Alpine Electronics is now shipping the X110-SLV and X110-SRA, the first aftermarket audio/video/navigation/Bluetooth^® systems equipped with a 10-inch capacitive touch screen.

The X110-SLV and X110-SRA are new additions to the Alpine Restyle family of products, which consist of full-featured touch screen systems packaged with vehicle specific dash bezels and control keys. In addition to being the largest full featured systems in the aftermarket, both models also have system expansion capabilities that allow them to serve as the control hub for add-on products.

“Alpine is again pushing ahead with exceptional solutions that meet the needs of truck owners,” said Steve Crawford, vice president and general manager, aftermarket business unit, Alpine Electronics of America, Inc.  “The X110-SLV and X110-SRA, for the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra, respectively, are the only 10-inch aftermarket systems available and are high quality upgrades since equivalent aftermarket solutions do not exist for these trucks due to their non-standard dash openings.”  

Designed with Details for a Factory Look
The X110-SLV and X110-SRA are Alpine engineered for 2014-up Chevrolet Silverado trucks and GMC Sierra trucks. They come with a dash bezel that entirely replaces the OEM radio area and control keys that match the shape and color of the truck. A large rotary encoder knob allows for fast volume control, while big function keys give immediate access to the most-used features like navigation and music.

The X110-SLV has crystal keys back-lit with blue lighting to match the Silverado’s gauge cluster and a blue color scheme for the on-screen graphical user interface (GUI).  The X110-SLV was named a winner of the CES 2016 Innovation Award in the In Vehicle Audio/Video category. For the X110-SRA, red lighting and a red color scheme are used to match the Sierra’s gauge cluster. Both come with vehicle specific wiring harnesses for plug and play installation.

New Hardware Platform and Operating System
Both the 2014-up Chevrolet Silverado and 2014-up GMC Sierra have shallow depth space behind the dash which cannot fit a traditional 2-DIN audio/video/navigation (AVN) chassis.  

The X110-SLV and X110-SRA use a new modular platform where the processing chassis is not attached to the screen.  Instead, it’s a separate piece that replaces the OEM radio module in its existing location behind the dash, but detached from the screen.  

The result is a completely bolt-in solution with no cutting or modification of the vehicle required.  All the needed wire harnesses and connectors are also included.

The X110-SLV and X110-SRA also incorporate a new GUI based on a new graphics rendering engine with swipe action control for 4-way movement -- left, right, up and down.  

The user is always one swipe away from the most commonly accessed functions.  A left swipe accesses the navigation commands, a right swipe accesses audio and video commands, a swipe up accesses adjustments to the audio system or rear seat entertainment system (sold separately) and a swipe down accesses Bluetooth and source selection.  Within the audio and video page, the user can swipe across to access the entertainment sources connected to the system.

System Expansion Capabilities
Both the X110-SLV and X110-SRA can serve as control hubs for other accessories.  When either system is used with the optional KAC-001 External Accessory Control Module (sold separately), the 10-inch screen becomes a hub for touch screen control of add-on truck accessories like a motorized tonneau cover, winch, air suspension, LED lights, headlights, etc.  Eight individual outputs are available to control eight relay-connected accessories.  

A graphical icon and custom text label can be assigned to each accessory for quick identification on the screen.  The individual accessories can be configured as pulsed, latched or momentary outputs.

The X110-SLV and X110-SRA are compatible with Alpine’s rear and front camera systems.  The KCX-C250MC Multi-Camera Controller (sold separately) can be added to optimize the use of multiple camera systems.  

This optional module allows up to three camera systems (rear, front and side) to be controlled from the 10-inch touch screen.  This provides one-touch viewing of any of the camera images on the 10-inch screen.

Retained Factory Features
The X110-SLV and X110-SRA each come with an iDatalink^® Maestro^® module and specific T-harness to retain select factory vehicle controls and features.  The retained features for both models include steering wheel controls, navigation outputs, climate control display, warning chimes, OnStar^® (voice commands, Bluetooth^® hands free calling and WiFi hot spot retention) and visual parking guides when used with an Alpine or factory rear view camera.  Customized vehicle information such as tire pressure, battery voltage, door status, check engine codes, factory settings and user selectable gauges can be viewed on the 10-inch screen.  

