Rockford Adds New Brands

Rockford Corporation said it added two new high end German-made car stereo brands to its mix.

It will sell the Brax and Helix brands of high end amplifiers and speakers that are hand crafted, audiophile products.

“Brax is luxury car audio, these products are for the most discriminating buyer and align seamlessly with the most exotic vehicles on the road today. The Helix brand offers a complete line focused on creating a perfectly matched system in any vehicle,” said director of sales Dominick Aquilini.

Rockford is now accepting dealer applications for both the product lines, that should start shipping in Q1.

The car stereo company hopes the new brands will help it reach new distribution channels, said Rockford president Bill Jackson.

Source: Rockford Corp.
Photo: Brax speaker

Apple Enters Top 5 Phone Ranks for 1st Time

Apple glided past BlackBerry maker RIM and Sony Ericsson during Q3 landing in 4th place in worldwide cellphone sales.

According to IDC, Apple took a 4.1 percent share of the cellphone market with shipments of 14.1 million units (almost double what it shipped last year).

Since Apple sells only smartphones, its infiltration of the top 5 cellphone registry underscores the growing importance of smartphones—a category which will grow by 55 percent this year worldwide, says IDC.

Nokia ranked first with about 110.4 million units, but its market share fell 4.1 percent from last year to 32.4 percent. “Nokia’s grip on the traditional mobile phone market has been somewhat loosened,” said IDC analyst Ramon Llamas.

Samsung and LG were ranked 2nd and 3rd with Samsung’s market share increasing by a hair to 21 percent and LG’s share declining by 10 percent to 8.3 percent. RIM was 5th with shipments of 12.4 million and a market share of 3.6 percent, up by over 3 percent.

“LG lost ground due to a weak smartphone portfolio, while Nokia suffered component shortages,” added Neil Mawston, director at Strategy Analytics.

RIM’s position in the top 5 is in danger from a handful of companies, said Strategy Analytics. These include Sony Ericsson, ZTE, Motorola, Huawei and Alcatel.

The global cell phone market totalled 340.5 million units in shipments and grew 14.6 percent over last year, said IDC.

Source: IDC and PC World via Yahoo!

Windows Phone 7 Gets Kindle App

Those who plan to buy a phone running Windows Phone 7 won’t be deprived of a Kindle eReading app.

Amazon said today it is first to announce an eBook app for the new Windows phones. The app will be released later this year with similar functions to other Kindle apps. You get access to over 725,000 eBooks, and you can read your eBooks across many devices—PC, Kindle, Mac–resuming where you left off reading.

The Kindle for Windows Phone 7 was demonstrated today by Microsoft during its Professional Developers Conference, said Amazon.

Kindle apps are already available for leading platforms including the iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, and BlackBerry and Android devices.

Source: Amazon

Car Radios Control an iPad with iOS 4.2

In November, when Apple releases iOS 4.2, it will let iPad users control their music from many car radios.

So demonstrates SoundMan Car Audio, using a beta iOS 4.2 release running on an iPad and playing through an Alpine CDA-105 and a Ford Sync.

Previously you could only connect an iPad to a car radio through the headphone/aux in jack. You couldn’t use a USB/iPod cable. And you couldn’t control the iPad from the radio.

With iOS 4.2, you won’t get a full charge for your iPad from the radio, but you’ll get a trickle charge that should keep the device going as you listen to music, says SoundMan’s Doug Bernards.

There’s a drawback: once you connect to the car radio, the iPad screen goes dark so you can’t manually use your iPad to control the music coming through the car stereo.

Note: We asked a product development manager at a leading car electronics company to confirm SoundMan’s tests and he found similar results: a car radio that’s compatible with an iPhone with iOS4 will also control an iPad running the iOS 4.2, now in beta 3.

iOS 4.2 is slated for public release in November with updates for the iPad such as multitasking and video streaming.

Apple hasn’t responded to our inquiry.

Source: SoundMan Car Audio

Sony $99 Black Friday Car Bundle w/Music

Black Friday is coming and there are sure to be deals. Here’s an early scoop on one from Sony.

Distributors are now offering a Sony package of a deck and 2 speakers plus 50 FREE song downloads for an aggressive $99 street price. The whole package will cost a consumer roughly the current price on the deck alone (the Xplod CDXGT35UW, which is currently $95 at Walmart). (See the ad from distributors to retailers below).

