BIOS: Technology Means Business

The MEX-BT5000 car audio head unit is designed for the truly mobile lifestyle. It also looks really, really sweet. The first Sony head unit with Bluetooth wireless technology, it automatically links to any Bluetooth mobile phone and provides hands-free calls with crystal clear sound.

Phone book data from the handset also appears on the BT5000’s high-visibility screen, so you can make and receive calls during a journey without even taking your phone out of your pocket. Support for the Bluetooth OPP (Object Push Protocol) also allows the wireless transfer of up to 50 phone book contacts to the head unit itself.

An integrated microphone in the unit picks up your voice and removes the need for any further wiring within the car, greatly simplifying installation. Stylishly minimal design and a full motion fluorescent (FL) display give the BT5000 a highly distinctive look very different to previous Sony head units.

‘The BT5000 is all about making the mobile life simpler,’ says Stephen Jean, Group Product Manager for e-Vehicle at Sony. ‘No more third-party car phone kits, no more fiddling about when you get in and out of the vehicle. Just seamless, smart connectivity whenever you drive. This is how it’s going to be from now on.’

Smart handsfree isn’t all the BT5000 can do. Show it a mobile phone or music player that supports Bluetooth audio streaming and it will retrieve and play music too. The head unit offers essential playback control (Play/Pause, Skip, fast forward/back) over the remote source, placing your music collection right at your fingertips. Next-generation music phones like the Sony Ericsson W950 already offer audio streaming via Bluetooth wireless technology, and are compatible with the BT5000.

The BT5000 features Sony’s DRIVE-S HX technology for ‘outstanding’ sound clarity and definition, sports Sony’s Dynamic Soundstage Organiser (DSO) II sound shaping, and has 3-band parametric equalisation sculpts the tone exactly the way you want it. Multiple codecs open up the BT5000’s range to include MP3, WMA and ATRAC as well as audio CDs, and BBE MP signal processing should restore the warmth and detail frequently lost from MP3 tracks.

24-bit Digital-to-Analogue conversion should ensures optimum fidelity to all digital sources, the S-MOSFET power stage delivers a massive 52-Watt x4 channels, so regardless of the road surface, the music will come through loud and clear, and the flip-down full-motion dot matrix fluorescent screen provides a bright, legible and spacious display for key information including station, artist, track, caller ID and phonebook entry.

The infrared Remote Commander provides fingertip control over key features including remote playback and phone operation, phone calls are enhanced by integrated noise reduction and echo reduction signal processing, and white LED key illumination seals the deal. Outrageous!

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