AUPEO!® To Add Personalized News & Talk Radio Stations

AUSTIN, Texas, March 10, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- AUPEO!®, the personalized streaming radio and audio content platform service, today announced the addition of news and talk radio content to its cloud-based audio streaming platform. AUPEO! is partnering with nationally known and trusted news media partners, as well as traffic and weather networks, to provide a more comprehensive listening experience for its users.

Diversified rich media
AUPEO! is best known for providing personalized music experiences to consumers around the world in their cars, on their mobile devices and at home. "From this summer, our users will not only be able to listen to the music they like most but also to enjoy the latest news and talk content that is personally relevant to them," said David Taylor, Managing Director and Chief Technology Officer of AUPEO!. "We are enhancing our service with all kinds of non-music content. Our users will be served with best-in-class news, the latest sports programming and up-to-the minute traffic and weather information. As audio quality is a critical part of our DNA, all content is professionally recorded. This is not a text-to-speech experience."

Top quality partners
AUPEO! is pleased to announce this move together with key partners including CBS Radio News, TheBlaze Radio News and TheBlaze Radio Network, AccuWeather, GEO Traffic and Umano.

"Distributing our content through AUPEO! enables us to provide individuals with the information they really want since our stream is individualized to each consumer," said Harvey Nagler, Vice President, CBS Radio News. "In addition, AUPEO! provides metrics that enable us to effectively determine consumer demand on a per clip basis. That is great feedback to get in such a granular way."

TheBlaze Radio News offers news and information curated specifically for Talk radio, with content drawn from the reporting resources of TheBlaze.com and TheBlaze TV. TheBlaze Radio Network features The Glenn Beck Program, The Pat & Stu Show along with exclusive Talk programming hosted by Jay Severin, Doc Thompson, Buck Sexton and more.

"TheBlaze Radio Network has built a unique news service, as well as a great line-up of engaging shows, and we are excited to partner with AUPEO! on their new distribution channel," said Joel Cheatwood, President and Chief Content Officer for TheBlaze.  "AUPEO! provides a tremendous opportunity to bring our news and content to people on the go, especially in vehicles."

"AccuWeather prides itself on the Superior Accuracy™ of our weather forecasts and in AUPEO!, we have found a partner equally passionate about bringing those forecasts to their audience," said Steven Smith, Chief Digital Officer at AccuWeather, "For AUPEO!, we are providing world-class, professionally-recorded weather forecasts, updated several times each day for more than a hundred major cities in the U.S., as well as detailed regional and more specialized forecasts."

"We are delighted to partner with AUPEO! for the delivery of next-generation traffic reports. The connected car has changed the landscape of opportunity for traffic information dissemination and this partnership places us at the forefront," said Frank Rizzo, CEO of GeoTraffic. "We are a firm believer that today's consumer only wants personalized content and information. With our updated reports and ability to provide information in a 'hands and eyes free' manner, GeoTraffic and AUPEO! are revolutionizing the way consumers access traffic information."

"Umano set out to provide commuters a new listening experience with content that they could not listen to before. By partnering with AUPEO!, commuters can now enjoy Umano's narrated articles directly in the car," said Oded Pelled, Head of Business Development and Strategic Partnerships.

Advanced discovery experience
AUPEO!'s recommendation algorithms now adapt to individual Love and Ban information and provide recommendations for talk content as well as music. "We believe that this groundbreaking new service will enable a much more satisfying consumer experience and create a new paradigm for personalized consumption of talk content in settings where interaction is not possible, such as while driving a car," said Taylor. "We are also pleased to be able to recognize the visionary partners that have worked with us on this new product offering that we know will be loved by consumers"

The move underlines AUPEO!'s and AUPEO! partners' shared passion and commitment for developing cutting-edge connected services for consumers and automakers. Talk content will initially be launched in the U.S. this summer and will begin rollout in other countries and regions by the end of 2014.