So Sony is throwing in free pair of 6.5-inch coax speakers and it’s exercising its music muscle by adding free downloads on Sony Music Pass.

The deal, we have been told, is only good for Black Friday.

Numerous sources have said they received the offer from local Sony distributors.

Sony would not confirm specifics but a spokesman said, “What I can tell you is that we are planning to offer some outstanding Black Friday and holiday specials within our car audio group, and are looking to utilize Sony Music and their extensive catalogue of music as our partner whenever possible.”

Source: CEoutlook

U.S. Cellular Joins Galaxy Tab Fray

T-Mobile will be first to offer Samsung’s answer to the iPad—the Galaxy Tab—the carrier announced yesterday and today U.S. Cellular said it will offer the device in time for the holidays.

In case you are losing track of the unanimous carrier support for the Galaxy Tab—a 7-inch Android tablet—Verizon will offer it on November 11 followed by Sprint on November 14. AT&T also plans to support the device.

No pricing has been announced by U.S. Cellular but T-Mobile will offer it at $400 with a 2-year contract or $600 without a contract.

T-Mobile’s network will enable 4G speeds on the Galaxy Tab in some metro areas.

Source: T-Mobile and U.S. Cellular

PlayStation Phone Photos Leaked: Engadget

A photo of the rumored Sony PlayStation Phone has surfaced on Engadget. The Android phone shown as a Sony Ericsson 2-handed slider, has PSP-type controls instead of a keyboard.

The device is code named Zeus and will likely use a 1GHz Qualcomm processor, 512MB of RAM, 1GB of ROM, a microSD card slot, and there’s plenty of guessing on which version of Android it will include.

Engadget claims it’s been informed of the gamer phone by numerous sources but there’s no word on shipping plans.

Source: Engadget, CNET

Navigon GPS App is Super-Real

Navigon released a new app that not only gives you directions on an Android phone (stored in the phone) but it also gives you “augmented reality” views of the street.

Aim your phone’s camera down the street and point-of-interest (POI) info pops up, overlaying a video stream of the block. Translation: you can actually see there’s a gas station a block away, or a Dunkin Donuts, or pizza. It’s a live view of POIs.

Navigon calls it “Reality Scanner,” and says it’s a first for Android.

The feature is part of Navigon’s MobileNavigator app that also gives you on-board turn-by-turn navigation so you get full GPS even when phone service is not available. (Android phones come with free off-board turn-by-turn navigation). You also get real time traffic updates generated by over a million drivers and warnings on red light and speed cameras.

MobileNavigator is available today in Android Market and Google Checkout for $39.99 on a 2 week special. The price will then increase to $59.99 (including live traffic updates).

Source: Navigon
Photo: Engadget

Escort: 1st PND/Radar Detector Ships

Escort started shipping the first radar detector to double as a true portable navigation device (PND), it said.

It’s Passport iQ combines a PND with a 5-inch color touch screen that shows maps and directions, with an Escort 9500ix radar detector.

You get voice guided, turn-by-turn directions just as in a PND.

The screen can flip from navigation map mode to radar detector mode. But you get radar alerts and audible directions in any mode.

The Passport iQ offers both radar and laser detection with red light and speed camera alerts at $649.95. You can also add a laser blocking system. For GPS it uses Navteq maps and offers lane guidance.

“Escort engineers were able to change the standard radar detector form by designing a radically new microwave antenna assembly,” said VP new product development Tim Coomer. “…we are the only manufacturer able to provide drivers the opportunity to combine the key technologies of radar and laser protection, GPS navigation and important driving information in a single package,” claimed VP marketing Dave Smidebush, adding, “These integrated benefits can’t be found in a PND, a smart phone, other portable devices or as an OEM option on new vehicles.”

In the future, Escort plans a model that adds optional Bluetooth and live traffic, possibly for Q1. It will also let users connect their phones for hands free calling.

Source: Escort

1 Million Nooks Sold, Could Double

Barnes & Noble revealed yesterday it sold 1 million Nook eReaders to date, as it announced a color eReader—the NOOKcolor.

Forrester Research estimates that the bookseller will sell 2 million Nook devices by the end of 2010, closing in on Sony Readers for second place, said Reuters.

But Amazon still has a wide lead. It should sell 6 million Kindles this year, in the U.S., winning a market share of over 60 percent.

