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Blaupunkt shows off miRoamer-powered internet car radios
We'll be honest: apart from the ridiculous custom cars and the Viliv S7, we pretty much avoided the car audio-oriented North Hall at CES this year -- which means we sadly didn't get any facetime with Blaupunkt's miRoamer-powered TravelPilot New Jersey 600i internet car stereo. (Apparently double-DIN is big in the Jerz.) The prototype head unit connects to a cellphone over Bluetooth to access the internet, and uses the miRoamer service to stream "tens of thousands" of stations on the service -- which the company estimates will consume about 2GB of data a month, so you'd better hope your data plan doesn't cap you off or charge you for overages. The radio is expected to arrive in the second half of the year for $399, which isn't bad, but doesn't do much good for the squares like us who never swap out their car stereos -- which is probably why miRoamer is targeting 2010 for placement in OEM head units. One more pic of the single-DIN sized "Hamburg" model after the break.
Blaupunkt TravelPilot 700 and 500 overlay nav info on realtime video
Blaupunkt's TravelPilot nav units have never really stood out from the pack, but it looks like that's about to change -- the new TravelPilot 700 and 500 feature an integrated camera that displays realtime video with nav overlays on their 16:9 screens. That's definitely a novel and intriguing feature, but there's not a lot of information on how it works or what kind of hardware is under the hood to keep it running smoothly -- with the 700's estimated list price of $740, we're guessing it's pretty beefy. Both units also feature voice control, DVB-T traffic, live traffic, Bluetooth, and the usual PMP features, and the 700 also has a browser, email app, and VoIP client that work over Bluetooth tethering with your phone. Yeah, definitely intriguing -- hopefully we'll see this thing make it Stateside soon. Video after the break.[Via Navigadget; thanks, Khattab]
Blaupunkt's new TravelPilot lineup is rather blah
There's nothing wrong at all with Blaupunkt's new TravelPilot 100, 200 and 300, and given the company's missteps in the past, these new devices are actually quite the relief. That said, there's nothing too fancy going on either. The TravelPilot 100 and 200 sport 3.5-inch QVGA screens, while the 300 does 4.3-inches at 480 x 272. All three are running Windows CE 5.0, the 200 and 300 include traffic receivers, and the 300 includes Bluetooth and is the only one with maps for all of Western Europe. Prices range from €129 ($200 US) to €299 ($462 US), and they'll all be hitting Europe in March and April.[Via NaviGadget]
Blaupunkt announces TravelPilot Lucca 3.5, 5.3 Editions
Aimed for Europe's roads (for now), Blaupunkt has announced the TravelPilot Lucca 3.5, a circular GPS unit that will probably invoke some love it / hate it style comments. Either it's a stylish looking unit, or its a waste of space (consider the square screen.) Either way, this thing features a 3.5-inch LCD, a Centrality Atlas III Dual Core 400MHz processor, detailed mapping of the UK and Ireland, major European roads, and detailed European mapping available at extra cost. It also has a SD/SDHC/MMC slot, and locations of speed traps to save you a ticket. If you don't fancy the circular 3.5, you can go for the new Lucca 5.3, which features a 4.3-inch rectangular screen and case, Bluetooth support, voice control, and external video input for rear view cameras. You'll undoubtedly see these models in Europe first, but for how much and when, we don't know.Read - Lucca 3.5Read - Lucca 5.3
Blaupunkt rolls out USB-ready MP47, MP57 car stereos
Blaupunkt recently rolled out an SD-equipped car stereo, but if flash cards aren't your thing, you might want to consider either the company's new Kingston MP47 or Hamburg MP57 stereo, each of which boast USB inputs to accommodate your mass storage device of choice. If that's not enough for you, both models also sport standard 3.5mm front panel inputs to let you jack in any old audio device, and the MP57 ups the options even further with built-in Bluetooth capability (something that can be added to the MP47 with an optional module). Otherwise, you can expect to get 45 watts of power through four channels from each stereo, along with removable front panels, a three-band parametric equalizer, and an included microphone on the MP57 model for Bluetooth hands-free operation. The MP47 also boasts a customizable Variocolour display, while the MP57 opts for a standard black-and-white dot matrix deal. If that suits, you should be able to grab either one now, with the MP47 running $210 and the MP57 setting you back $320.
Blaupunkt rolls out SD card-based car stereo
It's not the first such unit we've seen, but car stereos with SD card slots instead of CD players are still rare enough to get our attention, which is exactly what Blaupunkt has managed to do with its new Melbourne SD27 system. If that's a bit too limiting for you, you can also make use of Blaupunkt's optional iPod and USB/Bluetooth adapters, which will let you grab music off any suitably equipped MP3 player or cellphone. You'll also, of course, get an AM/FM radio with 25 preset station options, and a plain old 3.5-millimeter auxiliary input to plug in the audio device of your choice. If that's not too much change for you to handle, you should be able to pick up a Melbourne SD27 now for a suggest retail price of $160.
Blaupunkt's Velocity 2Go boombox is car-mountable
Although it has been quite some time since Blaupunkt made any substantial noise in the CE biz, the audio outfit is back in full force with the forthcoming Velocity 2Go lineup. The flashy (albeit ill-favored) boombox sports a carry-handle design for those throwback moments of atop-the-shoulder sidewalk strutting, and also features a car-docking solution with the bundled straps or QuickOut mounting kit. Specs wise, the unit operates on rechargeable AA cells, touts a "die-cast aluminum" enclosure, and sports 3.5-millimeter / RCA input jacks to play nice with just about any external audio source in the book. Dubbed the "world's first mobile active speaker system," the device also rocks a built-in active subwoofer to fill in the lows, and while the Velocity2Go 5 (£249.99; $499) will get things rockin' with 80-watts of RMS power, the Velocity2Go 6 (£299.99; $599) purportedly ups the volume by four decibels in case you can tell the difference. Click on through for a shot of the rear.[Via CNET]
