First eight-track players slid off into history. next that unruly stack of cassette tapes disappeared from glove compartments. Now, car-stereo makers are marketing units that threaten to boot compact discs into the auto audio graveyard.

On Wednesday, Blaupunkt announced it’s shipping a second-generation, $160 stereo and AM/FM radio that ditches the CD player in favor of ports for other digital music technologies including Apple iPods and other MP3 players, thumb drives or other USB devices or SD memory cards.

Other makers have competing units that began appearing last year. All are aimed at the growing segment of music-loving auto enthusiasts who carry their tunes in their pockets.

“We’re very close to an age when we’re not going to have to carry around a bunch of discs anymore,” says Ben Oh, editor of Car Audio & Electronics Magazine. Units “are starting to gain some popularity.”

Going CD-free:

*Clarion. The car-stereo maker rolled out a $199 unit last year

that plays music from MP3 players or SD cards. It was treated as a market analysis, but “we’ve hit our expectations” for it, says Kevin Kuenzie, senior manager. “You get better sound out of a CD, but very few folks recognize it.”

*Alpine Electronics. Three CD-less units were unveiled in January at $200 to $400, “for the consumer who takes their iPod with them everywhere,” spokeswoman Connie Sung says. In the space vacated by the CD player, “We take that real estate and use it toward better sound quality and faster input transmission.”

*Blaupunkt. The new unit adds capabilities to one introduced last year that was a “slow burner” in sales, not catching on right away, says Andrew Oswick, a general manager. But the future is clear: “There’s a new breed of consumer who doesn’t want to have CDs. They get their music from any number of online stores.”

In industry…

Original post by Top Tech News