It looks like JVC Kenwood has plans to offer its advanced take on aftermarket car radio systems that will finally incorporate wireless Android Auto functionality. Up until now, most of the available offerings of such receivers required cables to be connected to an Android smartphone, which is not very convenient. According to a press release,…
It looks like JVC Kenwood has plans to offer its advanced take on aftermarket car radio systems that will finally incorporate wireless Android Auto functionality. Up until now, most of the available offerings of such receivers required cables to be connected to an Android smartphone, which is not very convenient. According to a press release, the company might be planning to release two wireless Android Auto-capable multimedia receivers, one with the Kenwood logo and other with the JVC designation. Both of these receivers will be displayed at CES 2018 this month.
Not a lot of details or specifications have been released regarding the receivers. What we know so far according to the information provided on the official JVC Kenwood website is that the two units will most definitely support wireless Android Auto. The unit with the Kenwood moniker is described as the higher-end AV multimedia receiver. It is said to have an LCD screen with a resolution of 1280×720 pixels and wide viewing angles. This variant will have support for both Android Auto as well as Apple CarPlay. The JVC labelled unit will also come with a 720p resolution, 6.8-inch LCD panel. However, this will only support Android Auto. With wireless functionality (mostly over Wi-Fi), both are expected to provide enhanced connectivity with smartphones.
Google had discussed Android Auto wireless systems back in 2016. On the other hand, we have already seen wireless Apple CarPlay reach dashboards via Alpine’s ILX-107 aftermarket receiver. It has taken a fair bit of time for OEMs to bring Android’s wireless solution out to the market, but we know that the two new devices from JVC Kenwood will be displayed at CES 2018. However, the actual release and price of the devices is yet to be known. It sometimes takes many months for products shown at CES to be available for consumers to purchase. Nevertheless, the announcement of this new offering could potentially open the door for more manufacturers to develop their own wireless Android Auto solutions.