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Car stereo thieves looking elsewhere to make those ends
At least one in five Engadget staffers can attest: car stereo crime was all the rage in the 1990s, and needless to say, we were all on the losing end of the deal. These days, however, larceny cases involving in-dash head units has dropped dramatically, and we've generally got no one but the auto makers to thank. Back in the day, factory stereos were downright laughable, and considering that most 1- and 2-DIN aftermarket decks could be installed in almost any car, the street value for those puppies was pretty high. Now, it's tough to find a vehicle without a marginally decent player already in it, which has led to a 50 percent decline in reported car stereo thefts over the past 15 years. If we had a gun to our head, we'd guess these folks have all moved on to swiping iPods.[Via Fark, image courtesy of Notla]
ATX proposes .car TLD for expected influx of in-car internet users
With the ability to surf the web in-car inevitably coming to more and more motorcars, ATX Group, the self-proclaimed "largest independent telematics services provider to the automotive industry," has announced an initiative with the Connected Vehicle Trade Association to "convene an international work group to address how to safely access internet content through embedded and nomadic devices in vehicles." Aside from that, it's also proposing a generic top-level domain -- .car -- that would presumably dumb down websites for use in the vehicle. Of course, you won't find us cheering on a movement to generate yet another worthless TLD, but we'd certainly be down with text-to-speech software that read the latest gadget headlines (just an example, is all) aloud as you cruised the freeway.
Pioneer launches AVIC-D3BT NAV head unit, handles DVD / iPod
Hot on the heels of England posting SAT NAV warning signs to help motorists rely less on their GPS and more on the read ahead of them comes Pioneer latest, are the firm is unleashing a UK-based head unit that does a little navigatin' while holding down your multimedia demands. The AVIC-D3BT is a double-DIN unit that boasts a 6.1-inch touchscreen display, Bluetooth for handsfree calling, and a slick "iBus" iPod interface that actually gives users an on-screen scroll wheel to mimic the control scheme Pod users know so well. Additionally, it'll come bundled with European maps, 12 million POIs, multicolor illumination to customize the glow, and will play nice with MP3, WMA, AAC, DivX and even DVD discs. Slated to hit British stores in mid-March, the AVIC-D3BT is listed at £1,300 ($2,538), but savvy shoppers should it a few hundred pounds cheaper if snooping around.[Via Pocket-Lint]
