Clarion is showing at CES two new CD-less (mechless) marine radios that are some of the first to use the Linux operating system.
Linux is more stable than the typical car or marine audio OS and it allows a lot of flexibility to create graphics and work with other devices, said Clarion.
The new CMS5 is not a standard sized radio. Instead it’s tuner hides behind the dash and sits on a J1939 bus system in the boat for electronic components. It can work with the boat’s multifunction display or it has a remote controller with a 4.3 inch watertight LCD screen.
The unit provides an AM/FM tuner and a high powered processor–an ARM9 single core CPU for fast and rich graphics.
The CMS5, which won a 2014 CES Innovations Award, controls an iPhone/iPod over USB and it controls Pandora running on a iPhone or Android device.
It can also play music from the Android phone in MTP format so it retains your Android files and folders.
The CMS5 is also SiriusXM-ready with Bluetooth audio streaming and is expected to ship in April at a street price of $499 MAP.
A second radio model M704 has many of the same features but it is a conventional radio that fits in a standard sized opening in the dashboard of the boat. The watertight unit also will ship in April at $449 MAP.
Source: Clarion
