CES 2019: Kenwood and JVC Debut Lineup of Wireless CarPlay Receivers

[MacRumors]

Following in the footsteps of Alpine and Pioneer, Kenwood today at CES 2019 introduced its first in-car multimedia receivers with wireless CarPlay.

Kenwood is offering seven new receivers with wireless CarPlay support, many of which are part of its eXcelon series. The model numbers include NX996XR, DDX9906XR, DDX8906S, DMX906S, DNR876S, DDX8706S, and DMX9706S.

Wireless CarPlay enables drivers to connect an iPhone to the receiver via Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, whereas most factory-installed CarPlay receivers still require connecting an iPhone with a Lightning to USB cable to access CarPlay functionality. BMW does offer wireless CarPlay and Mercedes-Benz said it plans to as well.

The new Kenwood receivers also feature wireless Android Auto and Google Assistant, according to the car entertainment company.

CarPlay is Apple's in-car software that enables iPhone users to access a range of apps from a vehicle's dashboard display, such as Messages, Apple Maps, Apple Music, Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, SiriusXM Radio, Pandora, WhatsApp, Downcast, Slacker Radio, Stitcher, and as of iOS 12, Google Maps and Waze.

Pricing and availability were not disclosed.

Update: JVC, part of the same company as Kenwood, has also introduced two wireless CarPlay receivers for $600 to $700 in the United States.

Article Link: CES 2019: Kenwood and JVC Debut Lineup of Wireless CarPlay Receivers

 

[tjtennispro]

Why do people want wireless CarPlay? The sound quality and connection quality immediately drops. It really doesn’t make sense.

 

[PrinceRob425]

Why do people want wireless CarPlay? The sound quality and connection quality immediately drops. It really doesn’t make sense.

Doesn’t matter...people want options.

 

[WaxedJacket]

Hallelujah!

 

[jeff275]

Why do people want wireless CarPlay? The sound quality and connection quality immediately drops. It really doesn’t make sense.

Convenience.

 

[RyanFromQA]

Convenience.

This. I’d love to keep my phone in my pocket instead of having it rattle around my dash cubby or have to mount it, which is the whole point of CarPlay.

 

[bchery21]

Same. I rather keep my phone in my pant pocket or inner suit pocket while driving. Is it a big deal to have it out? No, but this would be a preferred option.

 

[Juicy Box]

Why do people want wireless CarPlay? The sound quality and connection quality immediately drops. It really doesn’t make sense.

Just like everyone else says, it is for the convenience of not needing you phone to be plugged.

Plugging the iPhone in isn't that big of deal, and limits how often I have to charge it outside of the car. But, I occasionally leave my phone in the car plugged in, if it was wireless, then this would hardly ever happen.

I am not sure if I would pay more money for this convenience though.

Plus, I am concerned about how Wireless CarPlay will work when bugs happen. CP isn't as buggy as it once was (been using it since 2015), but there are still bugs, and most bugs can be corrected by quickly unplugging and re-plugging the phone. How does this work with Wireless.

I am also curious how Wireless CP works with multiple phones.... Can you easily switch them, for example, from my wife's iPhone to my iPhone?

 

[XTOTHEL]

I want wireless carplay because a lot of cars have built-in wireless charging as an option nowadays. What's the point of wireless charging if I have to plug it in anyways?

 

[Rychiar]

Why do people want wireless CarPlay? The sound quality and connection quality immediately drops. It really doesn’t make sense.

why does sound quality drop? it's wifi not bluetooth. All these cars with wireless charging are worthless when ya Gotta plugin for CarPlay... Of course wired CarPlay is buggy garbage in my 2017 Honda civic...

 

[H3LL5P4WN]

I'm glad these are coming to market, but I personally still will be buying a wired receiver and already have my wire routing planned.

 

[NutFlush920]

Wireless is great. I upgraded to wireless last year with Pioneer. I’d never go back to wired.

 

[markfc]

I don’t see the point in wireless either, if I go on a longish car journey with maps and music on I end up at my destination with a flat battery unable to take photos...

 

[tobefirst ⚽️]

I don’t see the point in wireless either, if I go on a longish car journey with maps and music on I end up at my destination with a flat battery unable to take photos...

Do you only go on longish car journeys? Ever go on shorter ones where you want to listen to your music or have maps pulled up for traffic?

