Expected release date Aug 2009

The Release of the Newest Bluetooth headunit developed by parrot is imminent. The Parrot RKI8400 is set to dominate the car stereo market for the remainder of 2009 and beyond. Parrot have always released stereos (headunits) which are feature rich and functional, and the RKI8400 is no different. Based on Parrot’s new flagship bluetooth car kit (the MKI9200) the RKI8400 adopts a lot of the features and functions and has adapted them to work in an aftermarket headunit.

The Parrot RKI8400 has a number of functions that will appeal to a wider target audience, Its licensed "Made for iPod" and "Works With iPhone" so the RKi8400 has been specifically developed to work with full iPod and iPhone compatibility & meets Apple’s strict Performance standards, The dock connector of the RKi8400 provides communication and standard charge which allows you to control and interact with your iPod or iphone through the stereo.

Parrot have also incorporated many other features into the RKi8400, such as Automatic phonebook synchronisation, Voice Recognition (without training) Voice Commands Answer & Reject & a very large phone compatibility as you would expect from the worlds leading bluetooth specialists. You would expect the bluetooth features and functions in this headunit to be top quality and they don’t disappoint.

The "Headunit" its self holds it’s stylish design well, with a good mixture of functional buttons on display, a central control stick and a screen to the right of the unit the RKi8400 would look good in virtually every car you could put it in. This headunit also compares well with other headunits for audio input, the parrot will accept music and video from iPod/iPhone, USB, 3.5mm Jack (located on the front of the faceplate) SD Card & via bluetooth straight from your phone, Combined with the 4×50 MOSFET amplifier you know your getting a high quality stereo perfect for multitasking.
  
Parrot have developed first class bluetooth headunit with the RKi8400, the bluetooth functions surpass any other stereo on the current market, it’s digital and analogue music input means you don’t have to carry 1000’s of CD around with you and the style matches all but the very best stereos on the market.

Image Rating: 7/10 (Nice Looking, but not the best)
Bluetooth Rating: 10/10 (comfortably the best on the market)
Audio in Rating: 8/10 (has a lot of audio in options, but no CD)

What Parrot Say;

Exceptional sound quality in your car

Equipped with a 200 W MOFSET amplifier, the Parrot RKi8400 can offer you a new musical experience. Totally integrated into the vehicle’s audio system, conversations and music are transmitted via the speakers for maximum listening quality. To make the experience even more enjoyable, the RKi8400 has a built-in equaliser and includes sound effects that can be adapted to any style of music.

Hands-free phone book access and conversations

The very first time you connect the Parrot RKi8400 to your mobile-phone, it automatically copies the contacts in your mobile’s phonebook. To make a call, use the voice-recognition function (by pressing the green button) and say the name of the person you want to call. Alternatively, access the phonebook and
listen to the RKi8400 read out the names. Confirm the person you want and dialling begins. To pick up an incoming call, just press the green button.

Elegant design and wide colour screen

The RKi8400 has a removable front panel which combines matt black with chrome features. The main functions are all accessible via an elegant rotary button, making browsing through the menus more intuitive. The high-definition 2.4” colour screen displays in an instant all your information, phonebook, menus, music, playlist, album covers, etc.

Instant access to all your digital music

The Parrot RKi8400 also provides instant access to your music. Thanks to its special cables, it can support any musical source you want: iPod, iPhone, USB flash drive, and even SD cards, Bluetooth stereo (A2DP) peripherals or any other analogue player. You can easily browse through your music library and view the playlist and album covers on the colour screen.

A storage compartment for your devices

A highly practical storage compartment is located behind the RKi8400’s removable front panel, ideal for hiding your phone, MP3 player or USB flash
drive. A special cover provides your devices with excellent protection, whatever the circumstances. To access your devices more quickly, use the auto-
insert mechanism on the front panel. The insertion process is quick and you only need one hand to do it.

Product Review

The Contour Designs surface sounds compact bluetooth car kit

Contour Designs released the Surface sounds compact kit into the bluetooth market with the hope mastering the art of bluetooth integration, and to be fair they have done quite a good job.

