Radio once ruled the car. Now, digital dashboards, smartphone interfaces, and new “infotainment” systems are disrupting the car-listening experience … for broadcasters and car-buyers.
iHeartRadio is now live in the Apple CarPlay system for connected vehicles. It will also be available for consumer use in certain car models and aftermarket headunits. The app allows users to access their favorite live radio, custom stations, and talk shows from their dashboards. Continue Reading
The music industry entered a new automotive battleground. The Alliance of Artists and Recording Companies filed a lawsuit against several car companies, including General Motors and Ford Motor Company, seeking damages for vehicles equipped with what it believes are digital audio recording devices. Ford has filed a motion to dismiss the case. The argument hinges on a key definition. Continue Reading
Nielsen published its latest insights on the outlook for connected cars. The high-tech vehicles are appealing for the cool factor; 60% of future auto intenders said they want one to experience emerging technologies. But the desire for entertainment on the road was a close second, at 58% of future auto intenders. In fact, the Nielsen results revealed that 36% of connected car users streamed audio every time they got in their vehicle during the second quarter of 2014. Continue Reading
Pandora has been growing its international audience since launching in Australia and New Zealand. That base of listeners could grow even more thanks to a partnership in the region with Ford Australia that will put the radio app in up to 60% of all new cars in 2015, according to The Music Network. Continue Reading
Pioneer launched a firmware update that includes support for Apple CarPlay in five of its NEX systems. Using CarPlay requires an iPhone 5 or later model running at least iOS 7.1 Pioneer first announced these plans to integrate CarPlay in April. Continue Reading
AT&T’s Drive Studio and Ericsson released a study that found that connected car services were of high importance for prospective auto buyers. The survey targeted customers who were likely to buy a car within the next five years, and the respondents were located in the U.S., Germany, Brazil, Japan, and China. The results showed that half of all those surveyed would switch car brands to get connected car services, and 72% would delay their purchase by a year in order to get those services from their preferred brand. Continue Reading
Reading that automaker BMW eliminated AM terrestrial reception from one of its new car models was a “Hold everything!” moment. The hazy future of AM is generally troubling to someone of a certain age, who grew up listening pretty evenly to the AM and FM sides of the dial. But there is something more sharply distressing in seeing AM ripped out of a car, laregly because of the baseball connection. Continue Reading
A new poll from Harris Interactive detailed the knowledge and preferences of prospective vehicle buyers about connected cars. Among those who were at least somewhat interested in owning a connected vehicle, 65 percent said they would prefer to have a built-in system. That’s good news for the projects currently in the works at the tech leaders, such as Apple’s CarPlay and Google’s Android Auto, because they’ll have a leg up in buyer interest. Continue Reading
“The once-ubiquitous FM radio is today primarily enjoyed in the car, where a growing variety of audio consumption occurs. But stored and streamed content on mobile devices is steadily marginalizing the broadcast portion of in-car listening, sucking the audience lifeblood out of the medium.” Connected-car analyst Roger Lanctot contributes this guest column that examines how Sprint is handling its NextRadio implementation of FM in smartphones. Continue Reading
In a recent interview, Pandora CFO Michael Herring spoke about the company’s interest in making its services more friendly to drivers on the road. To that end, Bloomberg reported that Pandora is exploring the world beyond music, with interest in formats such as talk radio, news, and sports. Continue Reading
Roger Lanctot is Associate Director of Strategy Analytics, and a thought leader in the connected-car space. He is an influential voice in the field of automotive infotainment systems, and safety, in cars of the present and future. In this article, Roger Lanctot questions whether Google’s Android Auto initiative is ready for primetime. Do Google and Apple suffer from attention deficit disorder? Continue Reading
In the claim and counter-claim of the connected car frontier, the land grab has escalated from digital services planting flags on digital dashboards to broad technology platforms largely defining the operating systems of driving. In other words, Apple and Google are belting it out for dominance, just as they are with smartphones and tablets. The car is becoming a consumer electronics device.
In its the latest parry, Apple has announced nine new automakers to sign on with Apple’s dashboard OS, called CarPlay. Google is making its own news with Android Auto. Continue Reading