As for the total eReader market it will hit 10.3 million unit sales in the U.S. by year’s end and grow to 15.5 million by the end of 2011, according to Forrester.

The average eReader owner spends about $60 per year on eBooks.

Source: Barnes & Noble, Reuters

NOOKcolor tablet/eReader Slated for Nov. 19

As leaked earlier, Barnes & Noble introduced a 7-inch color tablet/eReader, beating rival Amazon to market with color and touchscreen capability in a full sized eReading screen.

The new NOOKcolor will be available November 19 at $249 and may be pre-ordered online Wednesday at www.NOOKcolor.com. It will head to Best Buy, Walmart and Books-A-Million starting late November.

It offers WiFi access to about 2 million eBook titles on an Android platform. And it claims it’s the first eReading device to offer periodicals in full color. Barnes & Noble has also added what it calls the largest eBookstore for kids–NOOK Kids–including some titles permitting interaction with words and pictures. Some titles may also auto “read aloud” as text-to-speech.

The NOOKcolor has 8GB of space (expandable) for eBooks and it includes an eBook lending feature.

In most tablets, when an E Ink monochrome screen is replaced by a color screen as in the NOOKcolor, the device is no longer readable in direct sunlight and it gets short on battery life. B&N said its new screen reduces glare, but apparently full production samples weren’t available at it press conference Tuesday, so reporters couldn’t run outside for a test.

The NOOKcolor also comes with some game apps, Pandora, a digital music player and it permits full web browsing.

You can view PDF and ePub files as well as other standard files such as JPG, PND, GIF and BMP. You can also view Microsoft Office files with Quickoffice software.

Also, current NOOK eReaders (with E Ink screens) will receive an upgrade in November providing faster page turns and improved search.

Source: Barnes & Noble

7″ iPad Would Impact Car Aftermarket

If Apple introduces a 7-inch iPad, say at $399 or below, how will it impact the car stereo aftermarket?

Aftermarket LCD screens just happen to be 7-inches for many AV radios and headrest monitors.

A TomTom navigation app running on a gorgeous iPad 7-inch screen could easily replace an $1,800 in-dash navigation/radio. You could place four as yet fictional smaller iPads all over the car and still come out ahead of buying a single high end AV/navi radio.

Keith Lehmann of Kenwood says “it will be a total game changer,” and he’s glad Apple CEO Steve Jobs stated that he’s not planning on releasing a 7-inch version of the iPad any time soon.

“I’m grateful that Apple isn’t. There are plenty of great technologies that work great with the products we have now. We just don’t need this business model hitting us at this time,” he added.

Yes, there are already 7-inch tablets reaching the market. But they don’t have the market share or clout of an iPad to truly impact the aftermarket, said industry members including leading merchant Don Barros of 19-store chain Sixth Avenue Electronics.

He hopes that a 7-inch iPad would bring consumers back into the stores to see how it could integrate in the vehicle. “But we can’t survive on Apple margins. There’s not a retailer in the country that can, but the traffic is good. We hope the accessories will be what they were for the iPod. If you can accessorize it that way; if the product requires some kind of installation, that will be a good thing. If it’s a self-doer, that wouldn’t be good for us.”

Already the 10-inch iPad is heading for rear seat. Mercedes-Benz and BMW are offering headrest kits and Scosche and Rosen are planning aftermarket kits.

Source: CEoutlook

Increase Store Traffic, Try Groupon

Maybe you’ve heard of Groupon by now. Forbes called it the fastest growing company ever. And even a single car electronics store can use its service to help get customers.

Groupon, does what its name implies—creates a group coupon. You post an item at a great price online and if enough consumers sign up to buy it, they all get it at that price. It creates an auction- like urgency to take advantage of your sale because a minimum number of consumers must sign up for the deal to go through.

Alarms, Etc of Tampa, Florida with 3 stores is running its second promotion with the service. The first one was on a Scosche FM modulator iPod kit. Alarms, Etc. offered 25 units at half price. The chain’s Joe Cassity said customers came in the door for weeks afterward saying they heard about the store from Groupon. The store’s first promotion generated an estimated $2,000 in plus business.

Now Cassity is promoting Llumar window tinting for $90 (during the off season for window tinting).

Your store probably won’t make money on the product itself sold on Groupon, but it should get a boost in traffic and exposure.

