android/BlackBerry device, the CDE-HD138BT can fully control Pandora through the Pandora keys on the faceplace including station creation and thumbs up/down.     It can also play iPod music libraries from an iPod or iPhone (but it won’t control the device).  The CDE-HD138BT  also offers new HD Radio “Smart Reception Management” and Sirius XM capability (both with iTunes Tagging).  Called the CDE-HD138BT, the radio also offers Bluetooth audio streaming and calling.  It ships in March at price to be announced.

A third new radio is designed especially as an OEM replacement radio.  The CDE-W235BT does not have a screen, so it is meant for those users who need to replace a factory radio but don’t need or want to pay for an LCD screen.  It has a double DIN chassis, Bluetooth with audio streaming, iPod and iPhone control and front USB.  It will ship in April at a price to be announced.

Alpine also continues to stress the Driver Safety category with two new backup systems, including its first parking assist system, the VPX-B104R VPASS (Visual Parking Assist Sensor System).   It’s designed to help when backing into parking spots by giving audible and visual warnings for objects behind or next to the car.    When you look on your in-car screen, you see the parking space lines overlaid by a colorful grid showing the distance between the car and objects around it.   It can also be used with a new back up camera model HCE-C104 that switches automatically from normal to ground view when you are within a foot of an object behind the vehicle.  The price for both devices as a bundle is $349 and they are also sold separately at prices to be announced.  The VPASS parking device will be available in April and the backup camera is available in January.

Source: Alpine Electronics

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