Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

According to Radio Ink, the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) has placed an ad in the Congress Daily and other political publications opposing the Sirius/XM satellite radio merger monopoly.  The FCC has shut down merger talks in the past between the companies, but now it seems they may have gone soft.  If this merger in fact does go through, they’re going to be hearing from much more than just the NAB.

Related: Breaking: XM and Sirius officially merge!, Sirius buying XM, nah just talking trash

Read [Radio Ink] Via [Orbitcast]

• XM and Sirius are getting into bed
• Viacom looks partner with YouTube rival, Joost
• Quit your email addiction in 12 steps
• Unboxing the Cingular Blackberry 8800
• Apple OS X Leopard may be ready in March
• Will Palm be bought by Nokia?li>

Earlier today, there were rumors regarding a possible merger between satellite radio giants XM Radio and Sirius.  Now, reports have come through that the merger is official - and an official press conference is scheduled for tomorrow.

Is this crazy news or what?  Both XM and Sirius have spoken of a possible merger for what seems like years.  Due to regulatory hurdles, the deal was never even attempted.  Now, it looks like they may have found a loophole in the law, and they’re making the plunge.  I personally think that the FCC will never let this happen.  If so, this would indeed create a monopoly in the satellite radio industry.

Looks like we’ll have to wait until tomorrow to get the full scoop, so stay tuned.

Press Release [XM] Via [Gizmodo]

The HD Digital Radio Alliance announced that member companies are launching HD2 channels in another seventeen markets, bringing to 85 the number of markets where Alliance members are broadcasting HD2 signals. HD2 is a second channel that lies beneath your standard programming, essentially doubling the amount of content available to you a a listener. New formats being added to HD2 include “Jazz & Blues,” “Standards and Slow Jams” and “Dance.”

The seventeen markets rolling out new HD2 channels are (the # is the rank location): 66 Grand Rapids, Mich.; 67 Fresno, Calif.; 68 Wilkes Barre, Pa.; 69 Allentown, Pa.; 71 Knoxville, Tenn.; 72 Omaha, Neb.; 73 Akron, Ohio; 74 Wilmington, Del.; 75 Sarasota, Fla.;
77 Monterey-Salinas-Santa Cruz, Calif.; 78 Syracuse, N.Y.; 79 Harrisburg, Pa.; 81 Stockton, Calif.; 82 Bakersfield, Calif.; 83 Baton Rouge, La.; 84 Toldeo, Ohio; and 85 Little Rock, Ark.

The new channels launched on January 31.

Last month, Alliance members committed $250 million in advertising time for 2007 to promote HD Radio services, retailers, and other initiatives.

Read [Radio Ink]

It has been a while (since April to be exact) since we heard discussions of the ever-rumored Sirius video service. Now Sirius Satellite Radio CEO Mel Karmazin is talking up again, saying that consumers can expect to see live satellite video service in cars by late 2007. Karmazin said that the service will be available starting in 2008 car models, which will be appearing toward the end of next year.

“We have three content deals that are very close to being finalized. I don’t know if they will be done by CES, but that is what we are shooting for,” Karmazin said. “We will have video in the rear seat of the car up and running.”

The concept of video in cars is a little scary, but if they do a good job regulating what video can be in the car and where (in the backseat only) I think it will be ok. What I am excited for, is when this moves from cars to mobile video players, 2008 anyone?

Read [Orbitcast]

Mel Karmazin sounds like quite a character.  On Monday, he was interviewed by SmartMoney and had quite a bit to say.  He started out the interview blaming XM for the “hiccups” in the industry.  Then later in the interview, he talks of a possible merger with XM.  Mel says that he’s based his entire career on shareholder value - I’d say that forming a monopoly in the satellite radio industry would bring quite a bit of value.  It’s also notable that he no longer thinks government regulations will stop a merger from happening (to which I’m going to disagree, but he would know better than me).  He notes the following:

If there’s an iPod with terrestrial radio, it’s hard to believe government is worried about two satellite radio companies combining.

Read [SmartMoney]

The Pioneer inno XM2go portable XM satellite radio receiver (SRP $349.99) is now available in either silver or electric pink, but only buying the pink version will help breast cancer research. For each pink inno purchased through Circuit City, Pioneer’s site and XM’s site, a $30 donation will be made in support of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation up to a maximum of $150,000 total. The inno handheld receiver does require a paid subscription to XM’s service. PS: Pink is the new black.

Inno’s features include:

• Live XM When Portable or Docked


• One touch recording


• MP3 (WMA) Storage and Play


• Up to 50 hours storage of XM recordings


• Compatible with XM + Napster


• Home Dock Included


• Built-in Wireless FM Transmitter


• Artist and TuneSelect


• Sports and Stock Tickers


• Remote


• Home Stand


• Home Antenna


• Power Adapter


• RCA Cable


• USB Cable


• Belt Clip/Holder


• Ear Buds


• Rechargeable Battery


• XM+Napster CD


• Product Manual

Read [Pioneer]

XM has officially announced that they’re adding an all sports, all the time channel called XM Sports Nation to their lineup.  The channel will have original first-run shows hosted by such celebs as Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Jimmie Johnson, Cal Ripken, Jr., Coach Mike Krzyzewski, James Carville and Luke Russert.  They’ll also syndicate shows from Sporting News Radio by Tim Brando, Tony Bruno and Troy Aikman, among others.  Sounds like a hell of a channel… if I could only get away from my computer.  The channel is set to debut on August 28.  Check out the programming guide here.