Audio and Sound Tuning Features
Audio and sound tuning features available on the X110-SLV and X110-SRA include:
· HD Radio™ Technology: The built-in HD Radio receiver delivers free, crystal clear digital sound from the more than 2,000 AM and FM stations broadcasting with HD Radio Technology and includes Artist Experience, MultiCast and iTunes Tagging support. Alpine’s MediaXpander^® technology provides further enhanced sound quality by adding back missing harmonics in compressed media.
· iPod^® and iPhone^®:  The models are “Made for iPod and iPhone” compatible and have USB access.
· Pandora^® internet radio: Pandora control is available from iPhone^® and Android™ smartphones.  Users can create new Pandora stations, rate songs with thumbs up or down, and bookmark songs for later purchase.  
· SiriusXM: Both models are SiriusXM-Ready™ and connect to the SiriusXM SXV300 Connect Vehicle Tuner Kit (sold separately, subscription required). SiriusXM features include: album art; display of channel logos; pause, rewind and replay up to 60 minutes of content while listening to satellite radio; start songs from the beginning when tuned to any favorite music channel using TuneStart™; scan and select songs on favorite music channels with TuneScan™.
· FLAC/MP3/WMA/AAC/HE-AAC music playback via USB.
· Sound tuning features:  The large touch screen lets users easily adjust fader/balance/subwoofer levels, bass and treble frequencies, time correction, parametric EQ, crossover or choose from 10 EQ presets.  Alpine’s Bass Engine SQ applies simple bass sound characteristics through the choice of five bass profiles.  Alpine’s new Dual HD EQ allows for independent parametric equalizer tuning of front versus rear speakers to optimize total sound quality by leveraging differences in speaker sizes.  The X110-SLV and X110-SRA are also compatible with the Alpine TuneIt^® App, a free app that lets users adjust sound settings or choose pre-made settings from the convenience of their smartphone.

Video and Navigation Features
The Restyle dash systems have a high-resolution screen for crisp, detailed picture quality.  The Dual Zone video control lets drivers use a source in the dash while the back seat passengers enjoy a separate video on the rear seat screen (optional rear seat entertainment system sold separately).

Both models have an HDMI input for connectivity to HDMI-enabled devices and an HDMI output for digital connection to a rear seat entertainment system (KCX-630HD HDMI switcher required).

Alpine’s proprietary navigation interface includes pre-loaded maps of the United States, Canada and more than seven million Points of Interest (POIs).  Major landmarks, buildings and terrain details for major cities are depicted in 3-D.  Driving directions are delivered through text-to-speech announcements and the highway services list displays the services available at each exit (gas, food, ATMs, etc.) to help drivers make quick decisions while en route.  The systems come with free lifetime HERE Traffic RDS service.

Bluetooth^® Wireless Technology Features
Alpine’s advanced Bluetooth^® wireless technology features include secure simple pairing (SSP); multipoint technology that allows for pairing and connecting of two different Bluetooth devices at the same time; phone battery, cellular signal level and received message icons; as well as call waiting.  Sound quality features include Alpine’s MediaXpander^® technology for better playback of compressed media, improved audio streaming, and enhanced phone call sound quality.

“My Favorites” Customizable Settings
The “My Favorites” feature lets users customize a quick-access screen with shortcuts to their most-used features. Shortcuts can be created from audio sources, navigation commands and phone settings.  If the chosen radio station broadcasts metadata, the metadata is automatically fed into the radio station shortcut icon so the user can see the song that is playing before selecting the radio station.  The shortcuts are added by pressing the shortcut soft key that appears within all audio and hands-free sources.

Availability
All models are now available, visit www.alpine-usa.com for a store locator.

