BYO has hit home at Sony: Every aftermarket (replacement) car radio/CD player sold by the company, starting with the $100 entry-level product, has a front-mounted line-in jack, so you can bring your own music player along for the ride. And every radio/CD selling for $120 and up supports MP3, WMA, and Sony's own ATRAC-3. Here are automotive highlights from Sony's annual line show for dealers, editors, and analysts. It was held in Las Vegas this year, on the opening day of the NCAA basketball tournament, making for a crowded town.

The radios all have impossibly small buttons; don't lose the remote. And none have USB jacks on the front, which would let you plug in virtually any music player or music-laden USB, play the music, see artist and track information on the radio, and control the player from the radio.

"None, currently," clarifies Sony's Rich Sandler. "We're aware of what's available." Audiobahn, JVC, Kenwood (now) and Alpine (coming in spring, 2006) have USB jacks, as do Fiats in Europe through the Blue&Me arrangement with Microsoft. A $100 plug-in adapter, the XA-300, lets Sony car radios pull in USB music and see information on the radio but not control the players.

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