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Garmin and Kenwood team up to market nav-enabled car stereos
Although Kenwood's been shipping nav-enabled car stereos powered by Garmin since 2006, they've mostly gone under the radar -- but now it looks like the two companies are so pleased with the arrangement that they're going to launch a combined marketing blitz and some new jointly-developed models. We've already seen a couple nifty Kenwood stereos with built-in nav (and some sweet concepts), but it looks like 2008 will bring even more units like the Garmin-powered Excelon DNX-8120 (pictured above) that launched at CES. All the new units are to have touchscreens with flash-based Garmin nav internals, as well as the usual high-end Kenwood features like Bluetooth, satellite radio, HD Radio, and iPod hookups. No new model numbers or prices have been announced yet, but the marketing partnership is apparently already underway -- get ready for the car stereo section of your local big box to be taken over.[Via Blast]
Kenwood AS-IP300 iPod dock dreams of flight
At least that's the only way we can explain the stealth bomber look on this AS-IP300 iPod dock from Kenwood. You can buy a black version to complete the effect, but don't expect to get much out of these 1.9W stereo speakers. The best news is that you're looking at a 95 Euro ($140-ish) pricetag for the unit, which has us rather ambivalent as to if or when this'll be getting a Stateside release.
Kenwood's Smart Interface simplifies navigation
It's an argument we've all probably had: you prefer the nav, pops prefers the bedraggled Atlas. Thankfully, Kenwood is stepping in to mediate by creating the Smart Interface, which enables those less comfortable with modern day GPS systems to simply point a pen at a map and let the technology handle the rest. The location seen by the pen is wirelessly transmitted to the coordinating navigator, enabling map-lovers to more easily input destinations and coexist with their tech-savvy offspring. Unfortunately, there's no word as to when this setup will be available to purchase, but feel free to click on through for a couple more in-action snapshots. [Via Coolest-Gadgets]
Kenwood's latest flash Media Kegs: same guts, no glory
Zoinks, Kenwood just loosed yet another Media Keg design into Japan. Two in fact, each sharing the same guts: the sophisticatedly-smarmy GD55 and whimsically-chintzy GD50. Both feature up to 2GB of flash, a 4-line OLED display, a USB mass storage mode and support for MP3 or DRM'd WMA audio with up to 21 hours of MP3 playback before needing a recharge. Yours in Japan starting next month for ¥15,000 or about $130 for the full 2GB treatment. [Via Impress]
Kenwood's high-end Media Keg features gold plating... on the internal frame
Gold plating is often used as a means to lower the electrical resistance (and substantially increase the price) of so-called, high-end audio cables and plugs. Fine, we're used to that. This is the first time, however, that we've seen it used on a internal DAP frame as a basis to tout superior sound achieved through superior fit. We kid you not, that's Kenwood's pitch for their new 60GB, HD60GD9EC audio player. The Media Keg series was already acclaimed for its superior sound quality and the introduction of AAC support is a welcome addition to Kenwood lossless and WMA/MP3 compressed formats. Still, a gold plated internal chassis demanding a ¥57,800 (about $503) premium? Puhlease. Oh, and since you don't seem to be paying attention Kenwood, slim 160GB 1.8-inch drives are now available. Yeah, really.
Kenwood's Japan-only GPS car stereo, the MNA-350
Kenwood's aiming its new MNA-350 squarely at the Japanese market for tiny cars, or "kei-cars," but we know plenty of people with double-DIN slots in their SUVs here in the States who would kill for this CD player / GPS nav combo. The 50W unit features a 3.5-inch touchscreen that supports address and phone number lookups, as well as MP3, AAC, and WMA support and optional iPod integration. Those of you rocking to the beat of different DAP can jack in through the front-mounted 1/8-inch aux input, or just play your files through the integrated SD reader. No word on price, but the four of you flying out to snag one of these Japan-only units for your Escalades probably don't care about that, do you?[Via Akihabara News]
Matsushita to sell JVC to Kenwood?