Cassity says the industry is dogged by the fact that consumers don’t trust our types of stores, but Groupon, a reputable company, gives your store credibility. “It also helps us reach outside our typical demographic.”

“You spend money to advertise with the phone book and hope it reaches people and makes the phone ring. Instead with Groupon, we offset advertising dollars in the form of a discount and KNOW that the phone will ring”, says Cassity, in a press release.

“Advertising and stepping outside of the box is KEY to our industry’s success and I’m happy to assist any other retailer in doing the same thing. Improving the customers’ overall perception of the stereo shops of yester-year versus what we have to offer today is paramount to ensure the continued prosperity of our industry.”

Source: Alarms, Etc., Forbes

Best Buy Mobile Adds 2 Tablets

Best Buy Mobile announced it will sell the new Samsung Galaxy Tab and the Ideos S7 from Huawei. Both 7-inch tablets went on pre-sale Monday.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab from both Verizon and Sprint will be offered at around $600 with multiple plan options and will arrive in stores in November. The Huawei S7 is $299, also slated for November delivery.

Key features of the Galaxy Tab include:
• Works with Wi-Fi and Verizon Wireless/Sprint 3G networks
• 7″ touch screen
• Android 2.2 operating system
• Adobe Flash 10.1 support
• Dual cameras
• Cortex A8 Hummingbird processor
• 16GB memory
• Samsung Media Hub
• 4,000 mAh battery

Key features of the Huawei S7 include:
• Built-in Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n network
• Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR capability
• Android 2.1 operating system
• 7″ color touch screen
• Up to 8GB with the microSD card slot (media not included).
• Built-in 2.0MP front/rear digital camera
• Built-in MP3 player
• Up to 13 hours talk time and up to 100 hours standby

Here’s a video of the S7 as introduced at IFA in September.

Source: Best Buy,
Video via Android Central

iPad Rival Samsung Tab is $400 with Sprint

Of the four carriers that plan to carry the Samsung Galaxy Tab, arguably the nearest rival to the iPad, Verizon was first to announce a price for the device of $600 without a contract.

Sprint today announced it will undercut that plan, and sell the Galaxy Tab at $400, but only if you purchase a 2-year contract. Reports say Sprint will also offer an alternative plan with no contract and a $600 purchase price (like Verizon). It appears Best Buy just put the Tab on presale at $599 without contract.

Sprint will begin selling the Galaxy Tab on Nov. 14, three days after Verizon. And it will support the the device with “substantial” advertising, said The Wall Street Journal.

Wireless carriers may prove key retail destinations for tablets this holiday season as both Verizon and AT&T will also carry the iPad.

Source: Sprint, Engadget, The Wall Street Journal

Borders Discounts eReaders to Sub-$100

Borders is sweetening deals on eReaders ahead of the holidays.

The bookseller is discounting the Kobo eReader by $30, which brings the price down to just below $100. And the Aluratek Libre eReader is also available at $99.99 through November 15.

There’s also a $30 discount on the Velocity Micro Cruz eReader with Wifi bringing the price down to just below $170.

And a $25 gift card is available when you pre-order a Velocity Micro Cruz tablet (7-inch) for $300.

Borders is also giving away 5 free eBooks with the wireless version of the Kobo eReader at $140. The books include “Slow Death by Rubber Duck” by Bruce Lourie and Rick Smith; “Soccernomics” by Stefan Szymanski; “Phantom of Pemberley” by Regina Jeffers; “Eye of the Raven: A Mystery of Colonial America” by Eliot Pattison; and “Wingnuts: How the Lunatic Fringe is Hijacking America” by John Avlon.

On Sony Readers, the Touch and Pocket, Borders is offering a free cover. And the bookseller is discounting all its eReader accessories by 20 percent.

Source: Borders

Photo: Kobo eReader

Amazon: Kindle Sales Set New Records

Amazon, without stating how many Kindles it sold, said its newer, low cost Kindles are selling faster than any previous models.

Its newest Kindle WiFi ($139) and Kindle 3G ($189) introduced in late July, have already outpaced sales of last year’s Kindle sales during the busy Q4.

“It’s still October and we’ve already sold more Kindle devices since launch than we did during the entire fourth quarter of last year–astonishing because the fourth quarter is the busiest time of year on Amazon,” said Kindle senior VP Steve Kessel. ” It’s clear that this is going to be the biggest holiday for Kindle yet–by far.”

