Car Kit Brings Android to Toyota Radios: VAIS

If you have an Android phone and drive a Toyota or Lexus, a new kit due this July should help you control your phone from the car radio.

VAIS Technology is launching an Android car kit expected to cost around $500.   It turns your phone into another mode for the radio, just as AM/FM or CD.

It will mirror compatible Android phones directly on Toyota and Lexus navigation screens. All phone features will be displayed on the factory nav screen and be controlled using a touch screen or joystick depending on the vehicle model.

The kit will communicate with the phone via Bluetooth but it will charge it via USB.  Video will be controlled from the phone via HDMI or MHL.

The new kit may be considered an Android version of VAIS’s current MediaLinQ Plus kit that brings iPod Out to Toyota radios.

At least one of VAIS’s kits will support both Android and iPhone/iPod smartphones, said the company.

VAIS plans a pre-release video of the product this June.

Source: VAIS Technology

 

 

Alpine to Bring MirrorLink to U.S.

Alpine finally avowed it will bring MirrorLink technology to the U.S. in an aftermarket car radio this year.

MirrorLink is a new standard for enabling your car radio screen to literally mirror your cellphone screen as well as  control the phone.

The idea is that once you connect your phone to the radio, you don’t need to look at it while driving. The second goal is to attract so many suppliers to the platform that most phones will work with most car radios.

“Consumers don’t want to wonder if their smartphone will be accessible in a certain car. They just want it to work,” says  Mika Rytkonen, Chairman of the Car Connectivity Consortium which is promoting MirrorLink as a standard.

MirrorLink is now backed by 70 percent of the automotive market and 60 percent of the smartphone marketplace worldwide.  Regrettably,  Apple is not a member.

Sony was first to announce a MirrorLink radio and expects to ship two models by this summer.

Alpine however, has been marketing a MirrorLink product overseas since late last year.  It was also the first aftermarket company to join Nokia in the  Car Connectivity Consortium to created the MirrorLink standard.

Said Alpine’s Steve Crawford, “The background is Alpine was the charter car electronics member of the Consortium and the first to team up with Nokia to define the guidelines for the MirrorLink protocol, so that’s been in the pipeline for a couple of years now.”

So why launch in Europe?   Originally MirrorLink worked only with Nokia phones which are more popular in Europe.  However, the standard has since been extended to other phones including Android and Windows Phone models.

To accommodate Apple iOS connections, suppliers use their own solution developed through their proprietary relationships with Apple.

Alpine would not pin down a date or product description for its upcoming product other than it should be available this year.   It’s European model—the ICS-X8 App Link Station, works only with certain Nokia phones and we assume a U.S. version will work with a broader range of phones including Android models.

Source: CEoutlook

 

Kicker Comp Subs Now in 2-Ohms

Kicker (Stillwater Designs)  is now shipping new Comp subwoofers in 2-ohm versions and with dual voice coil options.

This is the first time Kicker has offered Comp woofers with dual voice coils  in 15- and 12-inch sizes, according to the company.

Kicker says its subwoofers include “the stiffest injection-molded cone with flex-killing, 360-degree back bracing for distortion elimination, the newest coil-cooling perimeter venting, high-temp voice-coil wire, and Spiralead tinsel-lead technology for ultimate durability.”

The new Comp models come in 8-, 10-, 12- and 15-inch sizes with power handling ratings from 100 to 300 watts RMS.

Source: Kicker

 

 

Acura 3rd Car Maker to Include Aha Radio

Aha by Harman, which delivers apps to drivers in a safe interface, will be offered in the Acura RLX beginning in model year 2013.

Acura joins Honda and Subaru, which are also planning to include the Aha service in 2013 model year vehicles (as announced at CES in January).

Aha calls itself the “fourth band” of radio as it gives drivers easy access through voice and a simple visual interface to apps such as Facebook and Twitter and tens of thousands of audio stations including Internet radio.  It also lets you access podcasts, live news, and audio books and lets you create preset stations on the radio buttons of your favorite stations.

“Our vision to safely connect drivers to the latest Web content is being realized one leading automaker at a time,” said Robert Acker, Harman VP and General Manager of Aha. “…Aha continually adds new stations in the cloud, so Acura can be sure its customers will be getting up-to-date infotainment for the life of their vehicles.

The new Acura RLX is on view at the New York Auto Show.

