Sirius Colored display Portable in October

[Sirius_Rich]

Press Release

Finally and worth the wait. Sirius appears to have done this one right.

Some of the features of the S50:

he SIRIUS S50 stores content in a variety of formats for listening on the go, including "My SIRIUS Channels," "My SIRIUS Songs," "Scheduled Record," and "My Playlists."

* The "My SIRIUS Channels" feature automatically gathers and refreshes
sets of programming from the user's three most-listened-to channels.

* The "My SIRIUS Songs" feature allows the user to save favorite songs or
talk shows with the press of a button.

* The "Scheduled Record" feature allows the user to set the radio to
capture favorite shows on a one time or recurring basis.

* The "My Playlists" feature allows users to supplement SIRIUS content
with their own MP3/WMA library when attached through the home dock to a
PC. The PC application also allows users to synch channel and image
updates automatically through SIRIUS' website.

Measurments are 1.9 by 3.9 inches and 0.7 inches thick, and includes a full color display, sleek black exterior and voice-assisted channel navigation. Enjoy.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Too bad it is such an UGLY radio though.

 

[Sirius_Rich]

Too bad it is suck an UGLY radio though.

?

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

That should have been SUCH a ugly radio.

 

[Sirius_Rich]

That should have been SUCH a ugly radio.

Sorry you don't like the looks Scott. Personally I like the form factor and the color display is a first for any satellite radio that I know of. The album cover artwork is a nice touch along with all the above described features. I think Sirius has hit a home run with this wearable radio and will give the iPod a challenge.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Its a cool idea but its done in a half ass way.

It's a Portable Satellite Radio which does not receive Satellite Radio when it's not in it's cradle.

The color Display looks cool, but the radio itself looks like a portable arcade game instead of a radio.

 

[minorthr]

Did they say it was October of 05 or 06.

Why does this thing not get live programing out of the cradles?

 

[jegrant]

I don't know - I think it looks similar to the PSP. Not bad IMO. I think it's an interesting decision SIRIUS made, to have it not be capable of live reception when on the go. This of course will make it a no-go for sports fans, unless they plan on having or being near a dock when their game is on. But I also think it's one way to sidestep portable reception issues. This little player is supposed to learn which 3 channels you listen to most, and automatically cache them on its hard drive.

You can also save as many whole songs as you want (given the 10 gig hard drive anyway) and keep them as long as you want. (I would assume that if a unit has its subscription deactivated, that the songs would also be deactivated.) FWIW, I think that's an interesting take on the "Napster2" type of service. I like the idea that songs can be saved directly off satellite and there is no computer or downloading required.

It's also set up to do time-based recording.

 

[Sirius_Rich]

Did they say it was October of 05 or 06.

Why does this thing not get live programing out of the cradles?

I think Sirius decided not to experience the same problems as the Myfi regarding poor reception in non heavily laden repeater areas. The retailers took a lot of MyFi's back because of not meeting consumer expectations. Just my opinion.

 

[minorthr]

I think Sirius decided not to experience the same problems as the Myfi regarding poor reception in non heavily laden repeater areas. The retailers took a lot of MyFi's back because of not meeting consumer expectations. Just my opinion.

Could be true but it would have been nice to be able to use this at an eagles game to listen to the local broadcast. For some bizarro reason I can not get the philly station in the stadium and I have tried two regular radios. Oh and please sirius dont let this thing turn in to a rego situation were 6 months from now its still not out.

 

[sharpstonez]

I too am a bit disappointed that a truly portable "live" content system is not and will not be out for the forseeable future. However, I must say this is a step in the right direction. It is good to see some updated products getting their due. I wonder though, if you will be able to get content ahead of time so to speak because the press release references "captures and stores both scheduled and unscheduled SIRIUS programming. This feature allows users to listen to SIRIUS' unique programming anywhere." does this mean we will be able to record something ahead of scheduled times for the shows/songs?

Well my general feeling is that this is better than nothing, though I am looking for a walkman system, which can be docked so as to be useful in car, home, or other situations. I would really prefer something that doesn't have reception problems as well, but I think it is up to Sirius to add more repeaters in more areas. After all cell phone company's have to upgrade their infrastructure from time to time, so why shouldn't the sat companies follow suit as well? Just my $.02.

 

[David Dietzel]

No live content = unit sucks.

Man, why the hell can't Sirius engineer a wearable unit with a decent built-in antenna???????????????????????????????????

Oh, and it's too expensive for mass consumption.