Gizmodo: XM Satellite Radio

Onkyo Debuts World's First XM, Sirius, HD Radio Tuner

Louis Ramirez — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 15:25:09 EDT

We hit up Onkyo's press event in Jersey City this afternoon where in addition to its new line of uber-receivers and HTiBs, the company also quietly unleashed the world's first three-way radio tuner (it's the one on the bottom). The T-4555P is a radio lover's wet dream come true, with built-in tuners for Sirius Radio, XM Satellite Radio and HD Radio. The $499 tuner is scheduled to ship soon, so all you radio fans who like having multiple options will benefit from waiting an extra week or so. Oh yea, it has AM and FM, too.

If you're wondering what's sitting on top of the T-4555P...

it's Onkyo's DV-SP405, a DVD player that'll upconvert your standard DVDs to 1080p via HDMI. It's slated to come out in July for $149, which is nothing revolutionary, but nicely priced nonetheless. – Louis Ramirez

Onkyo USA

XM's Touchscreen Patent Puts the Buttons on Your Fingers

Louis Ramirez — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 15:20:19 EDT

XM Satellite Radio is taking a different approach to the touch-screen/gadget craze. They have a patent on a gadget whose functions are mapped out to your fingers instead of its screen. Wanna switch stations, use your middle finger. Wanna access the menu, use your index finger. The technology would rely on your fingerprints to work and XM claims it'll make navigating through channels easier.

Personally, something like this would confuse the hell outta me and unless this is a gadget that I use everyday, it'll probably have a steep learning curve too. No word on when we'll see any of these new touch-screen gadgets. – Louis Ramirez

XM's Touchscreen Patent Application [Orbitcast]

Rats! Rats! Rats! Devouring Employees Alive at XM

Matt Buchanan — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 15:05:02 EST

Did you know that in addition to cheese, peanut butter and small children, rats also enjoy dining on fiber optic cable?

Specifically, the fiber optic cable in Production Room 8 (now out of commission) at XM's headquarters in D.C.? These aren't the friendly kind you experiment on in high school, either. A senior VP told employees, "Those of you familiar with D.C. rodents know that we're looking at the size of small house cats."

While there's been no service disruption yet, the exec added that, "Tomorrow it could be a cable to a satellite uplink. It is that serious." If I worked at XM, I'd be filling out an application for Sirius pronto, before the rats ate me. – Matt Buchanan

RODENT PANIC [Page Six]

Delphi's Promiscuous Sound System Docks Most of Your XM Receivers

Louis Ramirez — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 11:35:49 EST

When it comes to showing its love, Delphi's new Premium Sound System doesn't hold back. The promiscuous player has the ability to work with a variety of XM receivers, as opposed to just docking one. So in other words, you can slide in your Roady XT, SkyFi 3, Inno, and so forth. The verdict is still out on sound quality (although there's a built-in bass enhancer to enrich sounds at low level), but feature-wise, Delphi's got our full attention. The unit will be out this spring for $179. – Louis Ramirez

Delphi Launches Multi-Radio Satellite System [Electronic House]

United Pampers Geeks with iPod Connector and XM Radio

Louis Ramirez — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 19:35:15 EST

I admit, I don't like flying, but book me on United's new "First Suite" service and I'll literally be on cloud 9. In addition to your own 15.4-inch LCD, the service has seats that come with their own iPod connector so geeks like me can keep their player juiced on those long inter-continental flights. Once you get sick of your iPod, you can sample up to 50 XM Radio channels free of charge using the complimentary noise-canceling cans. There's even a universal power plug for your laptop. Ironically, my favorite feature has nothing to do with tech. Instead it's the seat, which transforms into a 6-foot, 6-inch bed. Finally a bed big enough for us tall folks. – Louis Ramirez

Product Page [via OrbitCast]

Delphi SkyFi3 XM Satellite Radio Spotted, Has Removable Storage

Gizloco — Fri, 15 Sep 2006 09:28:15 EDT

Sharp eyes have spotted Delphi's upcoming SkyFi3 portable XM Satellite Radio. By far, its biggest attention getter is the fact that it has a microSD card slot, letting users store up to 500 songs and 10 hours of XM programming. There's also a 30-minute replay feature, so in case you want to hear a song that aired 25 minutes ago, you're in good hands. The microSD card slot means that the SkyFi3 is the first portable satellite radio with removable storage. You can just hear the RIAA's lawyers packing their briefcases.

