By Amy Gilroy
Since the smartphone is now a part of the car radio sale (as consumers want their phone to work with their head unit), here’s some new figures you should know: Read More
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By Amy Gilroy
The Fed proposed Thursday that auto makers produce connected car radios that require the car is in park before drivers may look up an address on a navigation system, browse the Internet or dial a phone number.
An exception is voice activated use of any of the above functions, which would not require the car be in park.
A second set of guidelines on aftermarket car products will follow, said the Department of Transportation.
The edict is the first-ever “federally proposed guidelines to encourage automobile manufacturers to limit the distraction risk for in-vehicle electronic devices,” said the agency. Read More
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By Amy Gilroy
Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) is expanding its BFF relationship with Car Toys beyond the expeditor sales announced Tuesday.
It is also conducting trials with Seattle-based Car Toys to improve car audio retail sales through better management and sales training, and it will extend that trial to 100 Best Buy locations, according to a trusted industry source.
The trial, underway since last year, has already expanded from about 14 Best Buy stores in the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh areas as of last November, to 20 to 28 stores presently, said industry sources. Read More
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By Amy Gilroy
Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) and Car Toys officially announced they will begin selling car AV/navigation equipment to car dealerships and fleet managers (known as expeditor sales) through Best Buy stores.
The plan is for Best Buy to extend its car AV sales beyond consumers. It will provide “complete car electronics sales and installation services for car dealerships, fleet managers and insurance companies,” it announced.
Best Buy would not state how many locations will offer the service, but a spokesman said, “Regarding number of stores, we don’t have any additional specifics on the rollout to share at this time, but the intent of the partnership is certainly to leverage the footprint of 1,000 installation bays and 3,000 certified Geek Squad Autotechs.”
Car Toys is the largest independent car specialist chain with about 50 stores in the U.S. Read More
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By Amy Gilroy
The Ford Sync system is now available as standard equipment (standard, not optional) on all trim levels for the 2013 Ford Fusion and Flex, including base models.
The voice activated, phone-ready radio system is also now either optional or standard equipment on every Ford sold in North America, said Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F). Read More
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By Amy Gilroy
Sirius XM Radio (NASDAQ:SIRI) confirmed it will launch two new premium services for its Internet subscribers including an on-demand service that will let subscribers access some of the best content on Satellite Radio.
Sirius XM CEO Mel Karmazin told analysts Thursday, the on-demand premium service will offer “a continually updated library of some of our best content for listening on [the users’] time schedule.”
Additionally, later this year, the company will offer “personalized radio that will let people tailor music to their own preferences,” he said.
The premium services will be offered via the Internet for those who pay the extra Internet access fee, and will be accessible via smartphones and other devices.
The Satellite Radio company also reported its Q4 earnings and operating results, with strong net new subscriber additions for 2011 of 1.7 million listeners, up 20 percent year-over-year. Read More
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By Amy Gilroy
Retailers may want to make note of a new national law that went into effect January 3rd, called the Mobile Telephone Rule, which affects 4 million commercial drivers. Read More
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By Amy Gilroy
This summer, Tesla Motors (NASDAQ:TSLA) plans to deliver its Model S electric sedan with a 17-inch touchscreen and a 7-speaker audio system–all as standard equipment. Plus the radio is WiFi-enabled.
The Model S, for all those who don’t scour the auto blogs, is a sexy-styled $49,000 car that claims the longest range of any electric car, starting at 160 miles (or up to 300 miles if you opt for a premium battery). It goes from zero to 60 mph in less than 6 seconds.
The car stereo system doesn’t disappoint, at least on the specs. Read More
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By Amy Gilroy
Boss Audio is pushing the technology envelope this year, offering its first iPhone car radio and also its first in-dash navigation radio. Read More
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By Amy Gilroy
Rydeen said it will launch a test market in April of the Android car radio it unveiled at CES earlier last month.
The test will include about 100 to 200 units of an in-dash navigation/radio that runs on Android 2.2 and that is designed to bring the same look and feel of your Android phone to the car radio.
The Rydeen model DV621 has a 6.2 inch color screen and you can connect your USB Internet dongle to it for Internet email. You also get Bluetooth with audio streaming and other AV/navigation features. Rydeen said it may upgrade to a newer version of Android by the time the radio reaches the market around summer. Pricing will be announced.
Rydeen is also bringing Android into its replacement mirrors and using the platform to add driver safety features to your rear view mirror. Later this year and early next year it plans to offer features including lane departure warnings, crash detection, traffic updates and voice recognition for email and texts. Users can also get vehicle health reports. Read More
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