Pioneer adds Twitter, Facebook to dashboard

Pioneer announced at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) Wednesday that its dashboards will connect to users Facebook and Twitter accounts, so that the driver can hear status updates of Friends read to them while driving. The car audio and electronics maker aims to bring social media into the vehicle by integrating Facebook, Twitter, Pandora, and the iPhone.



Drivers can view their dashboard too see their Friend’s face. The audio of status updates and tweets was accomplished through a partnership between Pioneer and Aha Radio. Pioneers’ partnership with Pandora Internet radio is also expanding with nine different products now featuring streaming internet radio, up from two.

Ted Cardenas,director of marketing for Pioneer’s car electronics division, said one challenge of integrating social media with the driving experience is that Smartphone screens are too small. Touchscreens are also too small so the user must focus their complete attention on it, which is not possible while driving.

Pioneer also introduced a SmartCradle attachment for the iPhone, which improves GPS functionality of location based programs and enhances audio.