If you think that the current Blu-ray disc is the best there is, think again. Pioneer has unveiled its 16-layer optical disc that can store a huge 400GB worth of data. The Pioneer disk is based on Blu-ray Disc (BD) with an added breakthrough in material of reflective layers.

The specs of the pick-up head of the disc are the same as those of blank BD discs. That means that the Pioneer discs can be read on BD players that are now on the market. Pioneer will release its read-only (ROM) 400GB discs from 2008 to 2010, while rewritable 400GB discs will make their appearance between 2010 to 2012 and the 1TB capacity disc should show up in 2013.

Pioneer intros not one, not two, but four new GPS navigation devices at once. Collectively they are the HRZ099, HRZ088, HRV022, and HRV011. They all share the same specifications including a 40GB storage capacity, 1Seg TV, 7-Inch LCD Screen and they can play WMA, MP3, AAC, and DivX file formats. As you might expect, hey are also compatible with iPods.

The Pioneer HRZ099 is the High-End model of the litter, equipped with a 800 x 480 resolution. The others are 480×234. The Pioneer HRZ099 and HRZ088 also feature a built-in Amplifier with a maximum output of 50W x 4ch. Aside from these 7-Inch GPS devices, the company also introduced a 5.8-Inch GPS which sports 8GB of Flash Memory, a built-in amplifier (50w x4), 1Seg TV tuner, an SD card slot and USB Port. It can also reproduce DVD/WMA/MP3/DivX/WAV/MPEG-4 files.

That’s 25GB per layer. The technique used by Pioneer should be backwards compatible with all of the existing Blu-ray gear since the specs and lenses needed for pickup are identical, but it’s not clear if players would need some kind of modified optical pick-up to see the data. The prototype they used is read-only but they just need time. Pioneer will give more details on July 13th.

Pioneer has several new Blu-ray players hitting Europe. The 2.0-compliant BDP-LX91, Designer BDP-LX08 and BDP-LX71 and the BDP-51FD. All feature 1080p24 support, HDMI 12-Bit Deep Color support, KURO LINK, DTS-HD Master Audio / Dolby True HD compatibility and professional-quality Wolfson Digital Audio Converters.

No word on pricing for any of them yet however. The BDP-LX71 is rumored to be coming in September, the BDP-51FD & BDP-LX08 in October and the BDP-LX91 in the cold of Winter.

Pioneer recently unveiled a new 1080p home theater projector designed for its Elite line and enhanced with the company’s KURO display technology. It is known as the Pioneer Elite KURO Projector and you’ll find it pricing around $9,000.

The Pioneer Elite KURO Projector was designed specifically for the custom install market, offering Pioneer’s KURO display technology for “deep black levels and rich colors.” This technology is featured in the projector’s multiple viewing modes. It also offers dual HDMI 1.3 support.

Pioneer revealed their latest two Blu-ray players, the Elite BDP-05FD and BDP-51FD. Both support BonusView extra disc content and 1080p True 24fps output, they have HDMI 1.3a ports, four Wolfson Professional Audio 12-bit digital-to-analog converters and the proprietary PureCinema Deinterlacer for upscaling standard definition DVDs. The Elite BDP-05FD has fancy gold-plated connections and capacitative controls.

If you combine either of these with any of Pioneer’s KURO HDTV sets, both players have the ability to set-up automatically to a screen-specific factory preset. Other presets include projector settings as well as other displays. 7.1 surround sound, with Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, DTS HD and DTS HD Master decoding are all supported. The 51FD has a 108MHz 12-bit video encoder, while the 05FD has a 297MHz version. These will be priced at $599 for the BDP-51FD and $799 for the BDP-05FD. They have also improved the speed of the players due to customer demand.

Car audio is one of those things you love or hate. I’m mostly in the latter category thanks to my neighbor and his booming car stereo he seems incapable of turning down as he pulls up at 2 in the morning. The police in your town may take issue to it as well but if you just have to prove you have the loudest stereo in town, Pioneer has your amp.

Pioneer announced its new Premier PRS-A900 amp today and it is hella expensive at $1500. Pioneer says that it had the goal of ultimate performance despite the price tag and it shows. For $1500 you might expect a bazillion watts of power and you would be wrong.

Maybe you like to watch TV soaps late into the night, or Teletubbies. And if your house is pretty small, you would have to lower the TV volume pretty low unless you want to get caught and laughed at by your wife. Try this Digital Wireless Headset from Pioneer.

The Pioneer SE-DRS3000C Digital Wireless Headset is a big looking 2.4GHz wireless headset that launches in Japan around the middle of May. This 720g Digital Wireless Headset supports bandwidth of 10Hz to 24kHz, with a 30m working radius, compatible with Dolby Digital, DTS-ES, Dolby NR.

Pioneer over the weekend announced new additions to its line up of AVIC-F advanced in-dash navigators. These new offerings, which join the AVIC-F500BT shown off at CES, are the AVIC-F700BT, AVIC-F900BT and Premier branded AVIC-F90BT. Pricing is set at $850, $1,100 and $1,200, respectively, and all units will be available in June.

Pioneer is describing these in-dash units as going “beyond navigation” by offering “enhanced navigation and entertainment features paired with sophisticated voice control.” While you may read that however you choose there is no doubt Pioneer has packed these units with a ton of features, including “Apple iPod connectivity, Bluetooth, MSN Direct, HD radio, XM and SIRIUS Satellite Radio, single CD, DVD video playback and compressed audio and video playback through USB and SD memory devices.”

For the full details, check out the press release after the jump. These Pioneer units definitely look to be the cause of many wonderful distractions as you cruise down the open roads.

Here’s another thing that we were promised in the then “future”. Shoes with headlights. These funky looking Pioneer shoes are from designers Feijun Chen & Bin Zhao. Not only will they illuminate your path, but the batteries are charged by the kinetic energy of your steps. The LEDs are bright enough to light up an area about five feet in front of you, so you can make like a spirit and perpetually head toward said light.

There’s also a green tail light in back. Great idea for safety reasons alone. For one thing cars will see you clearly and thus avoid killing you, for another it might help you avoid obstacles in your path that might otherwise plant your face in the dirt.

Pioneer’s AVIC-F500BT GPS Navigator is designed to be compatible with any factory car audio set-up. The system lets you add in-car navigation and entertainment without modifying your existing car stereo.

The main feature is the VoiceBox Conversational Voice Search Platform, which is an advanced voice technology for controlling iPod and Bluetooth enabled devices. It has the ability to analyze and execute voice commands. For instance, if you say, “Let me hear the artist Led Zeppelin” or “play Led Zeppelin”.