X110-SLV 10-Inch Restyle Dash System for Chevy Silverado Trucks (2014 – Up)
and
X110-SRA 10-Inch Restyle Dash System for GMC Sierra Trucks (2014 – Up)
· 10 inch anti-glare capacitive touch screen
· Audio, video, navigation and Bluetooth feature set
· Premium dash bezel with back lit control keys and all needed accessories for  plug and play installation
· Touch screen control of truck accessories via KCA-001 External Accessory Control Module (sold separately)
· 4-way swipe action graphical interface control
· Touch screen control of multiple camera systems via KCX-C250MC Multi-Camera Switcher (sold separately)
· HD Radio™ Tuner built-in with Artist Experience, MultiCast, and iTunes Tagging Support
· Made for iPod^® and iPhone^®
· SiriusXM-Ready™ (SXV300 Connect Vehicle Tuner Kit sold separately, SiriusXM subscription required)
· FLAC/MP3/WMA/AAC/HE-AAC music playback via USB
· Alpine TuneIt^® App integration
· BT Plus Bluetooth^® wireless technology with audio streaming and multipoint technology
· Free lifetime HERE Traffic RDS
· My Favorites feature provides custom shortcuts to favorite audio sources, places and phone numbers
· HDMI input via KCX-630HD HDMI switcher (sold separately)
· HDMI output for digital connection to rear seat entertainment system
· Independent dual zone video control for separate front and rear video sources
· Retains select factory features with the included iDatalink^® Maestro^® module:
· OnStar® (voice commands, Bluetooth^® hands free calling, WiFi hot spot retention)
· Steering wheel controls
· Navigation outputs
· Climate control display
· Warning chimes
· Visual parking guides with existing or aftermarket rearview camera display
· On-screen vehicle information viewable with the iDatalink^® Maestro^® module:
· Tire pressure display
· Battery voltage display
· Door status
· Check engine codes
· Factory settings
· User selectable gauges
· SRI:  Each model is $4,000

KAC-001 External Accessory Control Module
· Allows the X110-SLV and X110-SRA to be used as a hub for touch screen control of add-on third-party electronically controlled accessories
· Eight individual outputs are available to control eight relay-connected accessories
· Customizable on screen icons and labels
· Selectable on/off, continuous or pulsed outputs for maximum accessory control and compatibility
· SRI: $200

KCX-C250MC Multi-Camera Controller
· Allows up to three camera systems to be controlled from the X110-SLV or X110-SRA’s touch screen  
· SRI: $200

KCX-630HD HDMI Switcher
· Adds an HDMI input for connection to HDMI-enabled devices
· SRI:  $200

The automotive aftermarket grew 3.6 percent in 2014 to annual revenue of $328 billion, according to the industry group Autocare Association.

Private equity investors have been attracted by this size and growth, with the latest reports focusing on private-equity firms expressing an interest in buying auto-parts and services company Pep Boys. Also this month, Ohio-based private-equity firm Linsalata Capital Partners acquired a majority interest in RWA Holding and its subsidiary, Ring & Pinion Service, which makes automotive aftermarket components under the Yukon and USA Standard brands.

Both the new car market and the aftermarket have benefited from macroeconomic trends: record low interest rates, increasing employment, growing consumer confidence, and car-maker and dealer incentives. Further, record low oil prices have helped shift demand to higher price-point, gas-guzzling SUVs.

But any investor in any segment of the autos sector needs to ask: What happens when rates go up? The Federal Reserve has hinted multiple times that it will raise short-term interest rates beginning as early as this summer.

Rate increases will have wide-ranging implications for consumers: loans for everything from homes to new and used cars will grow more expensive; employment growth may be tempered; and headline-grabbing equity indexes like the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 could be in for a wild ride.

Read more here: http://www.cnbc.com/id/102699413

Dancing With Giants

By Jamie Sorcher

The glitter and glory of CES has come and gone, but there’s nothing like a look in the rearview mirror to assess the big trends and to gain some perspective.

This year’s CES was its most massive yet with a near capacity crowd of more than 170,000 attendees, 3,800 companies and, of course, the expanding venues (East, West and South Halls) with 24.7 million net square feet of exhibit space. For someone wanting to see it all, it would require visiting 95 exhibitors each day of the show from the moment it opened until it closed.

Also new this year was the recent name change by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) that hosts the show to the broader title of Consumer Technology Association.

