CD-LESS FUTURES
What’s Going On: Strong rumors have sur- faced that some major labels will stop pressing CDs by the end of the year. At least one major automotive maker has announced a vehicle plat-
form without a CD player option. How It Could Affect You: While CDs may be around for quite some time,
they are quickly disappearing as a mainstay of mu- sic transfer. With the launch of Apple’s iTune Match and the existence of dozens of other services that allow cloud access of your own music, the need to have a CD is going away. Even the need for local storage is rapidly diminishing. To remain relevant, car audio manufactures must focus on interfaces that accept digital formats and are updated easily via firmware of software.
ELECTRIC VANITY What’s Going On: nation
Even since the elimi- of
California’s
“free pass” for the HOV lanes that drove hybrid vehicles sales over the years, there has been a
scramble to increase the longevity, benefit and at- tractiveness of those vehicles. One possible path has been introduced by Altair Product Design, which uses hydraulic fluid to drive wheels instead of elec- tric motors. The system actually allows gasoline to be used more efficiently. How It Could Affect You: As automakers move toward making more truly efficient vehicles versus models that can be built quickly and designed for a narrow market, we will see designs that do not take up as much internal real estate. Adapting to these new designs and un- derstanding their limitations will be key to mobile installation experts. So having a plan to adapt and policies that allow for customer satisfaction will be even more paramount in the future. Also, the newer hybrids will look more like cars and less like almonds.
MERA’s ‘Pocket or Dock-it’ Campaign Takes Aim at NTSB’s Hardline Policy Recommendation
Following a pronouncement from the National Transporta- tion Safety Board in December that recommended banning the use of all wireless devices in moving vehicles, the Mo- bile Electronics Retailers Association has taken a stance that driver distraction should not be a matter of national mandate. NTSB handed down its recommendations following a high-profile highway pile-up in Missouri that its investigators discovered was triggered by a pickup driver who sent multiple text messages before rear-ending another vehicle in a con- struction zone. As an independent organization, NTSB does not actually create policy, and whether U.S. congressional corps and state governments react – and to what degree – is not yet known. Statistics from the U.S Department of Trans- portation suggest more than 3,000 fatalities occur annually that are linked to texting and driving.
To raise awareness and educate consumers and the indus-
try alike, MERA has begun the “Pocket or Dock It” campaign, the aim of which is to educate drivers about the dangers of using smartphones and tablets to text or send multimedia messages. Drivers should be able to adapt hands-free solu- tions, such as a docking station in the vehicle, or through the use of hands-free communication technology, like Bluetooth, MERA argues. “There are many laws under review that seek to target the effects of distracted driving as whole,” MERA wrote in a state- ment. “We feel these are a much better choice than laws that target individual objects. Laws concerning inattentive or careless driving are already in place in many states and municipalities. Proper enforcement of such laws is a more ef- fective way to solve the problem of distracted driving.” NTSB Chairman Deborah Hersman called the recommenda-
tion a “watershed” development in the agency’s decade-long effort to increase safety in transportation modes nationwide because it seeks to change driver behavior, similar to the way previous recommendations have affected drunk driving and seat belt usage. She cited a AAA study released last week in- dicating that 99 percent of drivers in the D.C. metro area said that texting or talking on the phone while driving is dangerous — but more than half of these drivers admitted to recently holding phone conversations themselves while behind the wheel and 20 percent admitted to texting. Have feedback about this story? Please email Info@ME-Mag. com or post to
Facebook.com/MobileElectronics or Twitter. com/MEmagonline. To leave feedback for MERA, “Like” MERA’s page on Facebook:
Facebook.com/KnowledgeFest.
www.me-mag.com 65
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68