What Does the Future Hold For Car Audio?

With technology rapidly improving and new products appearing every month, car audio is improving exponentially. This poses a problem though, with things moving so fast how is it possible to keep up? The trick is to be one step ahead of the game and make sure all future purchases are future proofed.

So what's in store for the car audiophile? We are starting to see the next stage of technology emerging into the market with the Fusion CA-iP500 and the Sony DSX-S100. Both of these units are classed as Digital Media Receiver's, meaning that they do not use CD's. This seems like a major leap that is perhaps a step ahead if itself however with the likes of Sony now producing these units it's a safe bet that other manufacturers have got similar products in the pipeline. Digital units have the advantage of being able to navigate and utilise iPods and MP3 players, allowing you to carry your whole music collection and listen to it whilst driving. In the next few years my prediction is that all car audio brands will look at going for purely digital stereos.

Bluetooth, already a massive feature in today's car stereos but expect to see this as a basic feature much like Traffic information. The functionality of Bluetooth is also improving; it is now possible to stream music over Bluetooth directly from your phone or computer. Future advances will probably involve pulling up phone books and more phone controls being integrated with the head unit.

The design and functionality of future stereos will include improved screens, perhaps true LCD, HD even. Faster response times and generally improved user interfaces. Built quality is already on the rise with cheap car stereos being able to keep up with the more expensive units.

Whatever the future holds for car stereo, much like the rest of technology, it will continue to improve at an amazing rate. Advances over the last 5 years have been huge with colour screens and MP3 compatibility becoming major features almost overnight. Looking for the latest features and a little research will enable you to stay ahead of the game and make sure your unit is not yesterday's news before you have even fitted it.