• Pioneer Announces its First Set of Aftermarket CarPlay Systems

    by
    Akshay Masand
    Published on 2014-04-16 06:00 AM
    11 Comments Comments


    Apple’s forthcoming CarPlay standard for in-vehicle dashboards won’t be limited to new cars anymore. Pioneer recently announced that it will be bringing five aftermarket options for customers to install in their existing vehicles this summer. CarPlay support will be brought via a firmware update to five of Pioneer’s new NEX in-dash multimedia receivers, featuring a large in-dash LCD displays that can be installed in most existing vehicles. CarPlay support means that users will have Siri voice control for making and receiving calls, reading and responding to text messages, using Apple Maps for navigation, and listening to music, podcasts and iTunes Radio.

    Vice President of Marketing for the Car Electronics Division of Pioneer Electronics Inc, Ted Cardenas, had the following to say regarding the matter:

    Pioneer's years of expertise integrating smartphone connectivity into the automotive environment has provided us the opportunity to be among the first to offer CarPlay to drivers. By providing an aftermarket option, Pioneer's 2014 in-dash multimedia systems give many iPhone owners the ability to add CarPlay to their current vehicles.
    The entry-level option will be the AV-4000NEX model, which starts at $700. Other, more fully featured models will be priced at $750, $900, $1,200 and $1,400. Beyond CarPlay support, Pioneer has also promised that its lineup of NEX dashboard installations will have a more responsive user interface than previous models. The company also says that sound quality, convenience and safety have all been enhanced as well. This particular announcement comes after another report that indicated that Alpine will also be bringing its own CarPlay options to the market. Alpine hasn’t confirmed the rumors but it’s been said the units will cost between $500 and $700 with a fall debut.

    The recent announcement from Pioneer stands in contrast to comments made by Kenwood, when the company said that CarPlay wouldn’t be in any of its 2014 products. At the time, it was suggested that Apple might be reserving CarPlay as an OEM option for automakers, something which is obviously not the case.

    For those of you who didn’t know, CarPlay was officially announced by Apple at the Geneva Motor Show. A rebranding of the “iOS in the Car” functionality unveiled by the company last year, CarPlay will debut in select vehicles this year from partners such as Volvo, Honda, Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar, Hyundai and Ferrari. Future partners include Ford, Chevrolet, BMW, Kia, Toyota, Nissan, Mitsubishi and more.

    Source: Pioneer via BusinessWire
    This article was originally published in forum thread: Pioneer Announces its First Set of Aftermarket CarPlay Systems started by Akshay Masand View original post
    1. Categories:
    2. iOS,
    3. Apple
    Comments 11 Comments
    1. buttamix's Avatar
      buttamix - 2014-04-16, 12:20 PM
      I'm all over this!!!!
    1. BrainSmashR's Avatar
      BrainSmashR - 2014-04-16, 02:11 PM
      Will be interesting to see if this catches on considering I bought an aftermarket JVC with a USB plug for about $400 that allows me to do all of that with my iphone
    1. rockyseay's Avatar
      rockyseay - 2014-04-16, 02:36 PM
      Can't wait to get my hands on one!
    1. mlee19841's Avatar
      mlee19841 - 2014-04-16, 02:42 PM
      Not bad price wise. Thought it was gonna be in the 1k range.
    1. tankz504's Avatar
      tankz504 - 2014-04-16, 04:28 PM
      Hopefully they don't have some lame jailbreak detection crap and block jail broken devices.
    1. poynter32's Avatar
      poynter32 - 2014-04-16, 04:51 PM
      Quote Originally Posted by BrainSmashR View Post
      Will be interesting to see if this catches on considering I bought an aftermarket JVC with a USB plug for about $400 that allows me to do all of that with my iphone
      Not quite the same thing. You can not use apple maps for GPS directions with your JVC. The Car Play receivers will show u the map on a large in dash display. Siri is accessible from steering wheel controls and it will use the display to allow u to pick the contact to call or text because we all know Siri doesn't always get it right. Car play receiver will also utilize the in dash screen to allow u to select music and for album artwork and song information. Also these receivers will play DVDs. Something your JVC can not do. These are also considered hands free devices for those states that don't allow any kind of cell phone use. Pioneer receivers also have much better sound quality. However Pioneer is adding Car Play to the receivers that already have navigation. That seems redundant to me. I think it should be added to their App Radio.
    1. BrainSmashR's Avatar
      BrainSmashR - 2014-04-17, 12:24 AM
      Quote Originally Posted by poynter32 View Post
      Not quite the same thing. You can not use apple maps for GPS directions with your JVC. The Car Play receivers will show u the map on a large in dash display. Siri is accessible from steering wheel controls and it will use the display to allow u to pick the contact to call or text because we all know Siri doesn't always get it right. Car play receiver will also utilize the in dash screen to allow u to select music and for album artwork and song information. Also these receivers will play DVDs. Something your JVC can not do. These are also considered hands free devices for those states that don't allow any kind of cell phone use. Pioneer receivers also have much better sound quality. However Pioneer is adding Car Play to the receivers that already have navigation. That seems redundant to me. I think it should be added to their App Radio.
      You misunderstand, my PHONE does all of that and broadcasts through my radio via the USB connection with the added benefit of the screen being where ever I want it to be.
    1. hemptation's Avatar
      hemptation - 2014-04-17, 01:47 AM
      Pretty valid point. But app radio is essentially car play. With this integration. Pioneer might discontinue app radio. Or. They might sixth their app radio to car play app radio exclusively. Ages to tell. I have a few friends that own the app radios. One with a jailbreak. With app radio extensions another without. Both have good and bad things about them. I bought my radio / pioneer avic z3: a few years before this. But am definitely interested in this. Not having to update maps and several other things. It is nice to have navigation without needing my phone tho. Cause sometimes I want my phone for other things while driving down the road

      This entire situation and end game will be interesting. I will be looking more I to this as time goes by
    1. studderman's Avatar
      studderman - 2014-04-17, 04:28 AM
      I'm glad I have a iPad Air windshield mount, an that was only $25 from amzn, 700 an up for a head unit to just answer texts an have map access, huh my car is already fully loaded, I will pass, but good for people that don't have a smart head unit I guess.
    1. Ozdude's Avatar
      Ozdude - 2014-04-17, 04:50 AM
      The recent announcement from Pioneer stands in contrast to comments made by Kenwood, when the company said that CarPlay wouldn’t be in any of its 2014 products. At the time, it was suggested that Apple might be reserving CarPlay as an OEM option for automakers, something which is obviously not the case.
      Love how they always get this sh*t wrong. I'm super close to refreshing the existing Pioneer Nav in a car of mine and nearly ruled out staying Pioneer due to the no Carplay talk..Then again I could end up waiting for Alpine if Pioneer haven't caught up to the audio quality improvements made in Alpine's current gen Nav radio units.

      I read about this yesterday. The whole Carplay compatibility is enabled through a Pioneer firmware update on their just recently launched compatible models.
    1. posrjak's Avatar
      posrjak - 2014-06-22, 02:15 AM
      Okay just bought the Pioneer Avic-6000 NEX. Installed pretty satisfied with it. Now as of today it is officially summer. How soon is early summer Pioneer? Waiting patiently for the update. Anybody know if CarPlay is going to require the lightning to HDMI adaptor like the APPRadio does and when can we expect to software update?


      Sent from my iPhone using ModMyi

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