Pioneer Highlights Three Lifestyle Trends With New Products

Jan. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Pioneer Electronics today introduced a broad range of new products at the 2003 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Pioneer's new product line is designed to continue to build excitement around three of the hottest consumer lifestyle trends taking shape today: DVD recording, home networking and the rapidly growing automotive tuner crowd.

"By focusing on these three key lifestyle trends, we continue to develop products that are at the heart of what's really important in our customers' lives," said Kaz Yamamoto, president of Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc. "For consumers today, it's all about enjoying the greatest possible experience on their terms. Whether it's in the car or in the home, and whether it's audio, video or home movies, they want to have it available on demand anywhere and anytime."

DVD Recording: DVD recording technology has reached a critical juncture that will firmly establish the fastest growing technology in the consumer electronics industry as the replacement for the VCR. New recorders introduced by Pioneer at CES are bringing the price of DVD recording down to a level that will appeal to a much broader base of consumers. In addition, Pioneer is introducing one of the first new devices to combine a hard disc drive with DVD-R/RW technology, providing both short- and long-term storage of television programming at the touch of a button. Pioneer makes it even easier for consumers, allowing them to transfer programming from the hard drive to DVD at high speeds.

"The addition of the 'record' button to DVD players is dramatically altering the industry, relegating the VCR to a shelf in the garage next to the 8-track player," said Craig McManis, vice president of marketing for the home entertainment division of Pioneer Electronics (USA). "DVD recording is a great tool to help archive and share home movies or just to record favorite television programs for later viewing."

Home Entertainment Network: The consumer electronics industry is making a clear statement that the home entertainment network will not be driven by the PC. With the commercialization of the DigitalLibrary, Pioneer is leading the development of an anytime-anywhere, connected entertainment network in the home. This new technology will give consumers simultaneous multi-point access to rich content such as music, video, digital photos and Internet content anywhere in the home on the highest quality audio and video devices.

"Consumers understand and appreciate the value of having fingertip access to their favorite content anywhere in the home at anytime. But, they are not willing to give up the quality listening and viewing experience that consumer electronics provide," McManis said.

Pioneer is also continuing to make individual components that will fit within the home network and provide the quality today's consumers demand. The company introduced a variety of new home entertainment products, including a new line of receivers, DVD players, recorders and home theater systems. It previewed the future of plasma television with an announcement about its new digital cable-ready televisions, being designed based on standards currently under review by the Federal Communications Commission.

Mobile Entertainment: In the mobile entertainment community, what was once a relatively small but committed group of enthusiasts has quickly evolved into a multibillion dollar Tuner industry that is rapidly growing in its mainstream popularity.

"It's not just about the customized body and what's under the hood -- it's also about the amps, the bass, the speakers and now even the video," said Michael Townsen, vice president of marketing for the mobile entertainment division of Pioneer Electronics (USA).

Pioneer is doing its part to help drive the Tuner craze. The company today introduced a new line of speakers and subwoofers as well as its first digital amplifiers, all designed to increase power handling for bigger bass. At the same time, Pioneer is using a unique cosmetic design for speakers that simulates exotic wheels -- a feature that has been a tremendous hit with auto enthusiasts. Other new introductions include a line of single CD players that are capable of receiving XM Satellite Radio programming, and can playback compressed audio formats such as MP3 and Windows Media Audio. New video products and an enhanced DVD-based navigation system also were launched.

For more information visit www.pioneerelectronics.com.