Alpine has competed well with Pioneer and Kenwood in the car audio industry, especially with in dash receivers. Coming soon to retailers summer 2008 is another one of Alpine’s arsenal in the receiver battle, the IVA-W505 double DIN receiver.

Display
First look of the Alpine IVA-W505 reveals a very stylish display that is both clear and full of color depth. The graphical user interface looks very modern and gives a high-tech feel to the unit. The Alpine IVA-W505 features a large 7" that is designed with motorized mechanisms that will allow it to adjust viewing angle according to user presets and controls. The screen is about the biggest any in-dash multimedia receiver could ever feature and certainly sets it apart from most other in-dash receivers.
Viewing anything on this 7" screen will definitely be enjoyable as it offers crystal clear contrasting display, perfect for movies or just simple media display. It even features a versatile S-Video input which could be used for laptop, portable media devices, or even some video game consoles.
Compatiblity/Integration
What the Alpine IVA-W505 does best is integration of many of today's popularly used technology. An obvious demographic to target are iPod users. As of April of 2007, there were over 100 million iPods sold since its first release. The IVA-W505 is designed for maximum compatibility with iPod audio and video playback. This means that all of your iPod-stored media files could be played in this unit seamlessly.

The IVA-W505 will display all media information such as artist, albums, etc. and even the accompanying album art. You have the choice of either connecting your iPod to the USB connection or a an optional direct iPod connection. You could even connect two iPods simultaneously! Don't have an iPod? Don't worry! Through its USB port and any loaded discs, users could play DVD, DVD±R/RW, VCD, CD, CD-R/RW with MP3, AAC, and WMA support.

With additional accessories, the Alpine IVA-W505 is capable of receiving Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio sources as well as HD Radio and Bluetooth Hands-free technology. The IVA-W505 is capable (with additional accessories) of hands-free calling, with call status and caller ID display as well as phonebook synchronization. The unit also features a very rare optical digital audio output with Dolby Digital encoding that could be used with the optional PXA-H701 Multimedia Manager module, allowing for complete 5.1 surround sound playback.

If you do decide to integrate HD Radio with the Alpine IVA-W505, Alpine has provided a way for you to "tag" a song you hear on HD Radio so that you can check them out when you get home on iTunes-- where you can listen to the song's preview or purchase it:

The IVA-W505 features iTunes Tagging in collaboration with HD Radio, which makes it easy for you to discover new music you hear while you’re driving. Simply add the Alpine TUA-T550HD HD Radio Tuner (sold separately, available summer). Now when you’re on the road, and hear a song you like from an HD Radio station that broadcasts metadata, just press a button on the IVA-W505 to “tag” the song. Info about the tagged songs are stored and transferred to your iPod. Later, connect your iPod into your computer, iTunes will automatically present the tagged songs in a new Tagged playlist giving you the option to preview, buy, and download the songs.
-- Alpine IVA-W505 iTunes Tagging Overview