Thursday 19th December 2013

DAB RIP?

DAB-ready cars are widespread but is the technology already obsolete?

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The end of the analogue car radio is nigh according to Halfords, which has said it will stop selling them in its shops by 2015, despite there being no set date yet for analogue switch-off. But there's a strong chance that its successor, digital radio, will be equally obsolete by then.

Woohoo, yeah, lifestyle - here comes the future

It's estimated that half of all new cars sold now are fitted with digital radio, giving you access to almost all stations instead of the six strong, seven fuzzy average on analogue right now. But there's also a massive growth in the number of new cars offering smartphone connectivity, and that can deliver internet radio with the choice of up to 70,000 stations.

A few examples. Ford is getting ready to roll out its Sync with AppLink, starting with next year's EcoSport SUV. That comes with an app called RadioPlayer that gives you access to UK radio stations. It's all smartphone-delivered through to the basic dash screen and controlled by voice or buttons on the steering wheel. Ford reckons AppLink will be available across its new car range by autumn next year.

Vauxhall has something similar with its IntelliLink screen for its newer cars. Included is the Stitcher radio and podcast app offering thousands of stations. Not expensive either - IntelliLink costs £275 for the Adam.

Ford's Applink will stream internet radio

You're probably thinking who actually needs 70,000 stations? But internet music goes way beyond the stuff offered on digital radio. The Aupeo radio app for Mercedes' excellent Drive Style app system for the new A-Class (and related B-Class, CLA and GLA) is so diverse you can listen to stations playing music 'related' to an artist or select music based on your mood, including 'aggressive' or 'stressful'. You can even skip songs you don't like.

This leaves poor old digital radio in a bind. Reception has always been patchy and now it's quickly being overtaken. We spoke to analysts IHS Automotive's infotainment expert, Jack Bergquist, who told us he expected most major manufacturers to offer 3G/4G phone connectivity in cars as standard or as an option by 2015. That app-based services such as internet radio.

Internet radio can even be retrofitted, as Volvo has with its Spotify-streaming service into cars with the Connected Touch screen on board.

The problem of course is the patchy 3G reception. It's generally agreed that radio reception via your phone is fine via 3G if the signal is strong enough, but it's a big if. A couple of days ago the government said it was going to inject £21m into boosting digital reception, but given that 20 percent of radio is listened to in cars and given the unstoppable march of internet radio, wouldn't a great big chunk of that be better spent putting more 3G/4G masts along major roads?

 

 

[P4ROT]

I love the quality and choice of DAB, however it is really enraging when it cuts out all the time...

[Henry Fiddleton]

Nah - what happens when you dont have signal?

[Lazadude]

Henry Fiddleton said:

Nah - what happens when you dont have signal?

E.G. The first and last 1.5 miles every day for me.

Never get mobile phone signal, nevermind a data connection.

[irfan1712]

i disagree.. Signal issues and the fact that you'd need a smartphone for internet radio makes me doubt it would take over DAB. and the fact it would absoulte rinse an already crap battery life on most smartphones assuming you havent got some sort of charging device in the car.

[BRMMA]

Mobile data allowances will need to be bigger and cheaper for internet radio to take off even once the signal problems are sorted

[Anubis]

You'll also end up eating through a lot of your monthly data limits...

[Roma101]

You may be a bit hasty here (already in Christmas mode, are we?). Parts of the country don't have phone reception let alone 3G. Large parts don't have 3G. This means internet radio is useless. I agree though that they should spend more on improving 3G/4G coverage, not specifically for this use, but for the wider benefits these services bring.

[big_boz]

For music lovers (not Radio) Spotify streamed via Bluetooth is the future. Physical music ownership is on the decline these days, my 9 year old, iPad and spotify streaming enabled niece looked a bit confused when i gave her a CD to put in not long ago!

Signal isn't an issue for live streaming when required, but in the main playlists are downloaded to a device anyway so no need for a connection. On the odd occasion that absolute 80's is required for a road trip, its buffered anyway so signal loss has never been an issue.

