It’s press release week – err, I mean CES week – in our industry this week, a time when lots of folks gather in Vegas for the Consumer Electronics Show, and announce innovative products and projects. Two announcements in particular caught my attention yesterday. Continue Reading
Google, along with four car companies and a chip maker, has announced a consortium called the Open Automotive Alliance. The concept of Android cars is obviously desirable from Google’s viewpoint. For automakers, partnering with an established tech company solves a couple of serious problems plaguing the car industry. Continue Reading
From CES, Pandora announces a new in-car advertising initiative. Ford, BP, State Farm, and Taco Bell have signed on as anchor national advertisers. The new advertising launch applies to Pandora listening that is “natively” installed in cars. There are currently 130 car models which contain native Pandora integration. Continue Reading
Advertising technology company AdsWizz and audio company HARMAN have partnered to provide what are described as unique audio advertising solutions to HARMAN’s Aha Radio product. We talked to execs at both companies to find out why this might result in a unique advance in audio advertising. Continue Reading
Market-leading Internet radio service Pandora released its monthly audience metrics today, showing substantial growth across the board. As of this post, Pandora stock (NYSE: P) is spiking to the tune of 10% over yesterday’s close, bringing it market cap close to $6-billion. Continue Reading
Amidst the connected-car news emanating from the nine automakers exhibiting at CES this week, we can expect news from music app developers that are racing to claim dashboard territory in those new digital dashboards. Out of the gate is Clear Channel, announcing new distributions of its iHeartRadio platform in cars by Jaguar, Volvo, and Kia. Continue Reading
Chevrolet and OnStar teamed up for the second connected-car announcement of CES 2014. OnStar will provide high-speed (4G LTE) Internet connectivity in selected Chevy models. Along with the rolling Internet, Chevrolet will provide a bundle of built-in apps. Ford and Chevy are promoting opposing conceptions of the connected car. Continue Reading
Ford, a veteran participant in the CES feeding frenzy, made a pre-pre-show announcement about its AppLink software that powers infotainment functions in SYNC-equipped cars. That’s a lot of buzzwords. Click through to see what it all means. Continue Reading
Billboard’s report on full-year 2013 digital album and track sales, showing the first-ever year-over-year decline since the iTunes Music Store launched, marks the end of one era and the start of another. But in real life, market epochs do not begin and end neatly. There is always overlap as conflicting consumer behaviors slosh against each other. Continue Reading
Over the weekend Pandora updated its Android app for more than 100-million people who have downloaded it, adding the alarm clock feature that iOS users were given a month ago. This completes Pandora’s invasion of the clock-radio category, and the AM/FM stations packaged in those bedside devices. Continue Reading
The annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is an important snapshot of the digital product landscape, with a view toward the future. As such, CES commands attention, but each year brings a different focus. CES 2014 is the most important CES in memory, for anyone interested in radio, Internet radio, audio, and mobile infotainment. Continue Reading
Doc Searls is an author and a fellow of the Center for Information Technology & Society (CITS) at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He has a lifelong love of radio, and recently wrote a prescription for the future of broadcasting: How to Rescue Radio. We spoke with Doc Searls about radio, programming, and the future. Continue Reading