Aftermarket car radio companies including Pioneer and Kenwood also include Aha in car radios.

Source: Aha by Harman

AAMP Now at Tint World Stores

AAMP of America announced it is now an official vendor for Tint World, the fast growing car audio/car care franchise group based in Weston, Florida.

Tint World will carry all AAMP brands excluding Phoenix Gold, said a Tint World spokesman.

Tint World has opened about 15 store franchises since 2007 and 5 more are expected to open soon.  The chain expects to reach 40 locations by the beginning of next year.

Tint World already stocks brands including Rockford, Alpine, Kenwood, Kicker, Clifford, Viper, Audiovox, Parrot, Memphis, NAV-TV, and Got2bWireless.

About 50 percent of the chain’s sales are in window tinting, but the stores aim to be a ‘one stop shop for the car’ providing detailing, dent repair and car audio.

AAMP of America produces or distributes brands including Stinger Electronics, Pacific Accessory Corporation, iSimple, Phoenix Gold, American International, Best Kits & Harnesses and Sound Q.

Source: AAMP of America

New iPad Car Radio is Video Legal

This car radio has as a special 3-foot arm for an iPad that securely holds the iPad in place for kids in the back and provides a special layer of parental control for mom and dad in the front seat.

The “IDEA” (iPad Deck Extension Arm) radio is the latest brainchild of Skosh.  It includes a retractable brushed aluminum arm affixed to a standard double DIN car radio with a 6.2-inch touch screen.  If parents feel their kids are acting up in the back they simply retract the arm.  Snap!  It quickly, but safely retrieves the iPad from the back seat.

The radio includes a new user interface called “Aperil” that fools the eye into thinking  the images on the screen are actually larger than they are.

The IDEA radio with arm (iPad not included) by Skosh goes on sale April 1 at $1,299.

Source: Skosh April 1, 2012

 

First Metra Kit with Touchscreen

Metra Electronics is shipping its first car radio replacement kit to include its own touch screen.

 The kit is for Ford Mustangs model year 2010 and up.  It allows you to swap the factory radio for an aftermarket model and retain Sync features.  The kit comes with a 4.3 inch touch screen for climate and radio controls.  Sync information appears on the screen including song titles and text information.  The kit number 99-5826CH is also USB updatable and it offers a number of additional outputs.

Several other new car  strereo replacement dash kits are shipping from Metra including models for the 2012 Honda Civic, Mercedes GLK, 2009 and newer, and Lincoln Continental, 1998 – 2002 and 2012 Mazda 5.

Source: Metra Electronics

How The Car Dealer Sees The 12V Industry

One of our own, Barry Vogel, is currently working at Volkswagen and Ford dealerships and can provide an unusual perspective on how car dealers and consumers view your shop and car audio in general.

“We as an industry have it so wrong. You cannot believe how wrong we have it…” says Vogel who is a past President of MERA (currently the Mobile Electronics Retailers Association) and he remains owner of the car electronics shop Ultimate Edge, in Oswego, NY.

The first tip is that car dealers aren’t concerned about the profits they can make from working with expeditors to offer aftermarket radios in the showroom.   They are so busy they only care about electronics if it can make or break a car sale.  Says Vogel, “There’s a huge opportunity for expeditor business. But we don’t understand the car dealers’ mind set. We want to sell them aftermarket products as a profit center. For them, it’s just one more thing they have to deal with. The only reason they’ll sell it is if it helps the car sales. The key there is finding a way to make it easy and painless for a car dealer to sell aftermarket products.”

Point two is on sound quality. “We’ve talked, as an industry, an awful lot on how today’s consumer doesn’t appreciate sound quality. I’m here to tell you that’s absolutely nonsense. Almost every customer that comes in [to the VW dealer] wants to hear the stereo and they want the upgrade….I would say it’s a minority of customers that don’t ask about the sound quality of the system.” This demonstrates that aftermarket shops need to teach consumers about true sound quality, he says.

Thirdly, customers don’t trust car audio shops to touch their cars. “When I talk to a customer that comes in with a base level car, I’ll bring up to them you can upgrade the system. They’ll say, “Oh, no, I’ve heard horror stories. I’m not letting anyone touch my car. They don’t trust aftermarket people…” said Vogel. He estimates of the approximately 4,000 car electronics shops in the country, 60 to 70 percent ” are not delivering a quality experience. “  Ouch!

