Volvo, auto manufacturer from the land of Ikea, will be integrating HD Radio into almost all of its models as standard or optional equipment.
HD Radio capability will be offered in the S40 T5 (2008 model pictured above), V50 T5, C30, C70, S80, V70, XC70 and XC90 models. (UPDATE: Note that exactly which models get HD as optional and which get it as standard equipment is not made clear in the press release. The lack of this information leads me to believe it's skewed more towards the former.)
The introduction of the HD Radio equipped Volvo vehicles is scheduled for Fall of 2008.
Volvo is a subsidiary of Ford Motor Company, which has interestingly been increasing the pace of adopting new technologies as part of its in-car entertainment offerings.
[FMQB]
I FUCKING LOVE my S80.
So pissed Ford bought Volvo. Fuck Ford, fuck Sirius, and Fuck HD Radio.
This isn't exactly a breakthrough for Ibiquity. Ford bought Volvo's car division in 1998 (the truck, bus and construction equipment divisions are still under Swedish ownership). Remember that Ford is already an Ibiquity licensee (as well as a stakeholder), so you could think of this as no different from having "HD" as an option in a Mercury or a Lincoln.
And one web site reports that Ford is considering selling its Volvo auto division to BMW, which is already an Ibiquity licensee, too. Yep, it's "another brand." A financially troubled brand. One that's being shopped to help stop the bleeding at Ford, along with Jaguar, Aston-Martin, et al. One with a negligible world market share.
Now, if GM, Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Hyundai, or Daimler-Chrysler announce HD as a standard feature on factory audio systems, you'll have a real story. What happens when consumers find out that HD Radio just doesn't work:
“Is HD Radio Toast?”
“There are serious issues of coverage. Early adopters who bought HD radios report serious drop-outs, poor coverage, and interference. The engineers of Ibiquity may argue otherwise and defend the system, but the industry has a serious PR problem with the very people we need to get the word out on HD... In other words, everything you can find on the regular FM dial... The word has already gotten out about HD Radio. People who have already bought an HD Radio are telling others of their experience (mostly bad) and no amount of marketing will reverse this.”
http://www.fmqb.com/article.asp?id=487772
> Daimler-Chrysler
Daimler still holds 20% of what is now Chrysler Corporation LLC but there is no more "DC". It was an admittedly mis-represented takeover and should have never been approved by regulatory authorities. Bob Eaton sold out a profitable American company to a struggling foreign one. Rest assured the German regulators would have never approved Chrysler taking over Daimler. Our government used taxpayer money to bail-out Chrysler, they successfully turned around (and payed the loan back early) and then they handed the assets and equity to Germany.
Go to daimlerchrysler.com and see what happens now.........
Remember that Ford is already an Ibiquity licensee (as well as a stakeholder),
This needed to be posted again
Volvo is also the company that went with the MOST optical entertainment system. You know, that system that you can't add things to, such as a wired FM mod or an aux input? I think MOST stands for "MOST" things won't work with it. Not surprising that they are going with HD radio.
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