yeah, it started with new rav4 and was well received... although in rav4, not everything was brushed - like centre stack was not, just the sides of it and door handles (and it is not exactly the same, but both have brushed plastics instead of slick ones)...
I'm kinda disappointed that they took away the 9th speaker. It would be good to use it for BT (and BT only). Anyhow, the whole idea of building BT capabilities into the JBL amp just grieves me to no end.
Having the conversation come from the driver side speaker is better for understandability by the driver, which is what matters most here. For other passengers, you can pass the phone or they can use their phones ;-)
That 9th speaker was useless anyway. If they did put it in the 2010, it better had be a better speaker. All commands come out of the driver's side speaker. Rick's explanation is good.
Sub could have gone under the control bridge. There is an opportunity for the aftermarket right there!