Via [Orbitcast]

Just last week I posed the question if HD Radio can “make it big.” It seems like I spoke to fast about the high price barrier companies must overcome before consumers will start lining-up for the static free radio.

The JVC KD-HDR1 in-dash CD player with built-in HD Radio tuner and MP3/WMA playback, released in late June, is currently listed at Crutchfield for $159.99, after a $40 rebate, coming closer to the necessary spot. Tivoli Audio is developing a multicast-capable Model HD table radio, which is expected to be available by fall though no price has been announced as of now.

Under $200 is better. I bet you will know someone who owns a HD Radio. Wait till it gets to under $100, then you will probably know two people.

Read [Billboard Radio Monitor]

Product: Sirius S50
Price: $249.99 (Buy.com)
Rating: Average 6.9/10
Pros: Feature-packed, sleek design, simple setup
Cons: Not portable when streaming live content, confusing navigation, bulky when combined with car dock
Overall: A great device if you don’t need access to live programming on the go.

The Sirius S50 is a neat little device.  It essentially is a TiVo for your Sirius satellite radio.  I found the marketing a little confusing and can see how some might easily confuse it with a portable satellite radio… but it’s hardly portable (if you’re into live radio).  The device is really made for people that have long commutes to work, or primarily listen to music/ radio in their car.  In addition, it’s quite disappointing that the live radio can only be accessed in the car, due to the need of an antenna and satellite receiver.  When you take it out off of the car-dock (which it’s bundled with), you no longer are able to get a live feed. 

Read on for a breakdown of the Sirius S50 satellite radio.

Design - 6.5 - The S50 has a slick design to it.  The player itself is in the shape of a trapezoid (from the side), weighs just 6.5 ounces, and measures 1.9” x 3.9” x .7”.  Centered on the device is a 262,000 color TFT display.  The size is perfectly portable until you tack on the size of the car dock (which is 1.9” x 3.9").  The buttons on the S50 are all on the side, leaving it with a black shiny finish on the front.  The buttons are pretty confusing since they decided not to use your traditional play, stop, and pause buttons.  When the device is in the car dock, you use the car dock’s wheel to control the radio station.  In addition to functioning as a wheel (similar to the volume button on your car stereo), it also moves like a joystick to make use of its other features.  The S50 car bundle comes standard with headphones, a belt clip, and a USB cable for connecting to a Windows 2000 or XP PC.  The S50 is light weight and small enough for your everyday use.

Setup - 7.5 - Setting up the S50 for radio listening is simple.  All you need to do is plug everything in, and it works.  The S50 sits in the car dock, the car dock has inputs/outputs for the antenna, audio, and power on the back of it.  The setup becomes a little bit more confusing when you install all of the car features that come with it.  I didn’t use the mounting accessories in my testing.  Since the device functions as an MP3 player as well, you can hook it up to your computer (if you want) and transfer some songs over.

Features - 8.0 - So lets say you’re driving or sitting in your house (using the home dock), and you hear a song that you want to record.  With the S50, all you have to do is press the heart icon and “Love” the song.  By using this TiVo-like method, you can save up to 50 hours of content.  The songs are then stored on your device by artist, title, or genre.  When you become obsessed with on of Sirius’ 120 channels, the S50 will automatically learn that channel and save it to your favorites.  This way you don’t have to use the wheel to toggle through 100 channels just to get to Howard Stern.  It will store your 3 favorite (most played) stations.  Also included are the following features:

• Game Alerts - Alerts you when your favorite teams are playing


• Sports Ticker - Get up to the minute score updates of your favorite teams without changing the channel


• 
  30 channel presets


• One touch JUMP to access traffic and weather reports for your city or use to tune to your favorite Sirius channel


• 6 hours battery life in portable mode - which is on the low-end for portable media players

If you’re looking for a device that doesn’t need to sit in a dock to get live content, you may want to check out some XM2Go devices which run on XM, not Sirius.

Usability - 6.0 - After spending some quality time with the S50 in my car, I never really got too in to it.  It may be because I had it sitting in my cup holder instead of on the included mount, but it was simply not easy enough to use.  The buttons on the side combined with even more buttons on the dock made it confusing to navigate and do what I wanted.  Although it looks great with all of the buttons on the side, it may have made it that much more confusing in the end.

So if you’re looking for a portable media player with a side of streaming satellite content, you should check out the Sirius S50 right away.

Editor’s note - The overall rating was calculated by weighting Design as 40%, Setup as 20%, Features as 20%, and Usability as 20%.