It only took like eight million years, but the satellite radio wars are finally heating up. XM has announced a new partnership today with Toyota to offer XM radios from the factory in new Toyota, Lexus, and Scion cars, starting in 2006. It’ll be more than just traditional radio programming, with unspecified ‘data services’ being broadcast using XM’s network, as well.
XM Radios are dealer options on many Toyota models today. I wonder how long it will be before XM becomes standard issue in all Toyota cars. Even if a buyer doesn’t want to subscribe, by 2006 the receiver hardware would have to be minimal. It’s not like television companies only make ‘cable-ready’ or ‘broadcast’ TVs now that the cost of the hardware is negligible. (Thanks, Hives!)
XM Radio as a Factory-Installed Option (Press Release) [Yahoo]
Update: That’s no coup, that’s a space station! Looks like Sirius got a deal with Toyota, too. Belay all that stuff I said about XM installed by default. Still, a good sign for both companies. (Thanks, Simon!)