 

[Juicy Box]

I don’t see the point in wireless either, if I go on a longish car journey with maps and music on I end up at my destination with a flat battery unable to take photos...

So when you take a longish car journey, you can charge it while you are driving..... Just because you have wireless CP, doesn't mean you cannot still charge your phone while driving if you need to.

I get it, I don't have wireless CarPlay, and I rarely need to charge my phone outside of my car. If I had Wireless CP, I am sure I would then need to charge it regularly other places than my car.

But, the convenience of not having to plug my phone in my car for short trips, like my daily commute would be worth having to charge my phone elsewhere, such as at my desk at work.

At least for me, it would be more ideal to charge my phone at my desk at work than during my commutes.
[doublepost=1546982390][/doublepost]

Of course wired CarPlay is buggy garbage in my 2017 Honda civic...

CarPlay is just plain buggy in my experience, it doesn't matter what car it is in.

I have used CP on two different after market head units, and one car that came with it, and it has the same bugs on all cars.

The bugs really suck on CP, but it used to be a lot worse at launch. It has gotten better over the past 4 years, but still far from flawless.

 

[friedmud]

Why do people want wireless CarPlay? The sound quality and connection quality immediately drops. It really doesn’t make sense.

How do you know?

I assume it's using wifi-direct... and therefore has plenty of bandwidth. It's probably not using Bluetooth...

 

[Raineer]

I don't know if I care about wired or wireless, but the BEST feature of CarPlay is the interaction with Siri.

I do use a wired connection, but Siri (via my steering wheel button) is absolutely instant and doesn't have that BS Bluetooth delay.

I am curious if this is worse with "wireless carplay"

 

[Beerstalker]

Anyone find any more specs on these, I'm not able to. I'm wondering if any of them have finally included a Blu-Ray drive instead of just DVD. I've thought about upgrading my old Kenwood DDX6019, and wireless carplay would be great, but I really would like a Blu-Ray drive to play movies on the headrest monitors instead of just DVD like my current unit.

 

[btrach144]

Why do people want wireless CarPlay? The sound quality and connection quality immediately drops. It really doesn’t make sense.

Do you have wireless Carplay in your car?

Serious question as I have toyed with the idea of installing a 3rd party unit and not sure if wireless is a feature that's worth paying for.

 

[DavisEngeler]

I wonder if there will be any way to eventually “retrofit” wired systems with wireless. My Audi from last year is wired and you can’t really stick an aftermarket radio in there.

 

[tobefirst ⚽️]

Do you have wireless Carplay in your car?

Serious question as I have toyed with the idea of installing a 3rd party unit and not sure if wireless is a feature that's worth paying for.

Having had wired CarPlay for a year and a half, I would absolutely say that wireless is worth paying for. Unfortunately for me (and it is definitely the trend going forward), you can't replace the infotainment system in my car as it also controls so many of the car's functions.

 

[archer75]

Having had wired CarPlay for a year and a half, I would absolutely say that wireless is worth paying for. Unfortunately for me (and it is definitely the trend going forward), you can't replace the infotainment system in my car as it also controls so many of the car's functions.

You need idatalink to replace those features. And it will actually give you more features than what your stock head unit does now.

 

[entropys]

I wonder if there will be any way to eventually “retrofit” wired systems with wireless. My Audi from last year is wired and you can’t really stick an aftermarket radio in there.

I reckon if you had a wifi/Bt dongle that fits into the USB port and tricks the head unit into thinking the iPhone is connected by USB you would be able to upgrade all carplay headunits to wireless. It would probably have to be Apple to produce it though as I suspect they might be some unspoken security around it.

 

[Xofer]

Why do people want wireless CarPlay? The sound quality and connection quality immediately drops. It really doesn’t make sense.

It really does not make sense at all to plug in your phone when you need to do 10 short trips a day.

Also - what drops? Wifi has more than enough bandwidth for any digital audio content. And what “connection quality”?

 

[VeryVito]

Why do people want wireless CarPlay? The sound quality and connection quality immediately drops. It really doesn’t make sense.

Why do people want wireless internet or cordless phones?

Because I already have wired CarPlay and love it, but... inevitably, I get in my car for a quick trip to the store, then have to awkwardly fumble around to get my phone out of my pocket, fish the cable out from between the seats, plug the phone in, wait for connection, and, finally, put the car in reverse and back out of my driveway. I'd LOVE to eliminate at least 5 steps from the process.