[photopress:xm_sound_system.jpg,full,center] XM Satellite Radio is showing off new sound systems for the first time in quite a while at Le CES this week. Two, to be exact: the $100 XM Sound System (pictured above) and the $150 XM Compact Sound System (after the jump). More like an iPod speaker+dock than a stand-alone radio, both the Sound System and the Compact Sound System work a variety of XM… → Read More
What happened to the XM-Sirius merger? Announced last February, the merger appears to have hit a snag. We sat through all of December with little hints here and there—sources say an announcement will be made later today, sources say the FCC is just crossing T’s and dotting I’s—but now we’re left wondering what’s going on. Some attribute the delay to the… → Read More
I completely forgot to mention this the other day: now that XM is in the podcast business, it has started a promotion that gives away two weeks of streaming XM Satellite Radio. Yes, two free weeks of XM, complete with specialty channels like The Virus and that Oprah one. I hear XM is thinking about changing the name of the MLB channel to “Steroids: Everyone uses ‘em.” So yeah… → Read More
I’m gonna be paying closer attention to satellite radio from now on, not just because the bosses told me to, but because the proposed merger is the defining moment of our times. It’s like the moon landing. XM is now in the podcasting game. The satellite radio company has created several podcasts, many of which are exclusives. Right now, you’ll find podcasts ranging from sports… → Read More
The XM-Sirius merger, yet another story that refuses to go away. Whoops—it might go away today, actually. A recent Bear Sterns report suggests that the Department of Justice may give the merger its blessing as early as today. Once the DoJ gives the go-ahead, it’s largely expected that the FCC will do the same. So break out the popcorn and keep your eyes and ears open for any merger… → Read More
Yes, the painfully original XM-Sirius “logo” strikes again Judging by a number posts from earlier in the year, I can tell that a few of you are fans of, or at least followers of, of satellite radio. It may interest you to know that today is the day when shareholders of both XM and Sirius vote the proposed merger up or down. It’s expected that both groups will give the merger the… → Read More
These are interesting times to be a satellite radio fan. Yeah, there’s that merger hanging over the industry’s head (let them merge, I say), but Sirius and XM are now experimenting with artist-specific channels. XM LED, which launches today and lasts through next May, is a Led Zeppelin-only channel that will features every damn thing the band has ever released. OK, maybe not all those… → Read More
XM is heating up the competition for portable satellite radio players by offering a new player called XpressRC. Delphi will be manufacturing the player itself and the offerings aren’t too shabby at all. You’ll find it has a split screen so you can have your favorites stations to choose from as well as your current song information displayed at the same time. The XpressRC will also have… → Read More
Not a ton of info here, but apparently if this XM-Sirius merger actually goes through, you’ll be able to get your satellite radio on for cheap. Both companies plan to offer a low-cost $6.99 package that nets you 50 channels, as well as a $16.99 deal that would offer the best from both worlds. You’ll also be able to add and remove channels as you see fit. Sounds like a win for… → Read More
For anyone who thought that merging XM and Sirius together would be a royal pain in the ass, this is the proof that it’ll be as easy as Kevin Bacon landing a role in a crappy flick. Seems XM was set up with over 60 crew members at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ and London for Live Earth. The crew taped all the music and conducted several interviews which were then broadcast… → Read More
We all spend too much time in our cars and a summer drive can turn into a nightmare with the right mix of traffic, heat, and gas prices. There are industries built around making our in-car time more productive and enjoyable. The degree to which they’ve been successful is debatable. There is something to the argument that every solution creates another problem. For example’ we all want to avoid… → Read More
The suspension is over. One month after XM suspended them for some convoluted reason, Opie & Anthony returned to the satellite radio company’s airwaves today, celebrating by giving away a whole lot of tickets for a summer comedy tour they’re promoting. Aside from a few jabs at an XM mistake (referring to the show as “Opie & Andy” on its Web site), the broadcast was… → Read More
XM and Sirius are trying to merge (or hadn’t you heard?) but have encountered a lot of resistance in both the government and the press, to say nothing of legions of angry, everyday consumers who are also opposed to it. So the companies bought an advertisement to show just how “diverse” their support is. To see it… → Read More
Radio bad boys Opie & Anthony will return to the XM Satellite Radio airwaves this Friday, June 15, at 6 a.m. XM suspended the duo last month after all of the hullabaloo generated after they aired a homeless man’s offensive ramblings. Now, if you recall, a large number of the radio show’s fans protested XM’s decision by, among other things, canceling their XM service… → Read More
You may have heard that XM was down for almost a whole day and then it came back online. When a service you shell out money for on a monthly basis goes down, you’d obviously expect a credit of some sort to occur so that subscribers don’t go canceling their subscriptions. Luckily, XM is smart enough to know this and is offering two-days of credit to subscribers. If you want to get your… → Read More
