Mobile Electronics, 12-1-2016 -- Having natural talent is seen by many to be a blessing. Some people have athletic prowess and capabilities that far surpass their peers. Some with high IQs exceed expectations in fields like math and science. Others, like Jag Rattu, naturally excel at sales. But if you ask him, it takes much more to make his business—Audio House in Napa, Calif.—a profitable enterprise. "When we started, it was just me and two other installers. They worked their butts off," Rattu said. "The store was open six days a week. I worked every day, all the time to get the store running. Getting inventory in the computer took forever. There was a lot of stuff I had to deal with." Since opening his store in July of 2006, Rattu has found ways to increase revenue and grow his customer base. By using his gift for gab and years of 12-volt industry knowledge as a base, Rattu won over customers with his welcoming, non-pressured approach to each sale, and by reaching out to local businesses to build a community eager for new technology. "We had to advertise and get our name out there,” Rattu said. “Now we're doing 10…

11-21-2016, Mobile Electronics -- In the last issue, Joey Knapp provided a detailed look at the composition portion of the photography presentation that he, (2016 Installer of the Year) Matt Schaffer and I presented at KnowledgeFest 2016 in Dallas, Texas. In this article, we are going to take a look at how a camera works and provide some insight into balancing shutter speed and aperture to create amazing images and different image effects. The Digital SLR Camera We are going to focus on an SLR (Single Lens Reflex) camera for this article. While you can certainly use a point-and-shoot or phone/tablet camera to take great photographs, there are occasions when you want more control over the image you are taking. A quick note on ‘what to buy’ if you are camera shopping. Once you take a picture, in most cases, you can never go back and capture that exact moment in time again. So capture the most resolution and detail you can. Shoot your photos in Raw format (if available) to capture more dynamic range (dark and light portions of the image). You can always throw away unnecessary information and resolution in Lightroom, but you can’t create it from nothing…

11-16-2016, Mobile Electronics -- The Pacific Northwest, well known as a music and tech haven, and also the birthplace of grunge, is where you will find the home of AudioControl. The distinctive geographical setting is appropriate for a company with its own unique heritage. Started by musician and former Boeing worker Greg Mackie in his basement in 1977, AudioControl has grown up from its humble roots to become a major name in the consumer technology world. In business for almost 40 years, the company designs and builds top-notch audio equipment (for both home and car) from scratch. With two facilities, an 8,000 square-foot building in Spokane, and a 24,000 square-foot operation in Mountlake Terrace, Wash., AudioControl takes tremendous pride in its “made in America” background. Today, the company has about 50 employees—including obsessive audio experts and accomplished engineers—who are completely passionate about what they do. “One of the most interesting things for me coming on board a year and a half ago is that AudioControl is poised with all of their history to do some outstanding things,” said Chris Bennett, national sales manager-mobile, who has 23 years invested in the mobile electronics industry. “It is probably one of the most consistent…

11-9-2016, The Verge -- During Google’s annual developers conference this past spring, the company teased a version of its Android Auto software that would run entirely on an Android phone and not require a new car or aftermarket dashboard display. Now the company is starting to roll this software out to Android phone owners. The new Android Auto app, which is an updated version of the existing app, offers a completely streamlined, easy-to-navigate phone interface for when you’re driving in a car. It also limits the amount of notification alerts you see, and includes the options to have your text messages read aloud to you and to respond to them using voice. The new app shows just four icons at the bottom of the screen for Maps, phone calls, audio listening, and an enlarged home button — which maps back to Android Auto when running, instead of to the main home screen. At the top of the interface there’s a menu tap, and a microphone icon. Even without actively tapping the icons at the bottom, Android Auto will automatically show a series of cards once you’ve launched the app: right now as I write (not from a car), the main screen of Android Auto…