At CES this year, in Las Vegas, Parrot unveiled a head unit that used Android Auto, and had a bunch of other cool features. The original plan for the company was to team up with some auto makers and offer it, as well as offer it as an after-market head unit. Similar to what Pioneer and JVC Kenwood are doing. However, the company has now decided to scrap those plans, and will only be offering it to car makers. Per their update below:
“[July 2015 update] RNB6 project was showcased at CES Las Vegas in January 2015 (watch video below). This infotainment system was selected by several automakers who envision to integrate it in their next-generation car models next year and beyond. As of today there is no plan to sell RNB6 in Aftermarket channels as RNB6 embedded technologies require deep integration with car series and manufacturers.www.parrotautomotive.com”
The Parrot RNB6 isn’t just Android Auto though, it does everything. It is running on Android 5.0 Lollipop actually and supports Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, as well as having a rear camera display, to help with parking and such. It’s basically a competitor to Hyundai’s infotainment system. So one could see why Parrot won’t be able to offer it as an aftermarket head unit. As it does need quite a bit of integration with the car, which is better to do with the car maker, instead of doing so after the car has been sold and the owner wants to use it.
Currently, there’s no word on which car makers Parrot has teamed up with. Hopefully its the companies that have decided not to use Android Auto just yet, like Toyota. It’s a great looking system, and probably one of the best looking infotainment systems I’ve seen in a while. So I definitely hope that it does get popular. As soon as we learn more about which car makers are working with Parrot on the RNB6, we’ll be sure to let you know. In the mean time, feel free to check out the video down below which demonstrates the Parrot RNB6, and all of its capabilities.