Las Vegas Radio/Tech Summit Looks at the Connected Car

Kurt Hansen, the head of Accu-Radio and publisher of RAIN (the Radio And Internet Newsletter) is in the midst of a gathering he organized in Las Vegas called RAIN Summit West.  A panel was convened to talk about the connected car and what it means for radio and entertainment for the motorist.

Delivering Internet audio to the car is hard. Everyone on the "Dashboard Discussions" panel, which led off yesterday's RAIN Summit West in Las Vegas, agreed on that.

So far, implementatation are all unique and different, and it's expensive to work with carmakers.Entercom Director of Digital Operations Amy Van Hook (top right) explained that's why her company is sticking with aggregations likeTuneIn, or Entercom's mobile apps, to connect to cars for now. Chia-Lin Simmons, Aha by Harman VP/Marketing & Content, said it can cost amillion dollars to get integrated into the car "head unit." Moderator Roger Lanctot of Strategy Analytics verified that automakers make hard to "scale" integrations.

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Got 90 Minutes? Then Take a Look at this Doc on the 8-Track

Eight-track tapes were (quite rightly) maligned as an inferior technology when the cassette came along, but the format deserves credit for being the first to make music portable.  And 8-tracks are the very genesis of car audio culture.  If you don't believe me, watch this.  (Thanks to Dave for the link!)

I Like This: Elcaset

It was the name that caught my attention.  An "Elcaset" was a Sony hifi product released in the 1970s that was supposed to be an improvement on the cassette.  This is a three-piece from Melbourne that likes to make noise.

RIP Andy Johns

You probably don't know the name, but you know his work. Andy Johns was a recording engineer whose resume included the Rolling Stones (Sticky Fingers, Exile on Main Street) and Led Zeppelin (II, III, and IV).  Andy died in LA April 8.

Of all the records on which he worked, this is probably my favourite.

(Via The Music.com.au)

When I Win the Lottery, I Want This Guy to Design My Home Theatre

This is a real home theatre set up.  Like, in a home.

Read more about Jeremy Kipnis at Digital Trends.