Polly Wants to Jam!: Parrot’s New Car Radio is iPod-Friendly

Hate it or love, Apple has a stranglehold on the consumer electronics market. Nowadays if it doesn’t sync up with an iPhone or iPod in a significant way, a gadget might be overlooked. Even though some of these items should be overlooked. I swear if I see one more iPod/iPhone alarm clock or dock I swear I shall tilt my head back and scream bloody murder. And don’t get me started on the adult novelty items that can hook up to Apple products (Usually, there would have been a link here, but we should keep this out of the NSFW zone, agreed?).

Thankfully, the folks over at Parrot have gotten it right. Their latest gadget, the Parrot RKi8400, makes perfect sense for an iPhone/iPod link up. The Rki8400 is a FM/AM RDS car radio that has a couple of dedicated dongles for your beloved Apple products. You can also stream audio from an SD card player or any USB connected MP3 player. What’s really cool about the device is the storage space behind the removable front panel. It lets your iPod/iPhone charge and keeps it out of sight — perfect for keeping your iPod safe from sticky fingers and folks that don’t respect the “Driver chooses the music” rule of driving.

In addition to the secret tech cubby, the radio has a 2.4-inch high definition touchscreen that displays all your music info, phonebook, and menus. There’s also a nice big rotary dial so you won’t have to fumble with the menu navigation. The radio is also voice activated and Bluetooth enabled so you can make and answer calls while keeping both hands at 10 and 2. In case you were wondering, the RKi8400 is compatible with most Bluetooth gadgets currently out on the market so pair away.

I haven’t gotten a chance to actually hear the radio in action, so while the audio specs look sound (4×50W MOSFET amplifier, Echo cancellation, External adjustable double microphone), the proof is in the pudding. The radio is currently available on Parrot’s site for $399.