Dual drives down price of in-car iPod control

Dual is bringing car-stereo iPod control to the masses with the release of its XDMA690, a single-DIN garden-variety stereo head unit that can be used to control streamed audio from an iPod. All iPod controls (except Shuffle) can be programmed via the buttons on the faceplate, with playlist, artist, album, and song title all showing up on the unit's monochrome display. Like the Dual XDVD8182 in-car multimedia system that we reviewed this week, the XDMA690 ships with a 2-meter iPod interface cable, and it's able to play CDs and MP3- and WMA-encoded discs. Unlike the XDVD8182, you can get this unit for less than $450--Dual reps tell us that it will retail for between $129 and $139.