Pioneer introduced this month new basic CD players and media players (without screens) that work with a new app to turn the smartphone into a screen for the radio.
Sony was first to offer an app along these lines with the renamed Music Center app. Now, Pioneer is adding new features. Its SmartSync app not only lets the phone control the radio, but it includes a text to speech engine so it allows a non-CarPlay or non-Android Auto radio to read aloud your text messages. There’s also a button that you can press to launch a navigation app of your choosing on your phone.
“So the phone becomes the screen for the decks. You are taking a basic audio receiver and turning it into a multimedia deck using the touch screen of your phone,” said Cardenas.
Users can also set the equalization of the radio.
The app is available now in the Apple or Google stores. It works with new CD players and media receivers starting at $80. Pioneer’s 6 new CD decks and 3 digital media receivers include a new MVH-S512B digital media receiver with SiriusXM capability, Bluetooth and MIXTRAX that works with Spotify and Pandora, shown above.
New CD receivers include the DEH-S6120BS, DEH-S6100BS, DEH-S5120BT, DEH-S5100BT, DEH-S4120BT, DEH-S4100BT.
The three digital media receivers are theMVH-S512BS, MVH-S312BT and MVH-S310BT.
Pioneer CarSoundFit
Additionally, Pioneer has launched a new demo app that allows users to hear how its speakers would sound in their car compared to the stock OEM speakers.
Called CarSoundFit, it provides a virtual demo of new A series and other speakers so you can hear how they might sound in your car. It takes into consideration the acoustic data on the car and the OEM speakers and then the replacement speakers.
“We’ve been collecting over the last several years, specific acoustical measurements of vehicles and the fitment of speakers and researching globally to catalog this data. We take the acoustic measurements of the OEM speakers and then the replacement speakers, so the app gives you a true demo,” said Pioneer VP Marketing Ted Cardenas.
The app includes specific vehicles and also general vehicles. So you can listen to a general SUV or select a specific model and press either the before or after button. There’s a choice of speakers and then a button to access music from your phone.
The aim, said Pioneer, is not to replace the store but to assist the consumer and motivate them to drive to the retailer.
