July 1 - 11:20am EDT   Pioneer on Wednesday brought out four new home theater receivers to its flagship Elite lineup, including the top-rung SC-27 and SC-25, as well as the slightly lower-end VSX-21TXH and VSX-23TXH. All four have a customized USB/composite cable that allow users to integrate their iPhones and iPods into their home theater audio systems. Once connected, the Apple devices can be controlled via the systems' remote controls, and their content sent to 2nd and 3rd zones setup in the home. The SC-series units are meant to reproduce Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio soundtracks found on more advanced Blu-ray discs. Both have a Direct Energy HD Class D amp based on ICEpower. [full story]

June 15 - 5:00pm EDT   Pioneer announced four new double-DIN in-car navigation and entertainment systems over the weekend, including the flagship AVIC-Z110BT which sports a 7-inch touchscreen with 1024x768 resolution that tilts out to reveal the optical drive slot. Behind that screen is 4GB of internal storage space, an optical drive capable of reading CDs and DVDs and Bluetooth functionality. There is also an optional MSN Direct tuner that gets traffic, weather and other information, though this service requires a subscription. [full story]

June 4 - 1:30pm EDT   Pioneer this afternoon said it had started shipping the three Blu-ray movie players it first introduced at CES this year. The Elite BDP-23FD is its flagship with both expected BD Live support as well as a Precision Quartz Lock System the company says avoids jitter in audio playback; it also has "audiophile-grade" capacitors and better-than-average construction. The BDP-23FD carries 48-bit color, 7.1-channel audio and RS-232 support for its $599 price. [full story]

May 20 - 3:50pm EDT   Sony is bringing its TransferJet wireless data transmission technology closer to production by announcing recently it is now accepting licensing applications from interested companies. A Wednesday report has Sony taking "adopter" membership from companies that are interested in incorporating TransferJet into their products. TransferJet, which operates on a 4.5GHz radio frequency, lets users transfer data between portable devices at up to 375Mbps when they are about an inch apart. It is faster than wired USB 2.0 and FireWire connections and is supported by Japan, the US, European Union members and South Korea. [full story]

May 20 - 10:55am EDT   Digital map and dynamic content creator Tele Atlas on Wednesday announced it will soon offer 3D, photorealistic images of major European city centers called Advanced City Models. Meant for in-car and portable navigation systems, the highly detailed images match the actual surroundings and help users find locations and services. The images were developed in conjunction with Norway-based BLOM, which provided Tele Atlas with aerial imagery of the city centers. [full story]

April 15 - 5:15pm EDT   Carmaker and Toyota offshoot Scion announced on Wednesday it is putting in a redesigned base head unit to all 2010 Scion xBs without raising the car's price. Compared to the head unit it replaces, both of which are manufactured by Pioneer, the new stereo has an organic electroluminescent (OEL) display, a USB connection and a subwoofer RCA output. The USB port is located in the center consoler, along with a cable for iPods and an 3.5mm aux-in jack. Pioneer also integrated an Advanced Sound Retriever (ASR) software into the head unit that aims to restore the full range of a compressed digital audio track. [full story]

April 14 - 1:20pm EDT   Pioneer on Tuesday announced the release of its latest Blu-ray, DVD and CD writer, the BDR-2203. The SATA-attached burner can write to dual-layer Blu-ray discs at up to 8x speeds. This translates to filling up a single-layer 25GB Blu-ray disc in just 15 minutes, and about 30 minutes to completely fill up a dual-layer disc's 50GB of data capacity. DVD recordable discs can be written at up to 16x speeds, with maximum speeds for dual-layer DVDs topping out at half of that. CD-Rs can be recorded at 32x speeds, with maximum speeds for rewritable CDs rated at 24x. [full story]

March 24 - 11:20am EDT   Pioneer more formally bowed out of TVs today by launching four final Kuro models in Japan and setting out formal plans for its exit strategy. The external-tuner-equipped KRP-500A and KRP-600A as well as their all-in-one equivalents, the KRP-500M and KRP-600M, all produce 1080p images at 50 and 60 inches respectively. Although their contrast ratios aren't mentioned, they all have four HDMI inputs with support for deep color, support media from a USB port and have input over D4 (component) as well as VGA. [full story]

March 16 - 12:45pm EDT   Japan's Pioneer is searching for a partner in the auto electronics business, according to Nikkei Business Daily. The company is currently said to be in negotiations with three main contenders -- Alpine, Clarion and Mitsubishi Electric -- in a bid to work on new auto electronics, such as car navigation systems. The company's reputation may also steer it further into the realm of audio, though no information to this effect has been revealed. [full story]

March 2 - 3:05pm EST   Last week, a Pioneer Electronics USA executive talked about the company abandoning the TV market and said it is considering applying its high-end Kuro brand from the high-end discontinued TVs to other products in its range. Andy Parsons, the senior VP of the company's advanced product development and corporate communications, said the company had to give up on selling TVs due to the tough economy, despite plasma displays accounting for a quarter of the company's operating revenue. [full story]

February 26 - 4:25pm EST   LG may be the next to discard plasma TVs, company vice president Lee Gyu-hong says. The executive has told Kyodo News that a sustained poor world economy would make it unprofitable to keep developing and selling the more expensive display technology. If no recovery seems likely, Lee estimates that plans to exit plasma would be made public before the end of the year. [full story]

February 25 - 4:40pm EST   Pioneer Europe on Wednesday announced it is shipping its BDR-203BK Blu-ray disc writer that is capable of recording single- and dual-layer BD-R discs at up to 8X speeds. The burner can also record to BD-RE discs at 2X speeds, as well as DVD-Rs at 16X speeds. Dual-layer DVD-Rs can be written at 8X speeds, with CD-Rs at 32X. Pioneer integrated a few of its technologies into the burner, including Ultra DRA vibration-suppressing tech borrowed from the company's DVD burners. [full story]

February 12 - 7:55am EST   Confirming rumors, Pioneer today said it would exit TVs altogether in a bid to recover its business from an approximately $1.44 billon loss in the past year. The move will see the company quickly shut down its Castleford, UK and Pomona, California factories that make TVs and eventually phase out TVs altogether by March 2010. The departure is directly pinned on the US economic crisis and its impact on demand for TVs. [full story]

February 11 - 4:15pm EST   VIZIO today said that it would phase out plasma TVs entirely. Speaking to the New York Times, company executive Laynie Newsome justifies the move by noting that LCDs sell much more quickly than plasma. The difference is attributed to the perceived quality in-store: although plasmas often have deeper blacks, the brighter store lights tend to favor the lower-contrast LCD sets. In exchange, VIZIO plans to improve the features of the LCDs themselves, which lately have gained the same 240Hz and LED backlights as on high-end rivals. [full story]

February 6 - 8:25pm EST   Japan's Nikkei paper today warned (subscription required) that Pioneer is likely to exit the TV business. While the company has already said it would end plasma production and enter into LCDs, the new report has the electronics giant ending its TV efforts entirely and entering into a joint venture with Sharp for its DVD movie player business. Pioneer has been suffering losses despite the critical success of its Kuro plasma TVs and is also at least indirectly threatened by the current world economic crisis. [full story]