Pioneer Japan yesterday unveiled a new in-house audio system, the ACCO A-IW001 [JP], which comes with a set of speakers that need to be mounted on the ceiling. The device is also specifically designed to be iPod-compatible and comes with an iPod cradle.
Remember this day. Today is the day that you saw the future of GPS navigation. Tele Atlas has partnered with Norway-based BLOM to provide photorealistic maps to personal navigation devices. So far only 40 cities in Europe have been ported to the service, but many more are scheduled to be released in the coming quarters. Soon the days of having basic 3D boxes to represent buildings will be gone and an actual picture will be there instead.
The optical music market is still alive, folks. Pioneer is releasing a new high-end player for your listening pleasure. Not only does it support SACDs, but also sports a USB port for DAP or iPod connectivity along with Bluetooth audio streaming support. The circuity within is sure to improve the crappy MP3 audio file too, although it probably will come nowhere close to the pristine sound of a SACD through this player.
Pioneer gave up producing flat TVs and buried the LaserDisc, but the company seems to still believe in Blu-ray. Yesterday, Pioneer Japan announced a total of three new Blu-ray players [JP], covering the low-end and high-end segments.
The consolidation process in Japan’s tech industry isn’t stopping. Pioneer and Sharp said today in Tokyo they have reached a basic agreement to launch an optical disc joint venture [JP, PDF], a move that is supposed to give the companies a boost in the Blu-ray segment. Both companies said they are ready to completely transfer their optical disc businesses to the new entity.
We covered the news that Pioneer shuts down TV production back in February and today Pioneer Japan revealed a number of details about their radical move [JP]. In short: There will be no more Kuro plasma TVs from May this year. Pioneer calls it quits after 12 years of plasma TV production.
Here’s one of those quicke CrunchDeals we like to promote from time to time. This time, satellite radio fan, you can grab the Pioneer XMp3, along with the relevant Home and Vehicle kit, for $239. That’s $100 less than what XM usually wants!
After pulling the plug on LD production just last month and saying their TV business is practically dead, Pioneer today in Tokyo hold a press conference explaining the latter move in more detail [JP, PDF]. And the details aren’t pretty at all.
Vizio, a long time favorite brand of bargain hunters and geeks alike, has stopped slapping their logo on plasma TVs. Plus, there is no plan to order more once the current inventory runs outs. The cut is, of course, due to plamsa’s poor sales in comparison to the companies LCD sales. Which is, of course, due to poor consumer information and as bright as the sun’s surface showrooms.
There’s nothing much to say here other than what I’ve stated in the headline, folks. Pioneer has announced that they are officially getting out of the plasma HDTV business. Despite the quality of their plasma HDTVs, the TV division hasn’t been doing so well. Another factor is Panasonic’s recent announcement that their new plasma factory would not be ready to roll until 2010.
The Nikkei reports that Pioneer’s DVD division will be joining forces with Sharp in some new joint venture.
Pioneer today announced in Tokyo [JP] that they will no longer manufacture LaserDisc players. The DVL-919, CLD-R5, DVK-900 and DVL-K88 are the last models available.
Complaints that Blu-ray is too expensive—we say it often—may soon be harder to justify, now that Pioneer will release the $250 BDP-120 in April. It’s just a Blu-ray player—no fancy Netflix streaming here—but if all you’re looking for is an inexpensive player (and have no interest in the PS3) you could do worse.
There was a time when the term plasma TVs meant expensive and power hungry electronic, but those days are fading. Three of the largest players in the plasma world now have Energy Star Certified models which is a big feat. This means that a 42-inch PDP cannot consume more than 208 watts while on and less than a watt in standby mode. LCD were once the champion of tree-hugging hippies, but they shouldn’t have to suffer with the lower quality picture now that plasmas have the Energy Star Certification.
DigiTimes is reporting on Pioneer’s new layered optical disc. Each of the disc’s 16 layers holds 25GB, for a total storage capacity of 400GB. That’s 8x the storage on a double-layer Blu-Ray disc, which according to my CrunchGear companions holds an awful lot of porn. The new discs use a reflective layer, but should be compatible in existing Blu-Ray players, according to Pioneer.
In case Sony’s 8x Blu-ray recorder isn’t for you, Pioneer is soon to have its own super-fast Blu-ray PC burner. The BDR-03J can author Blu-ray media at 8x speeds, DVD-R at 16x and CD-Rs at 32x; not that you’re burning the later that much anymore. The serial-ATA optical drive is dropping in Japan sometime in January, but will hopefully hitch a ride ‘cross the Pacific shortly after.
Put your seatbelt on for this one.
Check out the Pioneer DVR-X162J [JP], an external DVD burner that’s enclosed in a dustproof shell. That is to say the external enclosure is dustproof, handy if you’re an Okie in 1936.
Aside from its incredible dustproofing, the burner is your standard issue USB 2.0 little guy. Pioneer has outfitted it with something called Pure Read Technology, which allegedly improves the data burn quality. Yes, I think that’s marketing nonsense, too.
The notorious practice of leaving the price “open” strikes again, accompanying its December release date.
via Akihabara News
Pioneer has just opened its second retail location and the companies CEO doesn’t seemed worried even with the dismal fate of Circuit City and Tweeter. According to Masao Kawabata, Pioneer products are recession tough thanks to its mid to high-end niche market of premium products. So while mainstream Best Buy-specialdisplays might be having issues, Kuro displays and such should be fine. I can tell you that as long as Pioneer keeps pumping out extremely high-quality displays like the 60-inch Elite display sitting next to me, the company will be fine. Make the right products and the sales will follow.
With Circuit City and CompUSA’s woes, you would think that electronic makers would shy away from opening brick and mortar stores. Not Pioneer though, oh noes, the company is opening its second US store; this time in Phoenix. The store is loaded with KURO displays, Blu-ray players, Elite speakers, and its Premier line of car electronics. Plus, previously Japanese-exclusive products are going to be available that include Pure Malt Speakers and headphones. Hopefully these stores will follow the yellow brick path paved by Apple Stores and not follow Circuit City’s road leading to the bowels of hell.
Let’s say your name is, I don’t know, Jonathan Peters or Jojo Flores or Armand Van Helden. As a DJ you need a pair of solid headphones, ones that not only sound good but look good. (It’s a vain industry, DJing.) Are these Pioneer HDJ-2000 headphones what the doctor ordered? Who knows—I haven’t heard them yet—but given Pioneer’s pedigree I’d say there’s a good chance that, yes, these are quality.
We all knew that eventually Blu-ray would hit the home theater in a box market and while the Pioneer LX010BD isn’t the first, it seems well equipped. For £2000 ($3,137 USD) British AV snobs will be rock’n out to 5.1 audio sound out of dodecahedron compact speakers (it means 12-sided shape, playboy) that claim to produce omni-directional sound for a better surround experience. Plus, the system ships with a LCD touchscreen remote which should partially justify the systems stratospherically high price. To bad the Blu-ray player is only Profile 1.1 and therefore cannot enjoy any of BD-Live’s fun features ’cause otherwise, this is one nice HTIB.