Vogel finds that almost every customer, “including people over the age of 60, want to know if they can hook up their iPhone and play music files…in Arizona, you can still legally talk on a handheld phone, but even with that, our customers want Bluetooth.”

Some food for thought…

Source: CEoutlook

BMW to Offer Stitcher

BMW announced at the South By Southwest Interactive Conference that it is adding Stitcher—on-demand radio for news, talk and live programming– to the list of apps that work with its infotainment systems.

BMW and MINI customers will be able to access the on-demand streaming service via the car radio.  Stitcher lets you create playlists of your favorite news, sports and talk radio shows and it recommends other programs based on your listening preferences. It provides access to over 5,000 radio shows and has been downloaded over 5 million times.

Stitcher describes itself as “the leader in Internet Radio for the world beyond music. We deliver the latest news, politics, sports, business and entertainment on-demand to listeners on their mobile phones.”

BMW car radios will allow users to create or remove custom stations Stitcher stations on demand.

Other car makers including Ford, Toyota and General Motors are also offering or plan to offer Stitcher compatibility.

Source: BMW via Engadget

MERA Rescues Retailers With Advertising

MERA, the Mobile Electronics Retailers Association, announced the formal launch of its program with Revenew Online that creates ready-to-go advertising campaigns for retailers.

MERA members can use Revenew to quickly launch a professional campaign in 20 minutes that includes Facebook, email, banner ads, web buttons and more.

It works like this: manufacturers provide Revenew with the logos, photos, copy and ad templates on their new products. And Revenew keeps in its data base, the retailer’s logo and mailing list. “In about 20 minutes, the retailer has a professionally derived preapproved campaign and they can also request marketing funds through the system,” said Kara Holder Revenew director of marketing.

The retailer just hits “send,” she said.

Chris Cook, MERA President said the problem with ad programs for retailers “has always been accommodating different methods for different retailers in different markets. Revenew Online is a single system our members can use to send a manufacturer’s message to their customers…”

MERA members get a $100 credit towards Revenew which works on a pay as you go basis for various promotions.  “It’s relatively inexpensive,” said Cook.

“This in turn should increase consumer awareness and brings more customers through our retailers’ doors,” he added.

MERA also expects to work with a search engine optimization program for retailers in the future.

For the Revenew program,  dealers may click here to get started, or visit www.revenewonline.net or www.merausa.org.

Source: MERA

New Audi A3 Gets “Phone Box”

As hinted at CES, Audi’s newly revealed A3’s infotainment system will have a number of advanced features including a “Phone Box” that boosts the signal of your smartphone.

Users also get a track pad that is used as a controller as you trace letters with your fingers on the pad.  The track pad combines with a jog wheel to control the features on a pop up screen on the dash. (It was previously available only on higher end models).

The pop up screen also shows your Facebook wall and Twitter feeds and the car will also “read aloud” this information.

In the phone box, you plug in your smartphone and it is automatically connected to the car’s antenna to boost your cell signal (incoming and outgoing).

Owners of the upcoming 2013 model year Audi A3  can get additional perks that show up on the pop-up screen.  The screen will display and the system will read aloud listings of local events and flight information.

Engadget got a demo of the system at Cebit in Germany this week.

Source: Engadget

Directed Shifts Reps in Florida

Directed confirmed that Dynamic Sales, which has served as the Directed rep for Southern Florida, will now cover the full state.

Additionally, Ed Schnied, who was previously a factory rep for Directed in Flordia, has left that post.  Interestingly, it is Schnied’s brother, John Schneid at Dynamic Sales who is now responsible for representing Directed in the full state of Florida.

Also at Directed, David McCollough, regional sales manager, will expand his territories to include South Carolina and Georgia.  McCollough already handles Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee and West Kentucky.

Source: CEoutlook

Car Audio Dealer Up By $1 Million

Austin, TX-based 16-store Custom Sounds said the car audio chain boosted sales by $1 million last year, mainly by improving the way calls to the store are handled by salespeople.

The chain expects to see another $1 to $1.5 million bump this year.   Its 2011 sales amounted to $13.2 million, up from $12.2 million in 2010.

“We’re improving two things,” says President Mike Cofield.  “..our conversion rate from the phone call to customers entering  the door and the customer experience in the stores.”