In addition, Kindle eBook sales continue to overtake Amazon’s printed book sales. In the past 30 days, Amazon customers purchased more Kindle books than print books–hardcover and paperback combined–for the top 10, 25, 100, and 1,000 bestselling books on Amazon.com.

“For the top 10 bestselling books on Amazon.com, customers are choosing Kindle books over hardcover and paperback books combined at a rate of greater than 2 to 1,” said Kessel. “This is remarkable when you consider that we’ve been selling…Kindle books for just 36 months.”

The etailer noted that industry-wide eBook sales soared 193 percent between January and August 2010 according to the Association of American Publishers. Kindles sales exceeded this rate, said Amazon.

Source: Amazon

Color Nook Expected Tuesday at $249

Barnes & Noble is expected to announce a color, 7-inch tablet/eReader running Android at $249, a source told CEoutlook, corroborating reports in CNET, Electronista and a mention in The Wall Street Journal.

The “Nook Color” will also use WiFi but not 3G and it will ship almost immediately, said our source—a trusted industry veteran. As shown in the picture here from Electronista, the device has an unusual cut out in the left bottom corner, possible for a carry clip, said our source.

Barnes & Noble is expected to introduce the Nook Color on Tuesday at a press event. The color Nook would give the bookseller an edge over eReader rival Amazon. It “also tells Apple you better hurry up and get a 7-inch tablet in the marketplace,” said the source.

B&N accidentally outed the Nook Color on its Web site, but then pulled the page. It showed a screen protector film for the Nook Color and an image of the device, said Electronista.

Also, the bookseller is expected to announce an eBookstore of 12,000 titles for kids– one of the largest, collections of digital books for youngsters ages 3 to 8, said The Wall Street Journal. The store will launch late Sunday. Then in mid-November about 100 picture books will become available followed by year’s end with about 30 enhanced picture books. The books will be available in a Nook Kids app for the iPad and other devices and at barnesandnoble.com.

Source: CNET, Electronista, The Wall Street Journal

Photo of Nook Color via Electronista

Garmin Asustek Alliance [Shifts]

Updated! Reuters issued an update to its previous story announcing the end of the Garmin-Asus brand.

Yes, there will be no new Garmin-Asustek smartphones forthcoming from Garmin and Asustek. Asustek will market smartphones under its own brand “from next year,” said Reuters.

But Asustek’s new Android-based phones will use Garmin’s navigation software. So Asustek just drops the co-branding.

Garmin said it will continue to sell and support the smartphones that are already available under Garmin-Asus.

Analysts say Garmin may now be free to pursue selling iPhone and Android apps, like its rival TomTom.

Garmin still hasn’t replied to our inquiry.

Original story: We won’t be seeing new GPS smartphones from the Garmin-Asustek alliance in the future. Asustek Computer said it will end its agreement with Garmin to produce mobile phones, according to Reuters.

Garmin has already indicated it may exit the smartphone market. In September, its CFO Kevin Rauckman told Reuters that nuvifone sales have not met expectations and Garmin will decide over the next six months whether to continue or quit the smartphone business.

Garmin smartphone sales totaled just $27 million in the June quarter. It produces such phones as the Garminfone in alliance with Asustek, as shown above.

“The smartphone market is seeing huge growth, but the Garmin-Asus alliance has, to date, delivered disappointing volumes,” Canalys analyst Tim Shepherd told Reuters. “With its partner keen to go its own way, it seems likely that Garmin will now look to close its own smartphone business as it has indicated it is ready to do.”

Garmin did not immediately respond to our inquiry.

Source: Reuters

Kindle to Get eBook Lending

Amazon plans to add eBook lending to the Kindle, letting its users lend an eBook to a friend for up to 14 days.

Previously eBook lending was found almost exclusively on the Barnes & Noble Nook eReaders.

Amazon said eBook lending would begin later this year.

You can loan your Kindle eBooks to users of other Kindle devices or apps. And as on the Nook, the lender can’t read the eBook while it’s on loan to someone else.

Also, Amazon said not all eBooks will be lendable as the publisher of each title must approve lending.

Additionally, Amazon, in a blog said it is making Kindle newspapers and magazines viewable on its free Kindle app for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch in coming weeks and then on Android products subsequently. “Our vision is Buy Once, Read Everywhere,” said the Amazon blog.

Source: Amazon

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