From the Wall Street Journal: "I am not a tech-savvy guy. Still, when I get into my car for the morning commute, I bristle with digital devices...

"Car makers and inventors have been trying to develop a safe way for drivers to manage their digital clutter...

"Ford Motor Co., for example, hopes to generate some buzz with a system called 'Sync,' developed in collaboration with Microsoft and rolling out this fall on about a dozen Ford, Lincoln and Mercury models...

"Their idea: Develop a system, using a variant of Microsoft's Windows CE software, that can link to various digital devices using either Bluetooth wireless technology or a USB port...

"If I had a Sync equipped car, my morning drive might go like this: I would plug the iPod into a USB port in the storage bin under the center armrest,...

"To get the iPod to play, I could tell the system, 'play genre jazz' andthe iPod would start playing tunes in that category...

"The most impressive trick... was locating a British radio site on his Web-enabled phone, and then piping the broadcast wirelessly from the phone tothe Edge's sound system....

"The good news is that half of the consumers polled for [a J.D. Power and Associates'] 2007 emerging technologies study said they'd be interested in paying as much as $100 to get a USB interface in their next car. Asked if they'd pay $150 to get an iPod interface, about 43% of the respondents said yes.

"At a theoretical price of $200, 'wireless connectivity' came in at No. 8 among 19 different technologies listed, according to Power. Ford plans to charge almost double that, about $395, for Sync as a standalone option. (It will be standard on the Lincoln lineup.)"

Subscribers can read the entire article at the Wall Street Journal.

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x Paired with another story in today's Wall Street Journal, the two articles are a clear indicator that mobile wireless broadband connectivity — and consumer ability to stream webcasts on-the-go — are on their way. The second report (here) says that Sprint, arguably WiMax's biggest proponent in the telco market at this point, has designated Samsung Electronics to help build out the WiMax network planned for New York City. According to the article, "Choi Gee-sung, president of Samsung's telecommunications unit, predicted the mobile WiMax business could turn profitable within three to five years and that the number of users of mobile WiMax services in the U.S. could rise to 170 million by 2010 from an estimated 100 million at the end of 2008." -- DM x

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	There's huge, and growing, demand among consumers for Internet radio (at least during the 9AM-5PM workday), as shown by the rapid growth of our AccuRadio project. AccuRadio features a variety of popular music formats that you simply can't find on the broadcast dial: Swingin' Pop Standards, Brit Rock, Piano Jazz, Broadway and more at www.AccuRadio.com.

From the Cincinnati Post: "The new HD radio technology is making for some strange broadcast bedfellows.

"Starting Monday, news/talk public station WVXU-FM (91.7) began carrying WOXY.com, the legendary alternative rock station, now an Internet-only feed, on its terrestrial multicast. That means that, at the 91.7 frequency, you can hear NPR news at WVXU-HD1 and cutting edge rock at WVXU-HD2 — if you have an HD radio...

"'I see it as the perfect test run of a multicast channel to see what sort of legs it has,' said Bryan Miller, WOXY.com general manager...

B'casters may not be willing to create content needed to sell HD
"Of course, it remains to be seen if HD radio will ever catch on. Commercial broadcasters have mounted a heavy advertising push for consumers to get into the new technology, seeing it as terrestrial radio's answer to satellite radio. Unlike satellite, HD radio is free once a receiver is purchased...

"There's the rub. Historically, consumers have been reluctant to buy into new technology unless they truly get something new... It's unclear if HD radio will ever provide something consumers can't find elsewhere...

"In commercial radio, Clear Channel has been the most aggressive in launching the so-called HD2 multicasts with almost all of its FMs carrying an additional broadcast, which are in turn streamed through the stations' Web sites. For example, in Cincinnati album rocker WEBN-FM (102.7) multicasts an alternative rock format; classic rock WOFX-FM (92.5) has an adult alternative feed and contemporary hits WKSF-FM (107.1) offers classic hip hop. WGUC has an all-jazz HD2 feed.

"But critics of the commercial efforts, like Miller [pictured right], note the HD2 feeds are pretty much musical juke boxes and he wonders if corporate radio chains, with an eye to the bottom line, are willing to spend money to launch new experimental formats that might make the HD multicasts truly unique...

"'Miller said... 'I don't think they are actually looking for more outlets for more programming. I think they want to produce less programming.'

Satellite and Internet radio
still growing faster than HD
"Eiswerth said he approached Miller about the NPR-meets-alt rock partnership after he saw a Wall Street Journal article on the rise of Internet radio, which featured WOXY.com, and 'a light bulb went off.'..

"For now HD radio is like the proverbial tree falling in the woods. It's not making much of a sound, because 99.9% of the audience can't hear it.

"There are perhaps only a few hundred HD radios in the market. It's projected by year's end only about 400,000 of the radios will have been sold nationwide, as commercial broadcasters were hoping their recent campaign would result in a million in sales. But some recent studies suggest interest in satellite radio and Internet stations are taking off faster than HD radio."

Read this entire article from the Cincinnati Post online here.

From PC World: "You've got to hand it to German PMP maker Venzero. Their sales don't hold a candle to the iPod's (but really, whose does?) but their players always have some kind of distinctive feature... Their latest two players, the FREQ and the LINQ continue the trend, with each making use of radio technology in different ways.

"The $99 FREQ plays MP3, WMA and WAV audio and MTV video (the esoteric video file format, not the TV station). It's also the first media player to come with an integrated FM transmitter, obviating the need for any kind of cabling for listening to tunes in the car...

"Meanwhile, the $199 LINQ (pictured right) , which has a few more media options (it plays MP3, WMA, WAV, AAC, Ogg, WMV and MPEG-4) and a bit more headroom (4 GB onboard, plus a microSD slot for more) has Wi-Fi capability. There are no sharing or transfer options here, but it does provide two nice features: the FREQ can stream Internet radio, or music from a PC using Windows Media 11...

"Both players will be available in late September."

Read the entire article at PC World.

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