“Innovation and expansion are hallmarks of the consumer technology industry and our association—and as our industry changes, so must we,” said Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of the Consumer Technology Association. “Our membership and the consumer technology sector have grown and evolved to engage almost every major industry segment and America’s burgeoning startup economy, touching almost every part of consumers’ lives. Our new name—the Consumer Technology Association—more accurately represents this growth and the excitement and innovative spirit of the industry we represent.”

The industry getting bigger and broader has brought more than a name change. The larger scope of the show has also seen more companies decide to show off the grid. This year a number of companies exhibited away from the main show floors including Harman, Rockford Fosgate, Orca, DD Audio, JL Audio, elettromedia, NAV-TV, and ADS (iDatalink).

"We have taken the approach that we want to bring technology in—so how do you cap that?" said Karen Chupka, senior vice president CES and corporate business strategist for the Consumer Technology Association (CTA). "We want to create solutions and, as big as the show is getting, make it easy to help people find what they are looking for. When companies go off site, it makes it more difficult to do that."

Read the rest of this feature by [clicking here]

Autocare.org -- BETHESDA, MD – June 1, 2017 – In a major victory for the auto care industry, the Supreme Court upheld the legal precedent of patent exhaustion, which states that a company’s right to protect its patent ends when the product is sold to the end user. Information from an amicus brief submitted to the Supreme Court by the Auto Care Association was used by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. in reversing the Federal Circuit decision that would have been damaging to the manufacture and sales of aftermarket parts.

The case, Impression Products, Inc. v. Lexmark International, Inc., involved the ability of Lexmark to restrict purchasers from reusing their printer cartridges or providing the used cartridges to anyone other than Lexmark. The Federal Circuit case determined patent holders can retain rights after sale as long as the restrictions on use are clearly communicated.

“While the case applied to printer cartridges, the impact of the Federal Circuit decision would have been extensive, restricting the ability of companies to produce and sell aftermarket and remanufactured parts based on the fear of violating a car company’s patent,” said Bill Hanvey, president and CEO, Auto Care Association.

If upheld, the Federal Circuit decision would have provided patent holders with extensive power over how consumers repair and maintain the vehicles that they own. Understanding this impact, Chief Justice Roberts used the following analogy in the Supreme Court ruling:

“Take a shop that restores and sells used cars. The business works because the shop can rest assured that, so long as those bringing in the cars own them, the shop is free to repair and resell those vehicles. That smooth flow of commerce would sputter if companies that make the thousands of parts that go into a vehicle could keep their patent rights after the first sale. Those companies might, for instance, restrict resale rights and sue the shop owner for patent infringement. And even if they refrained from imposing such restrictions, the very threat of patent liability would force the shop to invest in efforts to protect itself from hidden lawsuits. Either way, extending the patent rights beyond the first sale would clog the channels of commerce, with little benefit from the extra control that the patentees retain. And advances in technology, along with increasingly complex supply chains, magnify the problem.”

Read the rest of the story HERE.

TI Automotive, a leading global supplier of fluid storage, carrying and delivery technology, offers high pressure GSS fuel pumps that are ideal for a wide-range of high-efficiency, high-performance vehicles. As a universal in-tank pump, GSS fuel pumps from TI Automotive feature high flow rates (up to 255lph) and high pressure performance (up to 112psi).

TI Automotive GSS fuel pumps are available in multiple sizes for gasoline applications. Designed for reliable, efficient and quiet performance, GSS pumps include a comprehensive line of gear pumps.

The TI Automotive F20000311 is equivalent to the GSS340 with a higher pressure relief. It comes with a 22mm center inlet. The TIA Automotive F20000312 is equivalent to the GSS341 with a higher pressure relief. It features an 11mm inlet, 180 degrees from the outlet. The TI Automotive F20000313 is equivalent to the GSS342 with a higher pressure relief with an 11mm inlet in line with the outlet.

TI Automotive’s high pressure GSS pumps provide higher pressure relief for vehicles that require a higher fuel system pressure than that which can be supported by GSS340, GSS341 or GS3442. These pumps work well in forced induction (turbocharged, supercharged) applications.

TI Automotive manufactures a complete line of fuel pumps, accessories, pump kits and fuel modules for the high performance aftermarket. For more information, visit www.tiautomotive.com/aftermarket.