Pioneer brings Apple CarPlay to India; launched at Rs 39,990

Apple’s CarPlay is now available for the Indian market. Pioneer India has launched AVIC - F970BT, an Apple CarPlay-enabled touch-screen car entertainment system in the country at Rs 39,990. Apple CarPlay support for Pioneer’s AVH-X8690BT is now available via a downloadable firmware update. Users need to load the 196MB update on a USB drive and plug it into the car system to update the firmware. The new entertainment system features a 6.2-inch touchscreen along with Siri voice control support via which iPhone 5 and up models can use voice commands to make or receive calls, or even reply to text messages. Apart from this, users can also listen to music or podcasts and access several apps on their iPhone from the entertainment system. The system offers support for  high-end audio and video and smart navigation through built-in maps and also includes connectivity options for the iPhone such as CarPlay, Bluetooth and others. With this launch, Pioneer has become the first company to roll out CarPlay and compatible products in India. During the launch, Minoru Ogawa, Managing Director, Pioneer India Electronics Pvt. Ltd said, “Pioneer has once again proved that we are the leader in Indian In-Car Entertainment industry by introducing the first CarPlay compatible products. It is our constant effort to provide our customers with the latest technologies to make their In-Car Entertainment systems, easy & fun to use.”