By Colby Horton
Shop Site of the Month
Smith Bros. Collision Center - Brookhaven and McComb, Miss.
www.smithbroscc.com
This site incorporates some great features, a nice design and an easy-to-follow navigation scheme. At the forefront of the site is the ability for customers to track the progress of their vehicle's repair using unique identification numbers. The virtual shop tour allows visitors an inside look at the shop and its capabilities. The ability to schedule an estimate and rental car through the Web site provides convenience to customers.
Web Wise
CES Showcases Automotive Products
The Consumer Electronics Show, held last month at the Las Vegas Convention Center, was huge, to say the least. With 1.5 million square feet of exhibit space, 130,000 people in attendance and thousands of new products on display, the show has become the largest of its kind. And if you can get past LG's introduction of a $70,000, 102-inch plasma television that will be available in the next month or so, the CES introduced several new products that may impact the future of automotive telemetric.
In the past two years, satellite radio has become a staple in new automobiles. XM and Sirius are the leaders in satellite radio, and both are looking for new subscribers, even though the total number of subscribers surpasses 5 million. XM had a decent presence at the show, introducing several new products for its line of satellite radio. Pioneer Electronics introduced the Inno, a portable combination of XM radio and MP3 player with 1 gigabyte of memory. The device allows users to store songs from their CD collection, as well as 50 hours of XM programming. A car kit for the new device will also be available when the Inno is available next month, for about $400.
Global positioning devices were also well represented at this year's show. The units, which are designed to provide directions to motorists, are expanding to include DVD players and music files. The ACIC-Z1 from Pioneer has a 30 GB hard drive, using
two-thirds of the space for navigational purposes, and the rest to store up to 2,500 songs from a consumer's CD collection. The system also plays DVDs on its 7-inch screen, and with a certain adapter, can be used to control Apple's iPod MP3 player. The system also incorporates voice recognition technology. A command such as "go to LAX" will produce a detailed map to the Los Angeles airport. And a user's entire address book can be transferred from a cell phone or PDA wirelessly using Bluetooth technology. The ACIC-Z1 will be available in April. Cost is $2,250.
Several other products were introduced specifically to the automotive industry. Safety-related products such as a child car seat that monitors if the driver has installed the seat properly and if the child is strapped in properly were introduced during the show. And outside of some high-tech car audio products, other entertainment gadgets such as a new "dual-view" screen that can play a DVD movie for a passenger while simultaneously showing the driver maps and navigation directions - all from a single monitor - were introduced.
Net Numbers
Amazon.com sold approximately 108 million items during the 2005 holiday season, with a record 3.6 million items being sold on Dec. 12. That's 41 items per second!
Source: Amazon.com
ASA Web Ways
ASA Employment Classifieds
One of the best resources for Automotive Service Association members to fill a position for a technician, manager or administrator in their shop is the Employment Classifieds section of the ASA Web site, www.asashop.org.
Using their six-digit member number, ASA members can post an available position - choosing from 19 different categories - free of charge. These postings include past experience and certifications required, along with any additional information the shop wishes to post. Technicians looking for a job can also post their resumes free of charge. Visit the Employment Classified section for more details.
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Net Worth is written by Colby Horton, ASA's electronic communications manager. He can be reached at (800) 272-7467, ext. 234, or by e-mail at colbyh@asashop.org.
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