Its slim body attaches to your vehicles sun visor using its large durable clip. It features a "wand" that flips down with an inbuilt mic, that also doubles as the devices power switch. Pulling down the wand turns the unit on. It then actively seeks out paired devices within its 10 metre range. Once a device is found, the kit automatically connects to it.

The kit comprises of 4 Buttons, Call, End Call, Volume Up, Volume Down. You will only ever need to touch one button to make, receive, end or refuse calls. Its simple, safe and effective, basically does what it says on the tin.

Contour built the kit with two things in mind, integrating ease of use with stylish looks and achieving a consistency that very few other kits have met. Combining these is a rare achievement that not many other manufacturers have achieved, but have contour managed to?

Bluetooth Car Kit Direct have thoroughly tested the surface sound bluetooth kit and can report the following;

Ease of use: 8/10

The buttons are in a convenient location and simple to use, pairing the kit was easy when we read the instructions (Being typical men we decided not to at first.) time taken to pair the mobile for the first time and start using around 2 minutes

Quality: 7/10

The speaker volume can turned up and down, we nearly always had very good audio sound quality. No audio feedback or echo’s was experienced during any calls made or received.

Visuals/ appearance: 7/10 (our opinion)

The Kit connects to the sun visor easily and is not instantly noticeable, the kits appearance blends well into all the vehicles we tried and we had good feedback from the public when questioned.

(avg score out of ten from 10 customers questioned = 6.5)

Conclusion

The slim design and stylish looks go hand in hand with the slightly above average price tag, you are paying for a good bluetooth kit with decent functions and very good looks and audio quality

There are a lot of different types of bluetooth handsfree kits available on the market, many different brands, styles and designs offering different functions. However each kit performs what is essentially the same task, offering Handsfree call functionality while driving. Although there are many types of kit they all fall into two categories, Universal Sun Visor Kits or Fully Integrated Kits.

Universal Sun Visor Kits also referred to as Plug and Play kits are a portable speaker and microphone combination packaged into one working unit. They hold a small but strong storage battery that allow for long standby life so you can attach the kit to your sun visor and leave it dormant until you need it. Many are provided with a car charger and more often than not a USB charger for connection to your computer for re-charging, firmware updates and bluetooth connectivity while at work (or play). Most recent universal bluetooth kits provide excellent sound reproduction due to a break through in DSP (digital sound processing) & Echo reduction software & Hardware. The microphone on universal bluetooth kits are more often than not built into the units, and pick up far less background noise than older models. Due to this your contact on the other end gets a loud and strong connection via your phone. There are many different styles, designs, shapes and sizes of sun visor kits ranging from large function rich kits like the Bury CV9040 to the Small and pretty kits like the Pama Alpha or the Parrot Minikit Slim.

As you would expect with all universal kits the features and functions vary tremendously. State of the art kits usually come from Bury and Parrot and the rest tend to follow behind. A lot of universal kits now have features like TTS (Text to speech) and voice to text technology that allows the dictation of text messages and more advanced kits can be controlled voice commands. The Bury CV9060 is a particular market leader in this field with menu system that can be fully navigated by speech, apart from several functions, such as to hang up while in conversation (obviously you don’t want the conversation to end abruptly depending on whats said either end!)

The Majority of Universal kits purchased are to be used socially either for a group of people (family or friends) to share when out and about, or for individuals  or couples who have more than one vehicle and want to change frequently. These device can be removed in seconds and charged while driving making them a great hansdfree solution that are cheap, reliable and totally portable.

Integrated Bluetooth Car Kits are fully hardwired into the vehicles speaker system, just about all Integrated kits are provided as standard with ISO connections, if your vehicle has an ISO wiring loom the bluetooth kits will fit straight into it making installation very easy. If not there are various wiring adaptors available that will convert your vehicle wiring to ISO, these are know as SOT leads and are available for just about every vehicle. As the Kit is hardwired into the vehicle, several problems are instantly eliminated. The kits retain charge via the power cable in the ISO harness so you never have to charge the bluetooth kit, there is also a Auto-Mute cable with the ISO that will kill any audio coming from the radio, cd, iPod etc automatically. So all you hear is the conversation.