For training, the store shows hundreds of video clips to salesmen and then it conducts role playing demos.  It illustrates how easily a customer is lost when salespeople deviate from the procedures.

Prior to the training, a salesman on the phone “might give a one word answer or misquote a price.” Now salesmen “give more information so the customer gets the information he’s really looking for in less time.” Also customers are formally invited to come into the store.

Separately,and unrelated to Mike Cofield and the MESA buying group which he heads as President, the In-Car Experts Buying Group also focuses on phone sales training through a mystery shopper contest.

Source: CEoutlook

Intel to Invest $100 Million In Car Tech

Intel announced this week a $100 million fund to invest in future technology for the car, which it calls the “ultimate mobile device.”

By 2014, the car will be among the 3 fastest growing areas for connecting to the Internet, which makes it a key target area for Intel.

Specifically, Intel Capital, the investment arm of the chip maker, has created the Intel Capital Connected Car Fund that will be distributed over the next 4 to 5 years.

The company hopes to speed up advancement in the car, including vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication. Next gen driver safety devices, speech recognition, gesture recognition and eye tracking technologies for use in the car will also be areas of investment.

“Ultimately, the connected car will have the intelligence and context awareness to offer the right information, at the right time and in the right way to keep drivers and passengers informed, entertained and productive while maintaining optimal safety. Once the car becomes connected, it can also communicate with the cloud, the transportation infrastructure and even other vehicles to provide additional services such as advanced driver assistance and real-time traffic information to optimize the flow of traffic,” said an Intel statement.

In addition to the new fund, Intel announced it is expanding Intel Labs research into the automotive space and it is opening a new auto research and development facility in Germany.

Source: Intel

HTC Phones to Create “New Car Experience”

HTC began heavily pushing quality audio when it partnered with Beats by Dre.  Now it wants to create a “completely new car experience,” it announced this week at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain.  The quote comes from the Boy Genius Report.

First,  HTC is offering an optional wireless “Car Stereo Clip” as an accessory that will play music from more than 50,000 Internet Radio stations through the car speakers.  Or you can play music from any service or app on your phone through the car speakers.

An HTC spokesperson said the car stereo clip plugs into any car radio with an audio-in jack.  Or it can connect to the radio via Bluetooth.  “It works in conjunction with a car mount that will charge your phone and automatically put it in “car mode” which allows you to “fat finger” through several menu screens of features most used while driving.”

The car stereo clip is available  for HTC’s new “One” series phones including the One X due in a U.S. version this spring from AT&T.  The phone embeds plenty of access to music.  According to the Boy Genius Report, it will wirelessly sync to iTunes and it provides Pandora, Spotify and TuneIn buil- in to the user interface.

The music is also processed through Beats Audio processing in the phone.

The HTC One X for the U.S. is a 4G LTE device with a dual core Snapdragon S4 processor and a 4.7 inch 720p HD screen.  There’s also a One S version due from T-Mobile in the U.S.  with a smaller screen at 4.3 inches.  Pricing has not been announced.

Source: HTC, Boy Genius Report

Emerging Car Technology Tested by CR

A new car safety technology that could be an important future aftermarket car AV product has been tested by Consumer Reports, which gave it a thumbs up.

The technology, in both aftermarket and OEM forms, is vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications—cars “talking” to each other.

General Motors is already working on an app that links with a car radio’s video display and audio system to allow V2V communication.  The app relies on a smartphone to pick up the wireless signal for the V2V network (a special V2V network was set aside by the Fed a decade ago).

GM is also working on a stand-alone portable transponder about the size of a portable GPS navigator.

Consumer Reports announced, after testing out V2V (or V2X, as it sometimes called), that “Consumer Reports believes that the potential safety benefits of this technology make it worth pursuing…”

V2V technology could alert you if a nearby driver is running a red light, with enough time so you can hit the brakes.   And it can stop you from making a left hand turn into oncoming traffic.

Officials say it is more effective and cheaper to deploy than current safety devices such as blind spot detectors.

Two of Consumer Reports’ journalists who tested V2V were “impressed with the effectiveness and potential safety benefits of the systems,” they said.

The V2V network allows each car to transmit information up to 1,000 feet around it, and each car sends signals out about its speed and location at a rate of 10 times a second.

