Carpool Karaoke fans can start counting down the days till summer because that’s when you’ll be able to buy Singing Machine‘s Carpool Karaoke, the Mic, which debuts this week at New York Toy Fair 2019.
Connect the Carpool Karaoke microphone to your car radio via Bluetooth to make your next road trip a mobile karaoke party. Created in partnership with CBS Consumer Products, the microphone was inspired by the Carpool Karaoke segments featuring famous singers and musical groups on The Late Late Show with James Corden. The Mic is intended for passenger use, not drivers. It’s a unique product in the world of aftermarket car accessories.
The Carpool Karaoke Mic has independent volume and audio echo controls, but the music plays through the car’s speakers. The mic connects to your car’s audio system via Bluetooth wireless or an AUX stereo audio cable. Complete with lights that flash in sync with the music, the Carpool Karaoke Mic runs on a rechargeable battery.
Singing Machine sells a line of karaoke systems, but this is the company’s first in-car product.
“Carpool Karaoke is a global, viral phenomenon that is all about the joy of music and singing,” said Bernardo Melo, Singing Machine vice president of global sales and marketing. “We believe Carpool Karaoke, the Mic is the perfect complement to our Singing Machine brand, and we can’t wait to bring a unique twist to the Carpool Karaoke universe.”
Scheduled for availability in summer 2019, with no specified date, Carpool Karaoke, the Mic will have a $50 retail price.
BYD has launched the third-generation Qin Plus DM-i in China, and the first thing that caught my eye is its price. According to CarNewsChina, the plug-in hybrid sedan starts at 79,900 yuan, which is about $11,980. That’s an incredibly low price for a brand-new car, especially by US standards.
What’s even more impressive is the range. The Qin Plus DM-i can drive up to 137 miles on electricity alone, which should cover most people’s daily commutes without using a drop of gas. Once the battery runs out, the 1.5-liter engine takes over. Thanks to its 17-gallon tank and roughly 91 mpg with a drained battery, the combined range reaches up to 1,423 miles.
Apple won the PC market’s worst quarter, but that’s not the entire story. It won the race by stumbling less than everyone else.
PC makers shipped just 57 million computers worldwide in Q3, which might look good, but it’s a 21% year-over-year plunge (via Counterpoint Research). And despite Apple’s Mac shipments falling by 11%, to 5.6 million, its market share rose from 8.7% to 9.8%. How did that happen?
Update (October 22 23:54 PT): In response to our query, GM clarified that offline recording support is already available on eligible vehicles. Like Tesla's Sentry Mode, it requires owners to connect a USB drive to save incident recordings, which can be viewed on the vehicle's infotainment screen. The upcoming Connected Cameras feature will build on this by giving owners remote access to these recordings via the revamped OnStar app, allowing them to check footage without walking out to their car.
General Motors has announced plans to add a new Connected Cameras feature to its OnStar service starting next year, giving drivers a way to monitor parked vehicles remotely and capture footage of certain incidents.