Honda Intros Sync-Like Radio; First OEM with Aha

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Honda will be the first car maker to offer Aha Radio this fall, as part of the all-new 2013 Accord.

Honda 2013 Accord Concept
Honda 2013 Accord Concept Credit: MotorTrend

Aha will be included in Honda’s answer to the Ford Sync, in a “Connected” system that links to an iPhone or Android phone.

Users will receive Pandora, and have their text messages “read” aloud (and they may answer with select “canned” responses).  With Aha, users may have their Facebook and Twitter feeds read back to them and get Internet Radio in a way that is as easy to use as an AM/FM radio, claims Aha.

Drivers may also listen to audiobooks, podcasts, on-demand music, Yelp!, Slacker and other apps.

The deal with Honda was first announced in January along with an agreement with Subaru.

Aha radio is also available in aftermarket Pioneer and Kenwood radios.

Aha said aims to be the “fourth band of radio,” (after AM, FM, and satellite radio).

At a webinar Wednesday, Honda said its new HondaLink radio with Aha will also be offered on the 2013 Crosstour and in the Honda Fit EV.

Users connect their iPhone to the system via USB or Bluetooth and Android users connect over Bluetooth.  They must also download a HondaLink app which will serve up Aha radio via the cloud (so no need to download the Aha app).

Then users choose their favorite apps for the car either from their phone or the HondaLink web site so their “stations” are preset when they enter the car.

“Aha presets become radio preset buttons, so drivers can put down the phone and switch between stations just like traditional radio,” said Aha, which is owned by Harman.

Source: Honda, Aha

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