Like the Pioneer Inno and Samsung Helix before it, the SkyFi3 lets users tag songs that they fancy for later downloading on Napster. Good thing XM partnered up with a winning online music service.

The electronics Web site where this first appeared lists the Delphi SkyFi3 as coming out in October for $199. – Nicholas Deleon

Product Pre-Oder Page [JJI Electonics via Orbitcast.com]

XM Dream Car at CES

tgrumet — Tue, 03 Jan 2006 12:31:24 EST

Here's a concept car you won't want to miss if you're walking the floor at CES. XM Satellite Radio will be displaying a specially-equipped 2006 Lexus LX 470 featuring XM Advanced Services that will include in-car video, voice command, weather alerts and parking space locator. The car is being showcased with XM partners On2 Technologies, who will show in-vehicle satellite video solutions designed to receive audio and video entertainment from XM. Video content can be either streamed live or stored for later playback. And though XM has told us a bit about its upcoming Voice Control service, which lets you control your radio with speech control, I'm more interested in what is being called ParkingLink, a service thet works with the navigation system to find empty parking spaces. I'd kill for that in NYC.

XM Satellite Radio to Unveil XM Advanced Services Vehicle Featuring In-Car Video, Voice Command, Weather Alerts Parking Space Locator and Other Innovations at 2006 Consumer Electronics Show [PR Newswire]

More XM Innovation, Voice Control

tgrumet — Fri, 30 Dec 2005 08:30:18 EST

I guess Howard Stern going to Sirius has made one thing clear to XM Satellite Radio: if XM is going to stay the number one satellite radio company, it's going to have to innovate. And after its announcement this week of HD audio channels by March, we're now seeing another interesting addition. XM is in cahoots with VoiceBox Technologies to bring voice control to its service, allowing you to use voice commands, while you're driving, to search through the 160 channels. This is undoubtedly a good thing, as I have narrowly avoided collisions while scrolling through XM in my ZipCar on more than one occasion.

XM will show this technology at CES; automakers and companies that make aftermarket products are expected to have it available by the middle of 2006.

Voice control coming to XM radio [News.com]

XM To Offer HD Sat Radio Stations

tgrumet — Thu, 29 Dec 2005 09:21:29 EST

If you love your XM Satellite Radio now, you may fall deeper with the news of XM HD Surround stations and hi-def programming. Coming in March of 2006, with just a little more hardware from hardware companies like Denon, Onkyo, Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc., and Yamaha (which I'd bet we'll see at January's CES), you'll be able to get 5.1 audio from the satellite radio company. Officially called XM HD Surround, it provides content with six discrete channels of digital full fidelity audio powered by Neural Audio technology. The first broadcasts will include the free-form music channel Fine Tuning (XM Channel 76) and the classical pops music channel XM Pops (XM Channel 113) as well as a variety of special shows and live music performances at the XM studios.

XM Goes HD [Zatznotfunny]

XM and Napster Make Interesting Bedfellows

tgrumet — Mon, 21 Nov 2005 17:08:26 EST

Here's yet more co-branding in the satellite radio/digital audio space with a new beta test of the XM satellite radio and Napster service. Basically, if you're listening to XM Radio Online and hear a song you really like, you can immediately link to Napster to buy and download that said song, if Napster has it available. All in a matter of seconds. And look for upcoming XM/MP3 players (like the Dell DJ Satellite Radio/MP3 Player) DJ, that let subscribers listen to XM radio live when the player is docked in the car or at home.

XM + Napster Beta Begins [Zatznotfunny]