Pioneer Brings the iControlAV2 App to Android Smartphones

INDIANAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--CEDIA – Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc. today released a new Android version of its iControlAV2 application for Android-based smartphones, enabling consumers to control a number of 2011 Pioneer and Pioneer Elite® branded home receivers and Blu-ray Disc™ players. Available for free in the Android market, the iControlAV2 app brings home theater control directly to the screen of various Android smartphone devices (requires Android 2.2 and up) for a multitude of functions including volume, bass, balance, and room settings.

“The App will perform multiple functions directly on the screen of these phones, virtually eliminating the need to use the original remote controls that come with our products.”

“If you use an Android smartphone and have one of our iControlAV2-compatible receivers, we now have an app for it that can be utilized to control your home theater system,” said Chris Walker, director AV marketing and product planning for the home entertainment division of Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc. “The App will perform multiple functions directly on the screen of these phones, virtually eliminating the need to use the original remote controls that come with our products.”

Receiver Controls Using a Smartphone with iControlAV2 App

In the U.S./Canada market, the iControlAV2 app for Android enables control of various 2011 Pioneer and Elite audio video products including the VSX-1021, VSX-1121, VSX-50, VSX-51, VSX-52, VSX-53, VSX-1126, VSX-1326, VSX-926, VSX-1026, SC-1526, SC-55, SC-57 receivers and BDP-330, BDP-31FD, BDP-33FD, BDP-430, BDP-41FD, BDP-43FD, BDP-140, BDP-52, BDP-53 Blu-ray players. Once launched, the app’s main screen provides a fun and easy to use graphical user interface separated into four quadrants: Control, Balance, Emphasis and Precision.

Control – The Control menu manages power, input selection, listening mode, status, Blu-ray player control, volume and mute. Functioning as a convenient alternative to the physical knob on a Pioneer receiver, users can turn the volume up/down by turning the virtual volume wheel with a slide motion on the screen of the smartphone.
Balance – With the smartphone in a horizontal position, users can tilt the phone to adjust the optimum audio level in different areas of the room. The app utilizes the internal gyro of compatible smartphones to move a ball on the screen that correlates with the user’s location within the listening space.
Precision – The precision screen allows the user to change the phase of individual connected speakers, turn on virtual speaker effects, activate Pioneer’s advanced sound retriever (ASR) technology, and turn PQLS (HDMI audio clocking) on or off. The Precision mode also includes multiple animations to further explain the capabilities of the main features.
Emphasis – The Emphasis mode enables users to adjust the dialogue and bass output levels by simply tilting the smartphone while in its horizontal position. When the bass output is increased beyond an acceptable distortion level, the app generates a graphic that shows glass cracking and then breaking to warn the user to reduce the output. The app also includes detailed graphic representations of before and after MCACC room calibration, and sound adjustments that enable users to create their own 9-band equalizer settings with a simple “touch and draw” on the screen.

The free Pioneer iControlAV2 app for Android Smartphones is available in the Android market place https://market.android.com/details?id=jp.pioneer.avsoft.android.icontrolav2&feature=search_result. Pioneer and Pioneer Elite branded receivers with the iControlAV2 feature start at a suggested retail price of $549.

It all began with a passion for music that Pioneer founder Nozomu Matsumoto hoped to share with the world. He started Pioneer in 1938 as a specialty speaker company, building products out of his garage. Today, Pioneer’s Home Entertainment and Business Solutions Group continues Matsumoto's enthusiasm, developing award-winning audio and video home theater products including A/V receivers, Blu-ray Disc™ and DVD players, and speakers. Long-standing partnerships and collaborations with the creative community have provided Pioneer unique insight in its quest to capture the purity of a movie or musical artist’s original vision into its broad range of home entertainment products. The company’s brands include Pioneer® and Elite®. More details can be found at www.pioneerelectronics.com.

PIONEER, the PIONEER logo and the ELITE logo are registered trademarks of Pioneer Corporation.
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