• Do you own a motorcycle or plan on picking one up now that the weather’s getting better? Did you know that in 2005 over 70,000 bikes were stolen and less than 30% were actually recovered? Pretty shocking, eh? You might want to consider an alarm…. The guys from Directed’s Snake Pit hooked us up with a great article on how to install a motorcycle alarm and what to look for when shopping around for one.
• Second Skin sent us a bunch of their Damplifier Sound Deadening kits, and we’re giving it all away! All you have to do to enter is hop over to SoundDomain and add a comment in the forum. That’s it! We’re giving away a complete trunk kit and a door kit to a lucky winner!
• Scosche is shipping their new 2009 Toyota Corolla dash kit. It accepts single or double DIN radios, matches the factory dash contours, and is available in facotry-matched black or gray. Don’t put up with crappy factory radio any longer!
• New details have emerged on Garmin’s new nüvifone! This extrememly impressive iPhone-fighter features a Garmin GPS system, 3.0 megapixel camera, WiFi, and more!
• Apple iPods are killing people in Australia! Well, actually, no, not really. But they could! No, really! OK, OK, not really, and they never have… Yet! The police from Down Under have launched a campaign claiming the portable device could be responsible for future deaths, even though no deaths have yet to be attributed to the little guy. They just want to warn you… just in case.

• SoundDomain moderator Richard Vedvik was curious how much louder a system would sound if his amp ran all four speakers at 50 watts versus just the front speakers bridged to the same amp at 200 watts. It would be kind of a PITA to get out of the car and play with the amp wiring to go from bridged to four-channel, so he put together a series of relays that could do the job for him at the flick of the switch!
• JBL just released info on their new GTO series subs and we got the details and pics! You gotta check these beauties out!
• Our boy Steve Meade came through with some exclusive pics of the new 18" Fi BTL series subwoofers. These babies aren’t out yet, and they’re not even on Fi’s website! I guess that’s the benefit of being an big bass bad ass.
• Suzuki just announced they’ll be be adding a Garmin-powered navigation system in every 2009 SX4! The system will flip-up from a custom compartment in the dash and include Bluetooth connectivity, real-time traffic info, and possibly MSN Direct.
• We got our hands on some sneak peeks of the new Audison Thesis amps not too long ago and now Audison has finally released actual photos and an amazingly detailed breakdown of the amp’s features and technology. I was pretty blown away!

I just got back from the Pioneer Sound Build-Off in San Diego where Pioneer not only hosted a really cool sound-off competition, but they also unveiled the new AVIC-F series navigation radios. The new AVIC-F’s have all of the goodies you’d expect from a full-featured in-dash navigation piece, but Pioneer stepped it up a few notches and included built-in Bluetooth, voice recognition and control, and MSN Direct data streaming! Get all the details, features, and check out a small gallery of the new devices over at SoundDomain.

• What are the car audio shops in your area like? If you’re lucky, there’s one like JML Audio’s new facility. Based in the St. Louis, MO area, JML is currently in the process of building a new location that sets the bar much higher for all other audio shops in the area.
• SoundDomain member Lary357j picked up a new Eclipse AVN6620 double-DIN navi-radio for his Lincoln SUV. He gave SoundDomain members some insight to the ups and downs of the radio, as well as screen shots of it’s MANY capabilities. Take a look and learn!
• The wait is over! Alpine’s new IVA-W505 is finally shipping. By the time you read this, your dealer may already have yours!
• This Sanyo Gorilla portable navigation device features a 7" screen, digital TV tuner, and 4GB SD card… But the coolest part? It actually tells you if you’re parking in a high-theft area!

• The Audison "bit one" sound processor is not even out yet, but it’s creating quite a stir among the car audiophiles on CarDomain and SoundDomain. It looks hot and is feature packed! But if you read the first post we put up, you may want to check out the most recent news on the bit one. It’s still all pre-production data, but we got an inside scoop on the feature list that’s most likely to make it to production.
• SoundDomain moderator Richard Vedvik (keep_hope_alive) loved his older Alpine CDA-7930, so when the display started to go out he decided to simply replace the CD player’s display rather than replace the entire radio! Cool thing is, he documented the process on SoundDomain for all to see!
• Jensen just updated their Free MP3 downloads section. Get the details here!
• We stumbled on a cool comic satirizing the recent boom in portable navigation products. Be aware that all are not created equal!

