LAS VEGAS – AM and FM may not remain kings of the road for long.
Digital broadcasters want commuters to turn their dashboard dials away from local DJs toward customized entertainment, traffic, weather, and news. The new breed of broadcasters exhibiting at CES believes drivers are willing to pay not to listen to a barrage of ads and the self-indulgent patter of disc jockeys.
Command Audio demonstrated a receiver about the size of a remote control that can store up to 6 hours of programs, including local news, traffic and weather.
The company also draws content from leading publications and news shows, including The Wall Street Journal, Time, Sports Illustrated, ABC News, and National Public Radio. The US$199 portable device has headphone jacks for listening on the train, plus a dashboard clip and stereo output for listening in the car. The subscription-based service enables users to fast-forward through commercials and costs US$11.95 per month.
Command Audio is currently broadcasting in Phoenix and Denver and plans to be available in most major metropolitan areas by 2001.
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Motorola, which recently invested in Command Audio, will be integrating the audio on-demand service with its forthcoming iRadio digital dashboard products.
IRadio uses voice-activation and text-to-speech technology to deliver stock quotes, email, GPS-based traffic information, and voicemail to car stereos. Motorola is also working with electronics manufacturers and car makers to synchronize data with pagers and PDAs.
The company expects products to be available by mid-2000.
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Speaking of cars, the Sands Exposition Center looked like a monster-truck rally. Car audio aficionados were drooling over the revved up sports cars, conversion vans, convertibles, futon-sized speaker systems, even a tractor trailer.
Motorola used football legends Marv Levy (former coach of the perennial bridesmaid Buffalo Bills), and (former Chicago Bears linebacker) Mike Singletary to entice the testosterone-rich audience to their booth. Hooaah!
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USA Digital Radio still thinks that AM and FM radio will have their fans, and it's licensing technology that will allow radio stations to convert from analog to digital.
Unlike television, there is no federal mandate to move broadcasters to a digital signal. But USA Digital president Robert Struble thinks the leap in sound quality and competition from satellite broadcasters justifies the upgrade.
Struble said it costs between $30,000 and $200,000 for radio stations to add digital, but broadcasters will continue analog since the more than half a billion radios in the US aren't going away anytime soon.
The FCC will decide on a single digital terrestrial broadcast standard later this year, choosing between USA's iDAB, and competing technology from Lucent, according to Struble.
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Philips showed off a remote control unit that looks like a Palm Pilot, but could run an entire household. The Pronto can be programmed to replace all entertainment remotes, including TV, VCR, CD and DVD players, tape decks, receivers, laser disk players. It can even control the lights.
The Pronto uses a touch screen that can store images and can be customized with favorite TV channels or radio stations for quick access.
Then again, think how powerless you'd be if the sofa ate it.
