By Andrew Liszewski
iPod-friendly car stereos are nothing new. In fact, you’d probably be hard-pressed to find a stereo these days that didn’t feature some kind of iPod connectivity. But most of the time it’s just a cable or a dock that leaves your MP3 player sitting out in the open, tempting those who walk by your vehicle. But not the CA-IP500 from Fusion Electronics Ltd. The face of the head unit flips down revealing a spot where you can safely stash your iPod while it’s connected. And the unit currently supports the iPod Touch Gen1 & Gen2, the iPod Classic Gen5, Gen6 & Gen7 and the iPod Nano Gen2, Gen3 & Gen4.
Once hidden away, the iPod can still be controlled via the CA-IP500’s joystick and rotary controls, which operate not unlike the iPod’s own click-wheel. Other features include a dot matrix OLED display, SRS Wos sound shaping, AM/FM tuner, 7-band equalizer, security code, aux-in port and it will even charge your player while it’s docked inside. At $349 it’s not the cheapest iPod-compatible car stereo on the market, but if it saves your vehicle from a break-in, it could be worth it in the long run.
[ Fusion CA-IP500 ] VIA [ Chip Chick ]
Kinda neat but I don't like the idea of something swallowing my ipod.
Awesome, now when some crackhead busts my window to steal my radio, they get my iPod too… BONUS!!
Yeah, no thanks.
Great idea. And unlike the other people who commented, when I leave my car I just take my iPod out of the head unit, like you would do if you had it in a dock for example…
While I was installing my iPod friendly stereo (a few years back) I just threaded the cable to run into my glove compartment. Most people don't even realize that I have an iPod connected. No theft, no unsightly cables wandering around & my iPod is charged & secure.
I've got an Alpine stereo that connects to my iPod and plays CDs as well. The navigation interface of the iPod with the stereo is terrible though. The scrolling doesn't accelerate through the iPod when you turn the knob faster which really sucks. Too bad this one doesn't seem to play CDs, otherwise I'd look into replacing mine.
This thing is awesome where can i buy one.
Congrats on getting this announced by fwdfwdfwd š
Congrats on getting this announced by fwdfwdfwd š
neat idea! i wonder how well it will work out, though
definitely hate the idea of a car stereo eating up my ipod just like the old days where casette tapes were used in car stereos… but from the looks of it it's nice not to have any cluttered cables inside the car…
This is exactly what we need. Great idea!