Tickets For Texters
What’s Going On: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration doled out $275,000 in grants to Connecticut and Massa- chusetts to crack down on drivers who are texting. The
money is being used to better train police officers in methods of spotting text offenders, as well as develop public awareness campaigns on the hazards of texting and driving. Presently,
Music To Mobile’s Ears
What’s Going On: The music service space is becoming more crowded as Micro- soft enters the scene with its new Xbox Mu- sic,
a free all-in-one music streaming ser-
vice with a subscription music plan that costs $10 a month. It was scheduled to roll out to Windows Phone 8 owners at the end of October. It goes up against Pando- ra, Spotify and Apple’s iTunes. Apps for iOS and Android devices are on the slate, too.
How It Could Affect You: Consumers are getting more options for streaming mu- sic than ever before, but what services they choose may be determined by across-all-devices capability and in-car compatibility. Apple immensely impacted the in- car experience and now Microsoft may get its chance.
39 states, including Connecticut and Massachusetts, have passed laws that ban texting while driving.
How It Could Affect You:
As more states get on board with anti-texting efforts, mobile electronics retailers can reach out to consumers who want to text while driving. Most who have a smartphone want to stay connected at all costs, but not if it means racking up driving tickets and points. More visibility is sure to be on this issue as more states crack down so retailers have a tremendous sales opportunity.
Big Boxes Battle Showrooming
What’s Going On: Big box retailers — Best Buy and Target — are battling back against showroomers. Best Buy is
trying out a price-matching guarantee restricted to major players like
Amazon.com, Apple. com,
Buy.com,
CircuitCity.com,
CompUSA.com and
Crutchfield.com. Target is matching prices with online competitors this holiday season, too, including
Amazon.com,
Walmart.com,
BestBuy.com,
Toysrus.com and
Babiesrus.com.
How It Can Affect You: Over the past few years, consumers have gotten more com- fortable purchasing electronics online. Whether large or small, brick-and-mortar retailers need to step up customer service as well as motivate shoppers to come in and make the purchase while in the store. Above all, retailers need to develop pricing policies that allow them to be competitive with online options.
Holiday Cheer What’s Going On:
Overall holi- day spending is expected to increase 11 percent this year while spending on c on s um e r
electronics gifts is also expected to increase, according to the 19th Annual CE Holiday Purchase Patterns Study from
the Consumer Electronics Association. Consumer electron- ics are pegged to be some of the most desirable gifts this holiday and are expected to account for nearly a third of all gift spending.
How It Affects You: Mobile connected devices are the most wanted gifts this season, led by tablet computers. Tablets are the most want- ed gift on both adults’ overall holiday wish list and their CE wish list. Money and peace/happiness are close behind on the overall wish list with smartphones and notebook/laptop computers rounding out the top five.
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