Most integrated kits are provided with separate control units to answer, hang up or dial contacts. These can usually be connected anywhere in the vehicle that is both comfortable and convenient for the driver. New bluetooth kits such as the Parrot MKI range and the Bury CC9060 are provided the additional functions that improve compatibility & usability. For instance the MKI range are compatible with iPods so you have music integration via parrot kit. The iPods are fully controllable via the parrot control unit so functions like track browsing, song forwarding, Volume increase etc can all be performed at the touch of a button. The Bury CC9060 is provided with an excellent touch screen monitor and equipped with the very latest voice recognition software. This allows you to use your phone via the bury unit via voice commands. You don’t even have to train the kit, just install and start.

The Integrated kits provide a much better all round performance. The quality of audio reproduction is far greater then the Universal kits. Integrated Kits also have many additional features over the universal kits. Making & answering calls is usually easier too so if your looking for a good all round performance Integrated is the way forward. However the universal kits are portable and can be easily transferred from vehicle to vehicle. The sound reproduction is still good however you may have to fight with the radio for volume control.

In summary, if you want an all singing & dancing bluetooth car kit you should go down the integrated route, however if you want some thing more simple and portable the universal kit is the one for you. However both are excellent options and are much better than manually talking on your mobile phone while driving.

The aftermarket bluetooth car kit has been around for some time, but its over recent years that we have seen the largest improvements and developments in technology. The first kits invented were very much a one trick pony, in that the functionality and design of them was limited and some what basic. Obviously as technology has improved so have bluetooth kits, and now many bluetooth kits offer more than just bluetooth connectivity, for instance the parrot mki range offer iPod connectivity, bluetooth streaming and excellent voice recognition software surpassing previous voice to speech and recognition technology.

There’s a lot hype around at the minute regarding bluetooth kits, especially after recent government laws prohibiting the use of hand held mobile phones  while driving, but not too many people are sure what they do or how bluetooth car kits operate?

Parrot are given a lot of credit for introducing bluetooth car kits to the main stream, Parrot kits are seen as the leaders in the field and for good reason. However all bluetooth car kits offer one function that is common through out, That is the transfer of the incoming or outgoing calls made on mobile phone via Bluetooth streaming to an independent speaker system. This allows the user to communicate handsfree away from the mobile handset and still have the ability to drive and talk simultaneously. Vitrually all mobile phones have Bluetooth built into the handset, bluetooth car kits use this protocol to transfer the incoming / outgoing call to either the speaker unit (in universal bluetooth handsfree kits) or to the processing unit in the fully integrated kits. The audio stream is then conveyed through the speaker and microphone rather than the phone its self. 

So Why they are useful? Well this system simplifies the whole system, meaning it’s much easier and safer to answer, talk and hang up the conversation while driving. Previously the driver had to route around to find the phone, pick it up, physically answer the phone and keep one hand off the steering wheel while in conversation, obviously this is made even more difficult when driving a manual gear shift vehicle. Bluetooth car kits allow you to do all of the above without taking your hands from the wheel.

The Bluetooth Kits allow you to concentrate on driving while you talk, you also have full use of your arms and hands while you drive so you can react as and when you need to. New research shows that you are 4 times more likely your be involved in an accident in an accident while using your mobile phone and  have 50% slower reaction times. This is a major reason why more and more people are involved road accidents when using there mobile.

There are two main types of bluetooth kit, Fully integrated kits and Universal kits. Integrated kits are connected into the vehicle stereo system and speakers, this provides excellent incoming sound quality and echo reduction on all modern microphones ensures you receive no feedback. Universal bluetooth kits are usually a speaker and microphone built into one unit. This is usually connected to the sun visor or around the driver area. Although these don’t have the same features they do provide a purpose and can be changed from vehicle to vehicle as and when you need.

All Bluetooth kits improve driver safety rather than using a hand held phone, its important to avoid accidents while driving you must concentrate on the road whether in conversation or not, but you must use a bluetooth car kit if you choose to talk and drive.