AUPEO! @ SXSW 2014
Meet the AUPEO! team at South by Southwest 2014 in Austin, TX. You can find us at the Wunderbar, Booth 1319 in the Convention Center. To schedule an appointment you can drop an email to [email protected]. Also, you are invited to attend the official SXSW Interactive panel discussion with AUPEO! Managing Director David Taylor on March 10, 2014, 5:00-6:00 pm, at the German House.

Follow us on Twitter: @aupeo_biz

About AUPEO! GmbH
Founded in Berlin in 2008, AUPEO! GmbH is a leading provider of personalized audio streams for the web and internet-capable devices including vehicles ("connected devices"). The AUPEO! Service features high-quality radio  stations that allow users to compile their own individual music programs and receive recommendations for songs. AUPEO! focuses on the fast growing market of connected-car services and is considered a leader in this field. AUPEO! was acquired by Panasonic Corporation of North America Inc., the leading provider of in-car entertainment systems, in April 2013.

About Panasonic Corporation of North America
Based in Peachtree City, Georgia, and with Detroit-area operations located in Farmington Hills, Mich., Panasonic Automotive Systems Company of America is a division company of Newark, New Jersey-based Panasonic Corporation of North America, the principal North American subsidiary of Panasonic Corporation, which is based in Osaka, Japan, one of the world's leading developers and producers of innovative digital and other electronic products for consumer, business and industrial use. Panasonic Corporation of North America acquired AUPEO! in 2013. Panasonic Automotive Systems Company of America also acts as the North American operating company of Panasonic's Automotive & Industrial Systems Company, which coordinates global automotive industry systems and components operations. For more information on Panasonic automotive, please visit: http://us.panasonic.com/automotive.

About CBS Radio News
CBS Radio News is a unit of CBS News, a division of the CBS Corporation. CBS Radio News serves over 500 affiliates nationwide with an audience of 26 million listeners a week.

About TheBlaze
TheBlaze is a news, opinion & entertainment network dedicated to delivering high quality programming 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and is available on multiple television operators including DISH. The exclusive provider of Glenn Beck's daily television broadcast, TheBlaze offers a full slate of thought-provoking original news and opinion shows like Real News, Wilkow! and For the Record, late night comedies like The Wonderful World of Stu, family-friendly programming like Independence USA and Liberty Treehouse, as well as enlightening documentaries and original specials.  In addition to the 24/7 television network and online video streaming network, TheBlaze attracts over 25 million unique visitors per month to its news and information website, www.theblaze.com

About AccuWeather, Inc. and AccuWeather.com
Every day over a billion people worldwide rely on AccuWeather to help them plan their lives, protect their businesses, and get more from their day. AccuWeather provides hourly and Minute by Minute™ forecasts with Superior Accuracy™ for nearly 3 million locations worldwide, with customized content and engaging video presentations available on smart phones, tablets, free wired and mobile internet sites, connected TVs, and Internet appliances, as well as via radio, television, and newspapers. Founded in 1962 by Dr. Joel N. Myers - a Fellow of the American Meteorological Society who was recognized as one of the top entrepreneurs in American history by Entrepreneur Magazine's Encyclopedia of Entrepreneurs - AccuWeather also delivers a wide range of highly-customized enterprise solutions to media, business, government, and institutions, as well as news, weather content, and video for more than 72,000 third-party websites.

Visit accuweather.com for additional information.

About GEO Traffic
GeoTraffic Network is the nation's first traffic network to provide on-demand audio traffic reports by market overview and by individual roadway.  By delivering expertly curated, personalized and timely audio reports through the connected dashboard, navigation systems, and a variety of mobile and web applications, we offer today's consumer the richest and safest "hands free and eyes free" in-cabin experience. Today's consumer demands their news and information when they want it, where they want it and how they want it.  By providing individual road reports, GeoTraffic allows the consumer to access only the most relevant updated traffic information.
www.geotraffic.com

About Umano
Founded in 2012, Umano is the leading app dedicated to providing commuters and people on-the-go a curated selection of online articles narrated by voice actors. Available both on iOS and Android, Umano delivers a personalized listening experience from the world's top publishers and bloggers.  

SOURCE Panasonic