Well, typical Seattle weather this weekend so another day and no sound in the ride. A co-worker suggested I rig up a garbage bag tent around my car so I can get work done in the rain. I suggested he go back to his desk and check out the news on SoundDomain instead:

• Rich Truesdell told you about the Garmin Nüvifone  not too long ago. Well videos have come forth from Garmin and this phone could quite possibly the ultimate iPhone killer!!
• Adding an Xbox to your car’s audio/video system is not too uncommon these days, but disassembling and custom-installing the separate components is not so common. These guys take apart an Xbox and show you some ideas on how to custom-mount a system in your ride.
• MECP is an installer certification program in the mobile electronics industry, similar to ASE certification for a mechanic. It represents the best of the best in the industry, separating the men from the boys. But if you want to take your skills "out-of-this-world", why not go for NASA standards!
• The Tracer Heads-Up Display (HUD) is a design study that incorporates GPS, HUD technology, and SMS text messaging. The cool part of this is the Heads-Up display, the scary part is if you start speeding, it sends a text message to your parents. Doh!
• Crazy man Steve Meade got a chance to demo his tuff Tahoe for Ice Cube’s producers, Teak and Dee. Needless to say, even those these guys listen to bangin’ beats all day long, they weren’t prepared for Steve to push the magic button in his system! Watch ‘em squirm!

It’s Friday again and I am so ready to get my weekend started. I have speakers and kick panels calling my name, just waiting to get installed in my car. But that all has to wait until tomorrow morning… So I guess until then I’ll go ahead and catch up on the SoundDomain news:

• Rearview/back-up cameras are pretty common these days, but frontview cameras are pretty new. This mirror could turn your weekend canyon cruising into a Hollywood moment, or it could save you from taking blame on your next fender bender (videos and pics available)!
• Don’t you hate it when you spend $45,000 (or more) on a new BMW and then when you drive it off the lot it hits you that you forgot to order the factory navigation option! Man, I hate that! Well, don’t worry… To prevent buyer’s remorse BMW is giving folks in that predicament a free BMW Garmin Nuvi360 with a custom BMW mounting system.
• If you’re going to be in the Biloxi, MS area June 21-22 make sure to stop by the Gulf Coast Coliseum for the Scrapin’ the Coast/Deep South Nationals show. Last year there were over 2000 cars and trucks, and the show was named Mini Truckin’s "Show of the Year" for 2007. We’ll be there shooting the event just in case you can’t make it.
• The Kenwood DNX8120 was by far our favorite radio at CES this year. We told you all about it in our CES Coverage, and now we have a demo video hosted from Kenwood showing off all the 8120′s cool features and functions. Man is this thing SWEET!

Cars that talk to each other? Phones that tell you where to go? Hybrid capacitors with LCD displays? "What is he ON?!", you must be thinking. I’m on….top of the mobile electronics news that’s what I on! Here’s some SoundDomain news you might have missed:

• OEM automotive supplier Denso Electronics is developing a car-to-car communications system to make your car smarter and safer.
• Images and some details on Mio’s newest portable navigation devices, the Moov 200 and Moov 300, were leaked early and we got the images. Simple and sexy.
• Stinger introduced an updated line of 15 and 30 farad hybrid capacitors. The caps are chromed and highlighted with blue LED accents, and a blue LCD display that gives voltage and current draw.
• Portable navigation leader Garmin released the deets on the new Garmin Nüvifone. They have a real winner here – a great-looking mobile phone with a true Garmin GPS device inside. From what we can tell, this thing pretty much does it all and does it all very well.

What?! It’s the last day of the January? Where did the month go?? Oh yeah, I remember… CES 2008 and the relaunch of the new SoundDomain.com! We had quite a busy month and over the next few it’s going to get better and better. But to hold you over until then, you should check out the hot news over at SoundDomain. Here’s what you missed yesterday:

• America, F&#K Yeah! InPhase Audio had these patriotic sub boxes on display at CES. Not quite what I’d rock in my trunk, but I can appreciate the pride!
• The mad scientists over at JML Audio just wrapped up an install on a hopped-up IS300. This bad boy pumps out 540HP to the wheels and is loaded with an audiophile-quality install of the highest caliber.
• Navigon’s 7100 portable navigation device is quite possibly the new king of the streets! It’s sexy and loaded with features to make your life a much better place. Find out how!
• Cadillacs 2009 CTS-V is going to come equipped with an Alpine radio the features a pop-up nav screen, 40GB hard drive, DVD capability, USB 2.0 and more, all wrapped into one of the sexiest dashboards I’ve ever seen.

That’s right folks… I’m heading to Vegas this weekend. I’ll be there all week bringing you the latest and greatest in the car and portable audio world. Of course, CarDomain will feature some the hottest cars at CES right here in the blog, but for complete coverage make sure to keep your browser peeled to our recently redesigned sister site SoundDomain.com. DVD players? Yep. Navigation? You-betcha. Bluetooth? Count on it. iPod adapters? Satellite radio? In-car computers? LCD’s? Alarms and remote starts? Yes, uh-huh, yes, yeah, and you know it! We’ll be meeting with Directed Electronics, Alpine, Clarion, Pioneer, JBL, Infinity, Rockford Fosgate, MTX, Kicker, Eclipse, and Maxxsonics, just to name a few, and we’re going to have the most comprehensive coverage on the net for all things car. But in case you think we might miss something, speak up and let us know what you want to see!