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Hey CES, Where is my Flying Car? PART 2
January 13, 2023
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This is our second post about CES. The first “Hey CES, Where is my Flying Car?” is about innovation which often doesn’t happen as fast as prognosticated. What happened to autonomous cars, 5G and smart speakers?
This post is about our business of audio and things we saw at CES.
Just a few years ago at CES, audio was a scorching topic. Technology dating back to Edison and Marconi was very much center stage, having a big moment. From hardware such as wireless earbuds, the fight for smart speaker share, the rapid evolution of music streaming services, and the explosive growth of podcasts, the spotlight was firmly on audio.
In 2023, the focus was less on audio products and more on how people consume content. Audio remains a changing jump ball, as most people now listen via smartphones.
Let’s hit the trends and insights crucial to all audio stakeholders:
The fight for the dashboard
There is an ongoing tug-of-war between auto and technology titans over controlling the driver’s audio experience. Will it be the car companies like Ford, Toyota, and Tesla or tech giants Google, Amazon, Apple, and smaller contenders such as Xperi? While Apple doesn’t show up at CES, its influence was unmistakable this year with a new version of CarPlay designed to take over way more than the infotainment stack. Now they are focused on integration of the entire dashboard. It will debut in Acura, Audi, Ford, Honda, Nissan, Volvo, and others. Learn more here.
AM Radio out of electric vehicles
For 100 years, cars have been sold with AM radios, but as the fleet goes electric, and carmakers say the AM band generates electromagnetic interference, that is changing. Tesla, Porsche, Audi, Volvo, and Ford have already removed AM from their electric vehicles. NAB (National Association of Broadcasters) President Curtis LeGeyt told a group of us, they are in dialog with manufacturers about keeping AM radio in electric cars. The time horizon on this escalates as OEM’s move to an all-electric future. This could be a tough one for AM broadcasters who would be wise to think beyond the big broadcast antenna and focus on digital distribution including shifting to the FM band, streams and podcasts. Learn more here.
The realization that connected voice products need to be connected
There’s a push to make the various voice systems more compatible.
Ever want to use Siri, but only Alexa works with your device? Maybe your car has a proprietary voice system called Barney (Star Trek had it right when they called the computer “computer!”), but you want to use Google.
We saw this interoperability at the Amazon booth, where they demonstrated compatibility with Alexa and Apple’s Siri. Panasonic, which makes the hardware for the infotainment systems used in Ford, Chrysler and others, is bringing this to market, and more will follow. This should improve much of the friction associated with in car audio listening. Learn more here.
Matter attempts to put consumers first with compatibility.
Device compatibility is an ambitious and much needed effort by a relatively new cooperative called Matter. Imagine if all TV’s couldn’t carry the same shows and networks. That’s what happened with smart home devices.
Up to this point, smart home devices operated in their own sphere. I have Ring devices that work with Amazon’s ecosystem, but what if I wanted to use Google Home?
As I mentioned in my previous CES post, consumers are often not the core consideration of innovation. Most smart home devices only work with some devices. Historically, each company has prioritized incompatibility in the hopes of domination. With Matter, this mentality is changing. Smart home devices, from light bulbs to thermostats to smart speakers, will work on Google, Echo, Apple, and others.
This development (pun intended) is a win for consumers that will likely propel sales and move tech from silos to cooperation. For audio creators, it means whatever speakers and systems people use, it should be easier to listen to your content. Learn more here.
It’s getting easier to listen to podcasts (finally)
Most podcast listening occurs in the home. The win is the car, but today it’s still hard to find and customize podcast listening while driving.
The smartphone remains key to all of this. At CES, Google announced auto-transfer from one device to another with their new Android 13. That is a solid ease-of-use improvement for billions of active devices. iHeart announced voice integration for their app to enable easier voice commands. In our view, ease of use is the whole game when it comes to the car.
Podcasts are a hot topic at Digital Hollywood.
At Digital Hollywood, a series of sessions focused on media and marketing, a panel on disruption featured leadership from SXM, Audacy, iHeart, WWE and Pinterest. Many feel personalization and recommendations are improving, giving marketers more targeted options. The executives kept coming back to podcasting and its ability to be more authentic and offer great opportunity for engagement, which means more creative advertising copy and tactics. iHeart CMO Gayle Troberman reminded the crowd, podcasts have the lowest ad-skipping rate of any media. SXM’s Lizzie Widhelm suggested throwing out the playbook and embracing new ideas.
UV protection and great audio
Hopefully, we will see more effort to make audio easier for users. Who knows, maybe the breakout tech will be Paula Abdul’s “Signature Smart Audio Glasses” – also announced at CES – will be the product that cracks the code.
That’s a look at CES: 42,000 steps. No Covid. Phew.
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