Pioneer @ CES - Pimpin' yo' ride
Pioneer is launching 3 different head units, and 5 types of accessories for them all for what they call the "tuner" market. We call them rice boys. First the head units:
The Avic N2 is a single DIN body with a pull out and flip up screen, just like you see West Coast Customs put in all the beaters on MTV. It has GPS navigation with turn by turn directions. To further help you get around, the unit supports XM Navtraffic, which can update the GPS with traffic information and even re-route you around accidents or slow spots (more on that below). In addition to audio playback, including mp3 cds, the N2 also plays DVDs as well. There's an single DIN head unit, the AVH-P5700DVD, which pretty much has the same style but doesn't have built-in GPS navigation. So it starts out as pretty much just a CD/DVD player. The Avic D1 is a double DIN style head unit, for all those old GM trucks or for pretty much every new car or truck that comes with one of those huge control units for audio and/or GPS. It has the same features of the N2, except for DVD playback.
Once you've pimped out your ride with a hot new head unit, then you can pimp out the head unit, of course. There's an iPod adapter for models with a dock connector that will give you control over the iPod, display information for the track playing, and even charge your little white friend. Or you could add a Sirius or XM receiver. If you have one of the Avic units, you could even add an XM receiver with Navtraffic. Navtraffic is an additional XM service available for 20 US metro areas that updates your GPS with accidents, freeway speeds and other useful local information. Finally you could opt for the rice boy's, oops we mean tuner's, dream accessory, the vehicle dynamics display. This accessory hooks into your car's systems and can display a speedo, tach, and even angular velocity and G-Forces. Of course the display can be customized to look like anything from a video game to an F-16a cockpit.
