Blaupunkt, a key player in the Indian car infotainment market has launched its first android based double-din car headunit today. Their models are named after cities and following the tradition the latest model is called the Blaupunkt Cape Town 940. With the launch of Cape Town, Blaupunkt brings to market, the next generation of in-car entertainment to the masses.
The Cape Town is an Android powered head unit and offers roughly the same functionality an equivalent Android Phone. The headunit features a 6.8 inch Capacitive touchscreen with a few physical buttons and a volume knob. They chose to retain the buttons to give the user quick access to volume and other controls. The 6.8 inch screen has a resolution of 800×480 pixels and can be used with a reversing camera kit. Now being Android the interface can be heavily customized as per the user. Android apps can be directly installed or side loaded onto the unit.
The product also features internet connectivity via WiFi, screen mirroring for complete command and control of smartphones from the radio, android music player app, HDMI/MHL, independent rear seat entertainment zone. It features Bluetooth Twin connect which lets you connect 2 phones simultaneously to the unit. Master phone and secondary phone can be assigned from the settings menu. The player also syncs the contacts on the phone and can store up to 1000 contacts on the player. What is interesting is it does not need manual sync, it detects new additions on your phone and updates the phonebook automatically.
The unit also comes with a Mirror Mode feature which lets the user Mirror their smartphone screen on the radio display. The smartphone must have MHL capability to use the feature, the entire work is carried out on the phone with the help of the radio display. The head unit can be integrated to work with steering mounted controls in the car and a single button can be programmed to do 2 functions allowing you to do more.
On the connectivity front the unit features a MicroSD card slot, Aux Input and a USB port at the front. At the back of the device is 3 additional USB ports which can be used(can also be used to connect a dongle). Integrated Bluetooth lets you listen to music and take calls on the unit wirelessly. The unit is also capable of Navigation and has an internal GPS antenna, Maps support to Blaupunkt is provided by MapMyIndia but the maps need to be bought seperately. With a internet connection it can also display live traffic
Being the only Android Radio in the market today it offers a lot of functionality. The Cape Town 940 is priced at Rs 54,990/-
