EXTERNAL EFFECTS
Microsoft Enters Into Music Streaming By Jamie Sorcher
In-Car Tech Inflates Prices
What’s Going On: New vehicles are an expensive purchase, and the latest in-vehicle entertain- ment and safety technologies are only driving prices higher. In the past five years, the average cost of a new car sold in the U.S. has increased about 10 percent to more than $30,000, according to
TrueCar.com.
How It Can Affect You: Consumers want the latest technology in their vehicles —USB ports, iPod docks and WiFi hot spots. For motorists who want to buy new vehicles without jacking up the sticker price, the aftermarket continues to offer a wide range of relevant and cost-effective options.
Facebook Friends a Billion Folks
What’s Going On: By October,
more
than 1 billion peo- ple were using Facebook
actively
each month, which translates to one out of every seven people in the world. Interestingly, it took Facebook six years to
hit the 500-mil- lion user mark, but
just two years to double it — a sign of how much social media has impacted our culture.
How It Can Affect You: The Facebook phenomenon extends to the more than 600 million mobile users, too. Social media continues to be an im- portant and effective way for folks to communicate with one another on a daily basis. More consumer electronics retailers are relying on it to run promotions and updates about their stores. It is not taking the place of a store’s website, but many retailers are using Facebook as a complement to drive busi- ness to their locations and to create a community of active users who can view installations, comment on projects, or get updates on in-store specials.
40 Mobile Electronics November 2012
What’s Going On: A stream of new tablets is heating up the mobile electron- ics market. Leading the pack is the iPad Mini, which will be joined by the Microsoft Surface that has a built-in key- board, track pad and kickstand combination to provide a laptop-esque experience. In November, Best Buy plans to sell its own Android-based tablet, the Insignia Flex.
How It Can Affect You: The smartphone revolution has been impacting in-vehicle infotainment in a major way, but now tablets and tablet- specific apps are gaining traction, too. Expect to see more accessories developed for these tablets so they can also be operated in the car environment.
Mini Leads Torrent of Tablets
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