Hot damn, the XM signal is back online! Now we can get back to not listening to Opie & Anthony, though I guess Oprah & Friends does have its fair share of hilarious moments, too. XM had been having signal problems for the last day or so. Users had been complaining that they weren’t able to tune in at full strength. XM’s contingency plan was to tell people to listen online. But… → Read More
XM Satellite Radio might have some ‘splaining to do. Reports suggest that angry fans who thought they had canceled the service in response to Opie & Anthony’s suspension are just getting their accounts suspended. Fans hang up thinking they’ve canceled XM only to find out later on that XM didn’t honor their request, instead putting their account on hold for so many… → Read More
XM Satellite Radio is finding out first hand that Opie & Anthony have quite a few dedicated fans, fans who are now canceling the service en masse in response to the duo’s recent 30-day suspension. XM suspended the pair in response to so-called outrage stemming from a segment that aired on the program last week. (Well, really because, supposedly, there was an agreement in place that they… → Read More
Give a little get a little” is an appropriate description of the SkyFi3. Seems to me that Delphi’s initial thought was to provide XM in the car, and then they expanded that role. Similar to Pioneer’s Inno and Samsung’s Helix, the SkyFi3 performs many of the same functions as these more expensive units. XM satellite radio is robust in its line-up with over 170 channels of music, talk… → Read More
An Arkansas man is madder than a snake in a rocking chair factory and is suing XM Satellite Radio for falsely stating that it has 100 percent commercial-free music channels. While his complaint is valid — most of the music channels have promos for other channels and the less popular channels advertise all kinds of crap — this definitely feels like a sham lawsuit. The major channels… → Read More
According to Wayde at Gizmo Cafe it is and I’m inclined to agree at this point. Had the merger produced a more unified service, it would have been something of note, but since they’ve decided to still play it separate, the combination has no real effect at all. Anyway, you should check Gizmo Cafe for a pretty amusing video about the situation. Wayde wisecracks through his explanation… → Read More
Woah. So XM and Sirius are looking to form a more perfect union. And, at long last, Howard Stern and Oprah fans will have something in common other than being married to each other. Of course, there are lots of regulatory hurdles that could keep the ink from drying on the deal (a failed merger by satellite TV providers EchoStar and DirecTV immediately comes to mind), but lets assume, for… → Read More
http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docId=2086083982842883267&hl=en Here is the entire XM+Sirius earnings call that went out yesterday along with all of the slides. Great stuff. Why does Mel Karmazin love “best-of-breed” so much? Thanks, EarningsCast! → Read More
ABC News is reporting that XM and Sirius are merging and are almost complete. The actual merge is expected today with a press conference expected later in the afternoon. Earlier, there were some rumors that XM and Sirius wanted to merge but wouldn’t be able to due to the FCC. Though the FCC will be giving both companies a hassle, they should be able to work it out in one way or another. If… → Read More
The NY Post is running some rumors that XM and Sirius are merging today, creating a satellite radio juggernaut that will be nigh unstoppable. The deal would meld XM and Sirius into one 12 million subscriber network and get Sirius out of a major hole. Both of the companies, while offering excellent content, are now learning what old media learned only a few years ago: if you build it, there’s… → Read More
I’m as much for avoiding monopolies as the next guy, but this one makes sense to a lot of people who know a lot more about the subject than I do. XM and Sirius had been exploring the possibility of merging, but according to current FCC rulebook, the plural companies can’t become a singular company. That leaves the situation at a standstill until, perhaps, the current rulebook is… → Read More
Bushnell isn’t exactly known for awesome consumer electronics, but the Onix 400 seems to be a decent device. It’s a waterproof GPS device with XM Satellite Radio and weather tracking built-in. It features a 3.5-inch 320×240 LCD display, an embedded 64MB microSD card for data and maps, and a rechargeable battery. No price yet, but it debuts this summer along with The Stapler. → Read More
Whoa there. Out of nowhere comes an article on Ars that claims XM and Sirius are in “low-level merger talks” with each other. This would be absolutely fantastic for customers of the two services. You’d be able to get tons of music, better service, Howard Stern and Opie & Anthony, your favorite sporting events, and a ton of other features all from one provider. Not to mention improved… → Read More
If you’re one of the more than 58 million Cingular Wireless customers in this country, on November 6 you’ll have the option to listen to audio streams of 25 of XM satellite radio’s commercial-free music channels on your handset. For a service charge of $8.99 per month (you didn’t think it would be free, did you?) subscribers will get a helping of the service’s most… → Read More
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