Kenwood will begin selling 2 car radio models at Walmart stores beginning in September, the company confirmed.
The radios are entry-level models including a $95 radio and will be “derivatives,” offering slightly different features than typical Kenwood radios.
Alpine would then become the only remaining top 5 car radio brand that is not sold through Walmart.
Kenwood said it made the difficult decision to enter Walmart in order “to sustain volume in a flat business environment.  We felt this was the most controllable and responsible way to do it, as opposed to online marketplace merchants,” said Senior VP Consumer Electronics Keith Lehmann.
He noted, that Kenwood is only offering 2 SKUs through the mass merchant.  “There’s no attempt whatsoever to place the full line of product at Walmart.”
Lehmann said the Walmart deal will give Kenwood the incremental sales that will help it keep the Excelon program for car audio specialists intact.
Kicker will also enter Walmart in September with a limited number of car amplifiers and speakers.

http://www.parkwaycarstereo.com/brands.html

Starting this fall, Apple will offer its own Maps feature that can give you turn-by-turn directions and traffic, all voice controlled via Siri.
The Maps offer a cool feature called “Flyover,” which allows users to see a 3D view of buildings. Apple gathered its own imagery by using planes and helicopters to collect data for the 3D models, said Technology Review by MIT. Users can use their fingers to zoom in and out of the 3D view, a feature similar to one debuted by Google last week for Google Maps.
Apple Maps will also offer turn-by-turn direction (for the first time from Apple) with traffic updates collected by anonymous data from iOS users (crowdsourced, real-time traffic).
TomTom provides the maps for the feature (replacing Google).
The Maps are linked to Siri so users can ask for directions to the nearest gas station, for example.  They are part of the new iOS6 Apple operating system that is released this fall.

Updated! Apple announced today at its Worldwide Developers Conference that Siri will be offered via a steering wheel control button by 9 leading car makers within the next 12 months.
BMW, GM, Mercedes, Land Rover, Jaguar, Audi, Toyota, Chysler, and Honda will provide a button on the steering wheel that will work with Siri—Apple’s voice driven personal assistant, which also received an update Monday. (Notice, Ford, with its Sync and MyFord Touch is not included in the mix).
Scott Forstall, head of Apple  iOS development. introduced the steering wheel feature calling it “eyes free.” As it “Lets you keep hands on steering wheel while you’re using your phone,” according to a live blog of the event via MacWorld.
Siri, under new iO6, will also now deliver sports information, movie information, send your tweets and launch apps.
Siri will also be  integrated with Facebook so you can just speak to post on Facebook.  (See our story earlier today, which just may be completely wrong now).
The new version of Siri can also activate a new Maps function from Apple that includes turn-by-turn directions.  Maps also has re-routing and the ability to zoom out to see a wider surrounding area.
The new Siri also allows you to make restaurant reservations through integration with OpenTable and Yelp.
In terms of sports, you will be able to ask, “What was the score of the last Giants game?”  Siri will tell you players’ stats by name, and show a player “card” displayed on the screen, said Barron’s live blog of the presentation.
You may recall Apple recently patented a steering wheel control device.   The controls pictured during the conference (via Gizmodo) showed a simple Siri button but not the “click wheel” in the Apple patent.
By the way, the new iOS6 also permits FaceTime video chat over 3G (not just WiFi, as in the past).  It will be available, along with the new Siri features this fall.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, said at a press conference yesterday that the Feds will “examine voice commands for hands-free functions” and may draft guidelines for use of GPS devices, cellphones and iPod-type portables in cars.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, NHTSA, said it is researching whether hands- free systems distract drivers and if so, how that distraction level compares to handheld devices, reported Bloomberg.
“Americans have gotten into very dangerous behavior with their cell phones and their texting devices to think they can use them behind the wheel of a car,” he said.
The Transportation Department has already issued voluntary guidelines for car makers regarding built-in infotainment and navigation systems.  In February it said no task for drivers should take longer than two seconds and that cars must be placed in park before drivers can enter navigation commands or use sites like Facebook and Twitter. The guidelines are non-binding.
The news followed Verizon Wireless’ announcement that it will join with leading car makers to offer 4G in cars.
“We want to make sure they understand, and that’s why we put out the voluntary guidelines that we did, that the ability to download Facebook, the ability to access information while you’re driving the car is not exactly a safe way to drive,” LaHood said.

