And a Sony Ericsson and an LG and all the others with Bluetooth at their hearts as the new Parrot RK8200 can literally eat your phone. A cute looking headunit with a special cubby hole behind the fascia to simply pop your phone into, it’s safer and easier than feeding a Macaw with a macaroon. Here’s what Parrot have to say about it&;
The Parrot RK8200 is a Bluetooth enabled digital car stereo and handsfree kit with the widest connectivity range available. Parrot, one of the leaders in wireless peripherals around the mobile phone, is proud to present the Parrot RK8200, an FM/AM RDS car stereo that features all the connections to play digital and analogue music and which is also a Bluetooth handsfree kit.

 

Boasting sophisticated telephony functions, the Parrot RK8200 stands out with powerful performance, a smart interface and the broadest set of features available on the market. Consumers are increasingly enjoying music from many different sources from mobiles to MP3 players. Parrot wants to connect the car to that multitude of options and has equipped the Parrot RK8200 with every popular connection: an SD card reader, a USB port for flash drives and MP3 players, a line-in socket for analogue sources, a specific iPod connector and Bluetooth wireless technology (via the A2DP Bluetooth stereo profile).
The Parrot RK8200 sports an internal memory that can also store over 300 MP3 tracks. Cleverly hidden behind the removable front panel, there is a storage compartment to keep a phone, MP3 player or USB flash drive. ‘The Parrot RK8200 elevates the car stereo concept to an integrated multifunctional audio hub for the car.’ says Henri Seydoux, CEO and founder of Parrot. ‘Its 180W amplifier and unique range of audio effects will delight the music and radio lover, while the advanced Bluetooth handsfree options will please the driver that wants to keep it safe and simple, but functional.’

 

As a car kit, the Parrot RK8200’s capabilities are unsurpassed, bringing the most advanced handsfree functions together in a simple and easily accessible interface: automatic phonebook synchronisation, complete call records, an amazing total storage capacity of 8,000 contacts, and handsfree call functionality through voice recognition and special Parrot voice synthesis that reads out the names of your contacts to you.
To guarantee crystal-clear conversations, the Parrot RK8200’s dual microphone makes use of echo cancellation and Parrot’s brand-new Dynamic Choice of Best Microphone (DCBM) noise reduction technology. The Parrot RK8200 detects the position of the person speaking and dynamically chooses the best placed microphone. ‘With the Parrot RK8200, Parrot strives to make no compromises in terms of functionality.’ Says Henri Seydoux. ‘The consumer wants and gets a full set of practical features that are easy to use, brought together in a good-looking product. The Parrot RK8200 is now here to fulfil that demand.’
Like all Parrot car kits, the Parrot RK8200 is compatible with virtually all Bluetooth mobile phones on the market.
The Parrot RK8200 will be available in shops during March for an MSRP of £149.99.

Technical Specifications Of The Parrot RK8200

Screen

LED – 1 line of 6 numbers
Optimal visibility in every position (Dual-side display)
Displays FM frequency
Update: via Bluetooth or serial cable

Interface

2.4-inch TFT screen with 262,144 colours
12-key numeric keypad
8 control buttons + 1 rotary button

Display

Phone information
Phonebook, caller names and numbers
Playlist, album cover, artist and title

Audio

4x45W amplifier with 20-bit DAC
Minimal impedance of 4 ohms
Line-out socket for external amplifiers

Tuner

FM and AM bands (PO and GO), RDS
48 recordable stations (presets)
Digital & analogue connections:
Specific iPod and USB connector
SD card reader
Analogue jack line-in socket at the front
Analogue RCA line-in socket at the back

Telephony

Automatic phonebook synchronisation
Complete call records
Number of contacts: total of 8000
Voice recognition
Speech synthesis of the names in the phonebook (TTS)

Sound

Full duplex and echo cancellation
Parrot DCBM noise reduction
Double microphone built into the front panel
Automatic detection of the speaker’s position
Bluetooth stereo (A2DP) compatible
Transmission through the vehicle’s speakers

Bluetooth

Bluetooth v1.2
Profiles supported:
HSP 1.0 (Headset Profile)
HFP 0.96 / 1.0 / 1.5 (Hands Free Profile)
A2DP (Advanced Audio Distribution Profile)
AVRCP (Audio Video Remote Control Profile)
OPP (Object Push Profile)
PBAP (Phone Book Access Profile)
SYNC
Maximum range: 10 meters
Pairing by PIN code, maximum of 10 devices
Updates via Bluetooth