Clarion is one of the first leading car radio makers to offer an HDMI connection in its car radios (joining Pioneer Electronics).
Clarion will provide a full HDMI slot in two new car radios for 2013, which will allow it to mirror an image from Android apps on the radio screen. From there it uses Bluetooth to control the Android phone so that in theory, it could display and control just about any Android app.
For safety reasons, Clarion will limit the Android functions it mirrors to about 11 apps that you can use while driving. But when the car is parked, any Android app can show up on the car radio screen.
Through HDMI, users can also mirror video from an iPhone 5 on the car radios—making them some of the first car radios to work with iPhone 5 video. (See Pioneer story this week). However, Apple has not yet created a standard to allow devices to control video on an iPhone 5.
The full-sized HDMI slot can be found on the back of the new top-of-the-line NX603 navigation/DVD player that ships in Q2 at $999 suggested retail price and a flagship AV unit, model FX503, also shipping in Q2 at $649.
Both the new NX603 and FX503 double DIN radios also now control and display select iPhone apps through Clarion’s new Smart Access cloud feature. When the user downloads the Smart Access app on his iPhone, the car radios recognize the app and connect to Clarion’s cloud server to deliver the app in a format suitable for the screen with seamless control from the radio. It works with about 14 apps.
Smart Access is compatible only with iPhone 4/4S and an Android version should be available later.
The NX603 and FX503 each have a 6.2 inch WVGA touch screen display with Bluetooth, Pandora control via iPhone USB, and rear USB. The 603 adds built-in navigation and a DVD/CD player. The 503 has no DVD or CD player and relies on a smartphone for much of its media. And it doesn’t have built-in navigation. Both models will control Android phones via Bluetooth.
Source: Clarion