“The past 50 years have been about surviving vehicle crashes; the next 50 will be about preventing them,”  stated Gregory Winfree of the Dept. of Transportation.

As we noted in January, the aftermarket may play a critical role in the deployment of V2V technology as the more cars that use it, the more effective the system becomes.

“It only works if you’re equipped and everybody else around you is equipped,” says Mike Shulman, technical leader at Ford. “And how do you go from a world where nobody’s got it to a world where everybody’s got it?”

So a number of car makers and aftermarket companies are researching aftermarket options, including those from GM mentioned above.

V2V could prevent about 80 percent of crashes (other than those relating to drunk driving).

Here is the Consumer Reports article.

Source: Consumer Reports

M Rothman Named Sony Distributor

M. Rothman said it was named the Sony Mobile distributor in the Northeast effective last month.

The company, which also distributes Pioneer as well as JVC, JBL, Infinity, Audiovox, Viper and other brands, will handle Sony car audio for the areas of Trenton, NJ, Rochester, NY, Westchester/ Rockland, NY, and all of New England and upstate NY.

Source: M. Rothman

Fed Proposes Limits on Car Navigation

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.

These are voluntary guidelines, but the agency expects that auto makers will fully comply, and in fact, many car makers already follow the guidelines.

The aftermarket is not excluded from the DOT’s radar.  A second phase of guidelines  will affect aftermarket products such as portable navigation systems as well as “smart phones, electronic tablets and pads, and other mobile communications devices,” said the DOT.

A third set of guidelines may address voice-activated controls to further minimize distraction in factory-installed, aftermarket, and portable devices, said the agency.

As for phase one of the guidelines for auto makers, public comments are invited over the next 60 days and public hearings will be held in March in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Washington D.C

The phase one guidelines apply specifically to any infotainment/navigation functions “that are not required to safely operate the vehicle.”

“We recognize that vehicle manufacturers want to build vehicles that include the tools and conveniences expected by today’s American drivers,” said David Strickland, Administrator for NHTSA  (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration), the arm of the DOT responsible for the guidelines. “The guidelines we’re proposing would offer real-world guidance to automakers to help them develop electronic devices that provide features consumers want-without disrupting a driver’s attention or sacrificing safety.”

He also noted that data shows that “the vast majority of crashes occur because of dangerous behavior, including driving drunk, driving while distracted, and driving too fast.”

You can view the full guidelines and DOT press release here.

Source: DOT via The Wall Street Journal

Ford Expands Sync Availability

The Ford Sync 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 Thursday.

Over 4 million Sync systems have sold since 2007, but the sales pace will now accelerate.  Within 3 years, another 9 million Sync system should be on the road, or a total of 13 million, Ford said.

Ford claims it launched “the upgradeable car” with the Sync that offers a USB or Bluetooth smartphone connection to the radio and voice control over music and other features including hands free calls.

“Ford SYNC technology has led the industry in transforming the way we connect to our cars,” said Dave Mondragon, Ford General Marketing Manager. “SYNC has enabled Ford drivers to take advantage of the latest communication and entertainment technology with an easily upgradeable architecture that is friendly to use.”

Ford notes that 9 states have now completely banned the use of hand-held phones by drivers with at least 35 states prohibiting texting behind the wheel. At the same time, more than 300 million cell phones were estimated to be in use in the U.S. as of mid-2011.

Source: Ford

Fed Loosening up on Driver Distraction:WSJ

The Fed is changing its tune on calling for a full ban on cellphone use in the car, and the movement to legislate against “connected cars” appears to be fading, reported the Wall Street Journal Friday.

Lobbyists for the auto makers say the administration is indicating it’s changing its view on limiting car technology.  Also transportation Sec. Ray LaHood recently elected not to hold a 3^rd annual Distracted Driving Summit this year, “and signaled he won’t challenge auto makers that are integrating cellphones into their dashboard marvels,” said the WSJ.

Meanwhile, NHTSA, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, is studying driver distraction and plans to release a report late in the year. It will look at the differences in hands free phone use, semi-hands free use and handheld use of smartphones.

The Transportation department will also release in a few weeks new guidelines for auto makers on driver safety, but these are expected to generally follow what car companies are already offering.

Technology remains a key selling point for auto makers who are trying especially to woo young people into the car market.

Source: Wall Street Journal (subscription required to view full article)

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