The audiophile way of automotive pleasure
Neumarkt/Frankfurt, August 2013 – Joint commitment leads to joint success on the market! With this strategy, leading automotive consumer electronic brands showcase their state of the art products at the IAA 2013 from 12 to 22 September in Frankfurt.
It’s hard to believe, but in many cars music still comes from a tape or an antiquated car radio and navigation is still in printed version – with the voice of the co-passenger…
“It’s about time to upgrade!” concluded the organizer of the world’s biggest motor show IAA when dedicating an extended car infotainment area as a special exhibition feature. In Hall 4.0, Booth B23 renowned car infotainment provider Audio Design with the brands Match by Audiotec Fischer and ESX Vision as well as leading manufacturers and brand suppliers Axion, Connects2, Dominations, Kenwood, Pioneer and V-traffic by Media Mobile, present a mobile infotainment portfolio providing tailor-made retrofitting system solutions for each vehicle model, every need and every budget. Organizer of this special exhibition is the European Mobile Media Association, in short: EMMA.
“In-car mobile infotainment is not only a guarantor for countless kilometers of music performance on concert level and ultimate entertainment. It also provides reliable navigation and maximum hands-free convenience plus a wide range of solutions for automotive networking,” says EMMA CEO Alexander Klett. “Thanks to fast and easily installable plug & play solutions, vehicle specific devices and connectors retrofitting has never been more attractive.”
Latest entertainment technologies, such as iPod control, USB port, Bluetooth hands free, mobile internet, digital television and radio are demanding for new technology to reproduce music performance at its best in every car. With state of the art technologies and a seemingly endless range of integration solutions, the mobile electronics manufacturers also provide generation after generation a huge range of user-friendly, perfectly integrable components.
“After all we have never spent so many hours in our cars and there has never been such perfect ways to select and archive such quantities of music faves, to listen and enjoy no matter where we are,” confirms Andreas Rädke, Company Manager at Audio Design. The focus of Audio Design’s presence at IAA 2013 will be on their new line of ESX Vision car specific navigation head units featuring PRIMO iGO navigation software and i10 OS for a huge range of VW, Mercedes, Skoda, Seat, Kia, Hyundai, Opel models and even more car brands. Moreover Audio Design presents the Match Plug & Play line up sound upgrades from renowned German car audio manufacturer Audiotec Fischer for OEM car audio systems. Those compact, budget-friendly electronics components are revolutionizing the car media aftermarket epochal. Match allows quick and easy automobile factory radio sound tuning. For a traceless installation and removal they provide vehicle-specific connecting solutions.
A luxury only available in the aftermarket: While the automotive product cycle continues up to six years and the average age of cars is in this country is even at more than eight years, the generations of car audio and other mobile media devices change or upgrade about every one to two years. This is why they run OEM mobile media solutions not only in terms of latest technology but also in terms of affordability.
“It’s about time to convince consumers to replace their old OEM head unit and their road map by some more advanced car infotainment technology. An insight into latest mobile entertainment technology, particularly with regards on their fast and easy installation in the car will encourage even the most skeptic customer, “says Gerd Wellhausen, Product Manager at Pioneer Car Electronics Germany. The company frequently took a leading position in the field of car electronics. In 1990 Pioneer presented the world’s first GPS-based navigation system for retrofitting. Today, Pioneer provides ultimately reliable, user friendly and individually configurable navigation comfort for private cars, company cars and a range of customized navigation solutions for trucks and RVs. In 2011, Pioneer AppRadios were launched as the first aftermarket products enabling the use of iPhone & Co. as primary source for information and entertainment in the car. From 2012 Pioneer Moniceiver and Naviceiver have been equipped with AppRadio Mode. Since 2012, a broad range of Pioneer head units is ready to receive Digital Radio. At the IAA 2013 Pioneer presents another car electronics milestone: The Pioneer Head Up Display SPX HUD01provides smartphone based navigation information in augmented reality. The driver can navigate without taking the eyes from the road traffic. The head-up display can also be retrofitted in vehicles that are OEM equipped with an A / V system.
Kenwood’s Car Infotainment Specialists have supercharged connectivity across the board. For every mobile entertainment pleasure – iPod, iPhone, USB, SD-Card, or Bluetooth Kenwood provides plug and play connectivity for favorite devices and turns vehicles instantly into concert halls on wheels. The result is seamless entertainment wherever travels take. One glowing example: The Kenwood Navitainer DNN9230DAB. It combines not only wireless smartphone connection and mobile hotspot to the internet, the unit also features a Wi-Fi module, a wireless Wi-Fi network to stream and share media content via DLNA in the vehicle. Thanks to its outstanding diversity of functions and equipment Kenwood Navitainers are one of the renowned manufacturer’s highlights. As a true digital radio pioneer Kenwood also introduces its wide range of devices empowering to receive the new digital radio standard DAB +.
Speaking of digital radio: Media Mobile – a leading provider of traffic information services in France, Scandinavia and Poland – introduces “V-Premium Traffic DAB” and invites IAA visitors to experience the newly launched first national traffic information service for digital radio which makes an important milestone for the successful introduction of digital radio DAB + in Germany. It delivers high-definition traffic information on the national digital DAB + multiplex. The data is sent in the modern TPEG traffic data protocol and can be used by compatible receivers. The high-resolution traffic data from “V Premium traffic DAB” are also suitable for use in navigation devices and have the potential to replace the traditional RDS-TMC method in the future. Compared to RDS-TMC, the new digital radio DAB + offers a 400-fold higher transmission capacity. Simultaneously with the introduction of its first German traffic information services, Media Mobile announces the opening of their new office near Stuttgart.
The car infotainment installation accessories specialist Connects2 presents at the IAA customized comfort that only the aftermarket offers: The UK based company is firmly proved as the market leader in Europe for the supply of car audio interfaces, providing electronic boxes that allow aftermarket radios and other audio devices to be fitted seamlessly into most vehicles. Connects2 constantly adapts its product range to current car models and is unique in the aspect that their extensive product range spans some ten years and covers the majority of European vehicles that were sold globally during this period. For consumers who want to add digital radio to their existing factory head unit, Connects2 is introducing AutoDAB adaptors which are specially designed to transform OEM FM radios into a real DAB Receiver. AutoDAB receives the digital signal from a DAB antenna and modulates it to the OEM radio.
“Experienced, highly skilled automotive electronics and infotainment specialists of today have the potential to inform the automotive customers on latest products, technologies and system solutions. Furthermore they are capable to convince consumers of the compatibility, flexibility and expandability of mobile infotainment convenience,” says Dennis Mayer from the Axion AG. The company develops and markets advanced monitoring, fleet management and entertainment systems for vehicles of all kinds. A prominent example for the company’s professional product portfolio is the Axion NIK (Navigation Integration Kits). The NIK provides perfect navigation retrofitting into a large range of vehicles – for example from Audi, BMW and Mercedes – which have original factory monitors but, however, no navigation on board. For the KIT’s retrofitting it is not required to replace the original radio. The navigation screen is put into operation via click on a button on the steering wheel or on a separate button on the monitor to make the navigation conveniently operable via the supplied remote control. An optional touch screen function for navigation on the original monitor can also be retrofitted if required.
For IAA exhibitor Dominations it’s all about sound. The Indonesian company is presenting its award-winning speaker and amplifier components for the first time in Germany.
CarMediaWorld Special Show
IAA Frankfurt (12.-22. September 2013)
Hall 4.0, Booth No. B23