DAB is fine, but reception for BBC 6 is no better on DAB than 3G internet streaming anyway, so why would i have another piece of hardware in the car that i don't need.

[rtz62]

Didn't one of The Beatles have a record player fitted in their car? Now THATS the way forward.....!
Anyone of a certain age will remember that if you wanted to listen to Radio 1, Luxemburg etc, it was on Medium Wave, which at night time used to fade in and out amongst a plethora of crackles, pops and whines, often accompanied by the dulcet tones of some Icelandic fishing boat captain...
Progress? I don think so.

[R1 Indy]

i think we need nationwide 3g before we even think about this.

i often struggle to open an email, let along streaming music!

[Mr GrimNasty]

Come the apocalypse, when the last vestiges of humanity are scattered over the globe, I think they'll be grateful for the more primitive technology. I can't see anyone knocking up a DAB transmitter or receiver in their cellar. The other thing is price, DAB radios are unjustifiably expensive, it's just blatant profiteering, assuming everyone would be forced to buy.

[Rumblestripe]

I'm guessing the idea is that the car has a mobile phone SIM in its "entertainment centre"? Which would make a lot of sense, but as to overtaking DAB, I think not. The range of a DAB transmitter is far in excess of a 3G/4G mast it would be much more cost effective to fix the holes in DAB reception which are becoming far less with every passing month. A year or so ago I had occasion to drive to Coventry from the North East of England in the company of DAB and I think I only lost R6 for a few brief seconds (and that might have been interference rather than signal drop out).

As for the ludicrous idea of using tax payers money to put up mobile phone masts! Why should we subsidise an already insanely profitable sector when half of them are dodging paying any taxes with considerable verve and success. Stuff 'em.

[Technomad]

This is a complete non-starter in the UK:
- where there ARE high-bandwidth mobile networks, they're often congested or simply broken
- most of the country does not have even 3G coverage, however unreliable, let alone 4G
So anyone trying to use internet radio for mobile use will be the same position as BBC radio circa 1924.
Until we get a proper modern mobile data infrastructure with Universal Service Obligations, this is going nowhere.
I use DAB where I can, but 2/3 of my time I can only get marginal FM.

[Spyder5]

R1 Indy said:

i think we need nationwide 3g before we even think about this.

i often struggle to open an email, let along streaming music!

Quite, and when a typical 3G sector can sometimes only cope with 4 users streaming data "network busy" will become a very common site!

[Pints]

Rumblestripe said:

As for the ludicrous idea of using tax payers money to put up mobile phone masts! Why should we subsidise an already insanely profitable sector when half of them are dodging paying any taxes with considerable verve and success. Stuff 'em.

What do you consider to be "insanely profitable"?

[pimpchez]

currently in tamworth , come lunch time i sit about 1.5 miles from the castle and guess what ,no 3g :@

[JonathanLegard]

Radio, someone still loves you!

[Glade]

I can see wifi and a podcast app being a good initial comprimise.

Improved by being able to run network operator's wifi apps e.g. the cloud, BT Wifi, O2, 3, etc. Then the system could work more of the time (e.g. away from home, or for people who don't park right outside their houses)

The car downloads subscribed podcasts over wifi at night, (or in McDonald's car park) to memory in the car, then you can listen when you want, and don't miss your favorite radio shows etc...

[ModernAndy]

Cassette players had a long ride, CD players a fairly long window of being the need-to-have, DAB radios have had maybe only 5 years in popular (deliberately subjective term) usage and here we are looking at equipping the next big thing. Obsolescence will certainly make the ICE market interesting in the next few years.

[NormalWisdom]

Pints said:

Rumblestripe said:

As for the ludicrous idea of using tax payers money to put up mobile phone masts! Why should we subsidise an already insanely profitable sector when half of them are dodging paying any taxes with considerable verve and success. Stuff 'em.

What do you consider to be "insanely profitable"?

Indeed, most of the mobile Cos may be making profits but they still have a long way to go to recover the capital investment made in their networks! As for the rip-off that was the 3g spectrum sell-off, the mobi cos were actually fleeced by the government on that one!