Toyota is now offering an embedded version of Pandora on the 2012 Camry and 2012 Tacoma. That’s big for the streaming audio service, since the Camry is America’s best-selling car and the Tacoma is the best-selling compact pickup truck in the US market.
According to the announcement by Pandora Media, both vehicles began to appear on dealer lots in September 2011.
Pandora is available via the Toyota Entune system. With Entune, Pandora controls are made available via the radio dashboard, allowing drivers to easily select stations, thumb songs up and down, and skip songs using the vehicle’s controls. The key to connecting Pandora with Entune is the smartphone; Entune is currently compatible with Android, Blackberry and iPhone smartphones.
“Incorporating Pandora into the native environment of the car makes turning on personalized radio as easy as traditional radio. We’re thrilled that Toyota is offering our service to their drivers,” said Pandora executive vice president of business and corporate development Jessica Steel.
RBR-TVBR observation: AM and FM radio no longer have the auto dash as their exclusive turf. Satellite radio has been there for some time and more and more in-dash wireless broadband options are being introduced. Pandora is just one, though, and broadcasters who get their digital act together can be there as well. Just this week RBR-TVBR reported on a device which makes tens of thousands of AM, FM and Internet stations available for in-car listening. Also do not forget on Pandora has gone retail with making ‘Retial Gift Cards’ available for subscription service. Gift Cards work for just about anything today.