Dizamn, chalk this up to buyouts we didn't see coming; reports are starting to hit the wires that Matushita (aka Panasonic), which owns the controlling share (52.4%) of Victor Company of Japan (aka JVC) is apparently considering selling the unit to Kenwood. Although talks have supposedly been ongoing since earlier this month, Matsushita is apparently refusing to comment. Naw, probably won't affect you and your general buying habits -- it's not like JVC would be going to D&M to be dismantled for its IP -- we just thought you might like to know.Read - Matsushita reportedly in talks with KenwoodRead - "No comment."
Kenwood Media Keg reviewed
While the phrase "world's smallest disk-based digital audio player" will likely be enough to convince some to thrown down the Yen for Kenwood's latest Media Keg, the good folks at Impress' AV Watch nevertheless decided to check out the player for themselves to see how the rest of its features stack up. You'll have to take this with the usual machine translation caveats, of course, but from what we can tell, they seem to give the player a decent recommendation, though not without finding a few faults. While they were obviously impressed with the player's size, as well as its sound quality, they found the player's 1-inch hard drive to be noticeably slower than the larger 1.8-inch models used in other players, putting a drag on both transfer speeds and overall operating speed. Also working against it is the price -- a full 40,000 Yen ($340) -- which definitely means you're paying quite a premium for the player's small size. But what else is new?
Kenwood's Media Keg HD10GB7: world's smallest disk-based DAP
Kenwood's been churning out DAPs with high quality audio for awhile now. Some with disks, some with flash, but all with superior sound quality to the usual wares. Now they've taken the whole kit and shrunk it down into this, the world's smallest disk-based DAP. Sporting a 10GB (presumably 1-inch) disk drive, the new Media Keg HD10GB7 brings that same "clear digital amplifier" and sound processing found in their flagship player. The screen has been reduced to a mere 1.5-inches which if fine by us -- not like the Media Kegs' support video anyway. Fortunately, the battery doesn't suffer from miniaturization as it's capable of pumping MP3s for a full 24-hours; after which a 3-hour recharge from USB will top things off. The Napster to Go supporting HD10GB7 measures in at 78-grams / 62×44×17-millimeters so it'll go just about anywhere, especially Japan where these will hit first come December for about ¥40,000 or about $345. [Via Impress]
Kenwood's first flash DAPs: M2GC7 and M1GC7 with USB hosting
Kenwood just unleashed a new line-up of flash-based MediaKegs in Japan with their M2GC7 (2GB) and M1GC7 (1GB) DAPs. In addition to boasting Kenwood's new digital amp with "Supreme" sound technology and cross-hair interface, these 15.5-mm / 0.6-inch thin, 44-gram / 1.55-ounce players support MP3/WAV/DRM'd WMA and pack an FM tuner and USB 2.0 hosting capability for PC-less music transfers and direct copy off Kenwood's lineup of car and home audio systems. The players deliver up to 11 hours of playback off a 3 hour rechargeable battery and ship in your choice of silver or black with the additional options of blue and red available exclusively to the 1-gigger. Shipping in Japan starting next month for about ¥27,000 / ¥20,000 or about $227 / $169 -- -- damn steep unless you're already locked into Kenwood gear.[Via Impress]
Kenwood bumps their Media Keg DAP with a digital amp
Kenwood has been messing around with this whole 1.8-inch HDD DAP thing for a while now, and though they've had some hot specs show up in their Media Keg players, they can't quite seem to pull everything together for a real winner. For instance, though the Media Kegs have had 2.2-inch QVGA screens from day one, the newly launched HD30GB9 still can't do anything useful with it like play video or view photos. In fact, the main difference between this new version and its predecessors is a snazzy new digital amp to boost the audiophile quotient. The 30GB player supports Kenwood's proprietary lossless codec, and can be managed via WMP10 (PlaysForSure is a go) or Kenwood's included software. There's also a new black color, but the case design remains otherwise identical. All that said, we're not likely to see this one in the States anyways -- it should be out in Japan this October for 50,000 Yen (about $430 US).[Via dapreview]
