As Digital Content Moves into Cars, CD Players Begin to Move Out

As Digital Content Moves into Cars, CD Players Begin to Move Out

-- Continental reduces the radio to the size of a large Postcard

-- Automotive Industry Gains More Interior Design Freedom

-- Digital Media Connectivity achieved via SD, USB, iPod(R) and Bluetooth(R)

AUBURN HILLS, Mich., Oct. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- As a partner to the automotive industry, Continental continues to answer consumers' calls by developing in-vehicle electronics that meet the demands of their digital lifestyles. Today, Continental unveiled its Flat Panel Radio which is designed without a CD player. The high-tech radio is small but packs a punch. The single-tuner digital radio connects consumer's portable devices -- USB, SD memory card or MP3 players -- providing easy access to digital music. The radio also contains Bluetooth(R) technology, enabling vehicle occupants to place and receive hands-free phone calls or wirelessly stream digital music so it can be heard through the vehicle audio system.

Consumers Rock the Vote: Personalization & Digital Music Win

According to Continental and independent industry research, CD sales have been on the decline since 2004. Research has shown that sales of digital music singles grew 45 percent -- from 582 million in 2006 to a total of 844 million in 2007. Continental believes that digital singles will continue to experience tremendous growth and has designed its Flat Panel Radio to help automakers prepare for this trend.

Industry analyst Thilo Koslowski, vice president of Gartner's Automotive and Vehicle ICT Manufacturing Industry Advisory Service, agrees with the trend and says, "CDs will not go extinct anytime soon, but within four to five years - a relatively short time in automotive terms - we expect digital music to exceed CD sales in units and revenue. Furthermore, consumer interest in digital media playback in vehicles has grown significantly over the last two years."

A recent research study conducted by Gartner confirmed the trend and showed that 12 percent of U.S. consumers definitely want to get the functionality of integrating their digital media player in their next car. An additional 27 percent expressed a very strong interest.

According to Dr. Ruf, head of Continental's Multimedia Business Unit, "We are living in a digital world and Continental is clearly focused on adapting the trends that are appearing in consumer culture for the car. The market is going in the direction of enabling flash based memory to lower warranty cost and at the same time to allow an easy and safe connection and operation of mobile devices in the car. Continental has combined both these trends into one product and presented a solution that integrates this technology in an intelligent manner into the car."

Stylish and Compact Design

Designed in a sleek chrome finish, Continental's Flat Panel Radio is about the size of a large postcard and measures approximately 7 inches wide by 4 inches high. Because the radio contains a Class D amplifier, Continental has designed the product without a "silver box," or all the metal and components required to house a CD player. The radio, which operates more efficiently than those that contain a class A/B amplifier, is an economical solution that is well suited for mass market cars. The radio also weighs about three pounds less than a traditional car radio, which contributes to enhanced fuel economy. And, the depth of the radio, about 1.5 inches, enhances in-vehicle interior design options by providing engineers with more freedom to position the radio in the vehicle instrument panel.

Driving A Digital World

The Flat Panel Radio's ergonomic controls are functional and include a large dot-matrix display that provides artist and song title information. A phone keypad also doubles as an intuitive method for programming and accessing pre-set radio stations. The radio is capable of handling 4 GB of storage from an SD card and the system library can typically process more than 30,000 songs.

Continental's Flat Panel Radio is currently available to automotive OEMs as a factory-fit solution for future vehicle platforms. The product could appear in the North American market as early as 2010.

The Continental Corporation is one of the top automotive suppliers worldwide. As a supplier of brake systems, systems and components for the powertrain and chassis, instrumentation, infotainment solutions, vehicle electronics, tires and technical elastomers, the corporation contributes towards enhanced driving safety and protection of the global climate. Continental is also a competent partner in networked automobile communication. Today, the corporation employs approximately 150,000 people at nearly 200 locations in 36 countries.

Supplying both OEMs and the aftermarket worldwide, the Interior Division of Continental AG develops and produces electronic systems which allow the information in a vehicle to be controlled and communicated according to the requirements of the driver and the driving situation. The Division currently achieves annual sales exceeding euro 6 billion (based on figures for 2006) with a workforce of more than 33,000. The range of products includes instruments clusters and multifunctional displays, control units, electronic car entry systems, tire information systems, climate control systems, radios, multimedia and navigation systems, telematic solutions as well as cockpit modules and systems. The Interior Division develops vehicle electronics enabling car-to-car and car-to-infrastructure communication, Internet access and the seamless integration of mobile devices (car-to-device). The focus on systems integration offers customers less complexity and ensures efficient and cost-effective solutions for the management of information in passenger cars as well as commercial and special vehicles.

Corporate Media Database: www.continental-corporation.com

iPod(R) is a registered trademark of Apple Computer Inc. The Bluetooth trademarks are owned by their proprietor and used by Continental under license.

Source: Continental

CONTACT: Sue Frederick of Continental, +1-248-790-7277,
sue.frederick@continental-corporation.com

Web site: http://www.continental-corporation.com/

Company News On-Call: http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/437525.html

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