Temple of VTEC Rumors and News - All-new 2004 Acura TL to be Official Automobile of 2004 International CES

Torrance, Calif. 01/07/2004 -- The all-new 2004 Acura TL will be the Official Automobile of the International Consumer Electronics Show, which takes place January 8-11 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Acura will showcase the TL's increased performance and aggressive new styling as well as the vehicle's two industry firsts in standard equipment: the first multi-channel DVD-Audio System and the first Bluetooth(R)-based hands-free phone system.

The Acura/ELS(R) multi-channel DVD-Audio System was developed with Grammy(R) winning music producer Elliot Scheiner and Panasonic. Scheiner will give personal demonstrations of the new technology at Acura's booth in the Las Vegas Convention Center, Silver Exhibits SE-2, on Thursday, Jan. 8 and Friday, Jan. 9 at 11 a.m., 12 p.m. and 1 p.m.

The Acura/ELS(R) Premium eight-speaker Surround Sound System includes DVD-Audio, DTS(TM) and CD, six-disc changer, AM/FM tuner and Dolby(R) cassette and delivers a whole new level of audio fidelity. This DVD-Audio system utilizes six distinct channels (compared with two on the typical premium sound system) to deliver sound resolution 500 times greater than CD. The state-of-the-art system plays standard CDs, DVD-Audio discs, and DTS-enabled CDs and incorporates XM(R) Satellite Radio featuring more than 100 channels of premium quality entertainment.

Scheiner began working in the music industry in 1967 with the legendary Phil Ramone. Since then, he has always been on the leading edge of new technology and has produced/engineered numerous DVD-Audio recordings including, Queen - A Night at the Opera, Eagles - Hotel California, Faith Hill - Cry and Sting - Brand New Day.

Scheiner's talents have been recognized with 17 Grammy(R) nominations, five of which he took home, two Emmy nominations and three TEC award nominations. His accomplishments in the field of multi-channel recordings have also been acknowledged with numerous awards including the Surround Pioneer Award in December 2002.

In addition to featuring the ground breaking audio system, the TL is also the first automobile to offer a Bluetooth(R) hands-free phone system as standard equipment. The system, called HandsFreeLink(TM), enables a Bluetooth wireless interface with mobile phones allowing calls to be made and received using the TL's voice recognition and audio interfaces.

To make a call, drivers push the steering wheel-mounted HandsFreeLink(TM) button, which connects their phone to the system. The driver then says the number to call or indicates an entry stored in the system's phone book. The voice recognition system responds, confirms the number or phone book entry and dials. The number being dialed as well as other calling information is shown on the Multi-Info Display in the instrument panel. The HandsFreeLink(TM) system can be programmed to accept up to six different phones and up to 50 numbers may be stored in the system's phone book.