In an unusual act to improve their fortunes, competing  Florida car audio retailers are banding together to hire a sales trainer.

Del Ellis of Del Ellis Sales Training

The trainer, Del Ellis,  ran an award winning car audio shop and has led several seminars at the annual MERA KnowledgeFest.  He claims that some businesses have more than doubled their sales following his training, for which he usually charges $3,500 for 3 days.
The Florida retailers, led by Parish Tanner of Ocala Car Audio, are collectively flying Ellis to Tampa to hold a one-day seminar at rep MAG Sales.  The first 4 retailers to sign up 4 or more salesmen will get additional  training at their store. The fee is $150 per salesman.
Tanner doesn’t mind that the shop down the street might also get the same sales training.
“If a hack shop has a customer that comes in and has a bad experience, it pushes the customer out of the industry and he may never come back….part of my goal is to make my region as strong as possible.”

Ocala Car Audio is spearheading Florida sales training

http://www.parkwaycarstereo.com/remotestart.htmlTanner, a former rep and distributor adds, “In sports, competition brings success. If you have a couple of good competitors, everyone does better.”  For example, many local dealers can raise labor rates to be more profitable.   “If my labor rate is $65 and the guy down the street is $35, he can bump it to $45 and still be the cheapest in town.”
For those who sign up for in-store training, Ellis will come to the shop, observe and critique and hold a follow-up meeting after the store closes.
During the training Ellis says, “We attack the telephone: how to get people in from the phone without quoting prices.  If you are the cheapest in town, it makes it difficult to make more money, so why start with that?”   He also addresses, “How to get someone in from the phone if they ask about a brand you don’t carry.”
He addresses how to greet people (Hint: He doesn’t suggestion  ‘How can I help you.’”)
As for Tanner, his shop in Ocala , FL is only 3 years old and expects to bring in  over $750,000 this year after grossing over $600,000 last year.
He says, “I’d like to encourage other retailers in different regions to come together as a region to help grow their industry with training.”http://www.parkwaycarstereo.com/remotestart.html

After first showing it at CES, Directed has launched the SmartStart 3.0 update that lets your car “talk” to you, or at least text you and ask if you want it to remote start the car.http://www.parkwaycarstereo.com/remotestart.html
With the new update, the app now relies on the cloud to let you remote start the car from a phone and deliver a several new features.
If your check engine light comes on, your phone can tell you the reason why.
The app may be set so that the car will automatically text you if the temperature falls below a preset level and its time to leave for work.  “Your car can initiate the conversation now.  It can tell you to ‘remote start me.  It’s 7:30 am and the temperature is15 degrees,’” said a spokesman.
Additionally, the car stereo dealer can assign buttons to different phone-to-car features through auxiliary channels.  So you can control the sunroof from the phone or roll down the windows or pop the trunk from the phone.  You can also link the phone to the car’s suspension so it can be lowered and raised.
When you command your phone to start the car, it relays a confirmation that the car has actually started (not just that the signal was received), said Directed.
“This is only the beginning…We have a lot more to come for our customers,” said Directed President Mike Simmons.
The company is also releasing a Bluetooth SmartStart in-car module at $129 so you don’t need to be within range of cellular service to remote start the car from the phone. Your phone pairs with the module.
The SmartStart 3.0 app was released Thursday for the iPhone as a free firmware upgrade.  An Android version is expected to be available by the close of day, and other phones will be supported later.
SmartStart requires a module starting at $199 for the car and a remote starter.http://www.parkwaycarstereo.com/remotestart.html