Tesla, the new electric flash car that the world is talking about, is also going to be a digital first and shows the opportunity for in-car tech which will have issues for things such as radio listenership.
(I should point out too, that Dermot Hanrahan, no stranger to radio and indeed, Electric Media, pointed out to me that Tesla was the name of a hungarian inventor who is largely credited with inventing radio for Marconi and not Marconi himself).
Tesla will have a 17 inch touchscreen display and in trials it revealed that during commuting times (peak airtime drivetime) that news accounted for 54% of usage. With 26% of sites visited being local news sites and 13% being financial related.
After news, restaurants/travel/auto related sites accounted for 15%, entertainment 14% and lifestyle 12%.
Californians were the highest users of the screens by a mile but legislation in states regarding in-car screen restrictions (such as Washington + New York) meant lower opportunities to view.
Web video is not there yet but getting there and this will of course, bring online digital video into a new market. News for example, will need to be more video driven to reach this audience - an issue for online newspaper publishers.
The massive opportunity for in-car media is only at its infancy but it is something we should be aware of and react to. All cars will have web enabled screens as a standard and we the opportunity to deliver news/entertainment in a visual context, it may override audio radio listening.
But perhaps that's an opportunity rather than a threat. Radio Stations need to move into online video programming anyway, to reach the online user and indeed, to generate higher revenues from online TV. With established presenters doing established shows, there's no reason to move that type of programming online.
Unless of course, the presenter only has a face for radio.....
Next week, Apple's CEO Tim Cook will unveil, what we now know, will be called The Apple Iphone 5. This is Apple's next generation phone to compete with Samsung's Galaxy S3 launched earlier in June and of course, facing possible bans in the US after Apple's victorious court case which I blogged about here: http://streamabout.blogspot.ie/2012/08/court-ruling-apple-persist-samsung.html .
It will also be compared Nokia's Lumia 930, launched this week, although the mobile phone pioneer, Nokia, has had its shares cut to "junk status". So hardly a competitor.
What we didn't know, was that Apple was secretly working on the launch of iradio, as big a gamble as itunes - but more of that in a minute.
The Apple Iphone 5 we know very little about except strong rumours.
It's going to be taller than the current iphone with therefore, a taller screen and about 30% thinner. The connector gadget is getting smaller, with the connectors getting better, giving much faster wireless and ultimately, quick 4G connections. It's likely to have more RAM and a faster processor - so generally just a better phone.
More importantly, reports strongly suggest that Apple is planning its own internet radio service allowing it to compete in the music streaming business against people like Pandora, We7 (UK owned by Tesco) and Spotify.
What would happen is that people select tracks from a 'catalogue' and play them continuously via an internet feed or, more likely, it will feed you music based on your interests (as distinct from actually picking the track).
Rather than owning them or downloading them as in the itunes model, you get continuous radio based on what you like.
Depending on whether Apple choose to go for the model where customers pick their tracks or instead, feeding them music based on interests, they will be a direct head-to-head with Pandora/Spotify.
Spotify (where you pick your own tracks) loses money quite heavily due to music licensing issues whereas by feeding out music based on listener interests (Pandora), it has been much more successful.
Most of us know the type of music we like but don't know what we want. So developing internet radio based on a indication of preferences, seems to make sense.
Other similar business saw share prices fall dramatically Friday, on foot of the news. Apple is such a good company, nobody wants to see it enter into the same space and even talk of Apple entering into online radio saw Pandora shares drop 18%. I think the radio option makes more sense (streaming you music based on your preferences) and indeed it's not that long ago when I chatted to Irish radio businessman, Dermot Hanrahan, who outlined exactly the same vision. Yet again, ahead of his time.
Online radio, iradio by Apple, will be a world beater and by being deeply integrated into their products, such as the Iphone 5, will guarantee distribution. Furthermore, if they get a lot of listeners to their iradio, it will also generate sales on itunes, as when listeners hear a track they like, they might want to buy it.
Great business.
Unlike the giants of old, Microsoft as a clear example, Apple do not sit on their hands. Innovation and invention precedes their greatness.