Only Purchase Official UK Parrot Stock

Its important to use caution when purchasing Parrot Bluetooth products as many of the cheaper prices off & online are re-selling Grey stock that’s illegally imported into the country. Its important that you choose a reputable reseller when purchasing a parrot system because a lot of products purchased through the wrong channels are not covered by the parrot guarantee.

It is difficult to tell what’s grey stock and what’s official stock, as the parrot product & packaging are the same and the products work in the same manor, In fact the Grey stock products are often still parrot products. However the grey stock is usually refurbished faulty units from other countries that are returned and destined for the scrap heap or cheap UN-FIT for sale items that didn’t pass checks through the production line.

What’s wrong with the grey stock?

Well some people will risk ordering cheaper products even if they know its Grey stock, some of the time you wont even be able to notice that it is illegitimate stock as the products may work fine and perform as the official parrot kits do, however the problems occur when the products develop a fault (this is not regular occurrence within official parrot items) however it is more common with the grey stock. Parrot do not cover the guarantee of these items so if they do develop a fault you are liable for the product & the repair if you choose to do so. Quite often customers contact the place of purchase in an attempt to resolve the situation however the retailer is not responsible for this item after 7days, nor will many be likely to help you in this situation.

How to avoid Grey stock?

Its difficult to tell for sure who is selling the official stock, but there are a few tips that might help you spot it. Look at the cost of the products compared to others online and sold in shops, if the products are much cheaper than legitimate retailers its likely that its unofficial stock. You could also open a ticket with the website who you purchase from asking for serial numbers and if you want check with parrot to confirm the authenticity they will get back to you. You could also ask who they purchase the products from, Parrot have a direct supply chain to the UK and products should only be purchased by retailers from four company’s (this information is available on request at bluetoothcarkitdirect.co.uk if requested). Most importantly if the product looks too cheap it probably is. A official retailer of the products will help and advise what additional parts (if any) are to fit your vehicle.

Parrot can and will confirm which are the legal products via product serial numbers found on the products. If you think your products may be grey stock its important to contact parrot and state which retailer you purchased the product from. The products can then be tracked back through the chain of purchase

Police Crack Down on Phone-Driving

The Police in the UK are starting a new initiative to crack down on drivers using hand held mobile phones. Latest figures show that the amount of people using a mobile phone while driving has increased over the several years. New figures show the main offenders for the increase are younger drivers aged 17-24 who regularly read and type text messages as well as talking while driving. A recent survey undertaken by Bluetooth Car Kit Direct shows that over 70% of that age group have done so at least once this year, however many do admit to doing it regularly.

Many different answers were given when questioned as to why they committed the offence, however the main response from the male section of the group was down to over confidence or the ability to navigate away from a dangerous situation (if one happened). Many of the females questioned pleaded ignorance to the law’s in place since 2003 and updated in 2007, stating that they didn’t know it was against the law. However the female section did recognise that it was more dangerous to drive while on the phone than when not.

The second highest offenders were the group of 25-34 year olds of which 20% admitted to regularly using the mobile phone while driving but did realise that they were breaking the law. Many of this group would only check a text if they were expecting an important message and would usually leave an incoming call unless important. The last group 35-Over very rarely answer calls while driving and virtually never read texts. Only 5% admitted to using the phone illegally while driving this year, however of this age group questioned over half already used a bluetooth car kit when driving (were discounted from the survey). The rest were unaware of what a bluetooth car kit was, however were very interested when shown a demonstration of how they worked.

Bluetooth car kit direct demonstrated how various bluetooth car kits worked to everybody questioned in the survey. Everybody thought that all the kits shown were very useful and could see the benefits of having one. A lot of people were also surprised how cheap the kits were and they didn’t have an excuse for not using one. John (in the 25-34 age group) stated "The kit i liked was £34.99 that’s half the price of a fine from the police and without the 3 points, I’m definitely buying one"

The police crack down is due to the large amounts of accidents attended by the police in which a mobile phone was being used. No new powers are being used however police are now more vigilant and are on the look out for phone-drivers. They are also less likely to let the offender off with a warning when caught instead opting for the £60 fine and 3 points.

Not only are the bluetooth car kits cheaper, they may also prevent an accident.

Questions asked to 100 people in each age range, 50% male/female.