Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Report: Automakers Tuning Out Traditional In-Car Radios

  • AM-FM not dead yet but music streaming, Internet new priority

Automakers have killed the cassette player, and CD players are taking a back seat to Bluetooth-connected iPhones.

The in-dash car radio, with its dials and knobs, isn't signing off yet. But, The Detroit News reports it's past its prime in the eyes of some automakers, and most aren't prepared to spend much time or money tinkering with it. Instead, they're focusing on the next generation of in-car entertainment, such as Web browsing and music streaming. Startup automaker Detroit Electric plans to be the first without a radio when it rolls out its first car in August — audio will be delivered via smartphone. 
"AM and FM as a delivering mechanism isn't going to be the most important in cars anymore," said Thilo Koslowski, a vice president at technology research firm Gartner Inc. 
"By 2020, I feel very confident that many consumers will consume radio content through avenues other than terrestrial broadcast."
In other words, drivers may still be listening to radio stations in their cars, but they'll get them in different ways: Connected to the Internet through their smartphones or directly through their car's infotainment system.

Koslowski calls this "digital lifestyle convergence" — bringing to automobiles the music files, texts, phone calls, Web-based radio and other content that people are accustomed to getting on their smartphones, iPads and laptop computers.

It's already becoming a reality: Drivers of Fords and Lincolns can access several popular smartphone applications through the MyFord Touch dashboard interface. General Motors Co. says it will soon offer high-speed 4G mobile-Internet capabilities inside its cars. Despite the competition, Ed Cohen, vice president of measurement innovation at media and marketing research firm Arbitron Inc., says 90 percent of adults age 25 to 54 listen to the radio weekly, and it's still the top choice among drivers for in-car entertainment.

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