Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

iPod To Become a Portable Satellite Radio Player?

Such a standalone device will have a very limited market. Could such a device be an ipod peripheral? I'm sure its possible.

Doctor Q said:
I think Apple's planet does revolve around the U.S. It's home turf and a big market, so it's not surprising. Unfortunate, but true. I hope in each case it's temporary, and that the non-U.S.-lag won't lead large numbers of potential customers to choose rival services and products that get to other countries first.

Apple did, in fact, eventually add free iTunes in the U.K., so they have the right idea, just not a speedy expansion. If it is hard to get licensing rights to sell music country by country, it can't be easy to get licensing rights to give away music country by country either.
Click to expand...
 
The Necessary Pun

Satellite radio in the iPod?! You can't be Sirius! :D

(So, so sorry.)

Really though, I can't see Apple doing this. I know they like to start the trend (ie, abandoning floppy drives years ago), but I don't think satellite radio has caught on enough yet. Maybe it'll happen in a year or so, but not yet.
 
dotnina said:
Satellite radio in the iPod?! You can't be Sirius! :D

(So, so sorry.)

Really though, I can't see Apple doing this. I know they like to start the trend (ie, abandoning floppy drives years ago), but I don't think satellite radio has caught on enough yet. Maybe it'll happen in a year or so, but not yet.
Click to expand...
Well it's already started so now it's time to play catch up.
 
Rower_CPU said:
It's not really "breaking it" if it's conjecture - the CNN story at least points to a joint Apple/Sirius presentation at CES.

You guys were among the first to discuss the possibility, though.
Click to expand...

Did you read the article? It provides far more reason than CNN's. Call it what you will, we got to it first. We also introduced the concept of new iServices as well as Apple's potential with Motorola's Total-E Telematics platform (http://www.apple-x.net/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1136). Because of our coverage Motorola even pulled much of their Telematics info from their website. We were able to save one of the videos though (http://www.apple-x.net/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1150).

Food for thought. You have my permission if you want to add any of these links to the main story. I think people will find it fascinating. It provides an alternative perspective on what Apple may be doing with Sirius instead of the currently technologically impossible concept of adding satellite radio to the iPod.

--Trent L.
CEO of Apple-X.net
 
Yes, Trent, I read both articles - that's how I was able to establish that you had brought up the possibility earlier but that what you discussed is not the same as what's being discussed now.

I'm not trying to downplay your story back in October. There's just a big difference between breaking something and speculating about it.
 
Regardless of format...

Aren't the power requirements of these chipsets a bit impractical for an iPod?

Or am I way off the mark? Just a guess...
 
Rower_CPU said:
Yes, Trent, I read both articles - that's how I was able to establish that you had brought up the possibility earlier but that what you discussed is not the same as what's being discussed now.

I'm not trying to downplay your story back in October. There's just a big difference between breaking something and speculating about it.
Click to expand...

Cool, cool. Well I realize its not whats exactly being discussed directly now, its just in my opinion a more logical spin and analysis for what CNN is suggesting. Just bringing it up into the discussion. Logical alternative perspectives and ideas are always a good way to look at different sides to things. No worries.

:D

--Trent L.
CEO of Apple-X.net
 
I wouldn't mind getting airamericaradio but that's on xmsatellite :(
Correction AAradio is on XM and Sirius but it's better on Sirius my bad!

I can see sirius taking some pretty big moves to catch up with XM.
Just the apple glow would help them tremendously and the fact that all those iPod owners (how many million?) would possibly sign up for the service. As it stands now XM has about 2million subscribers to Sirius 800,000 . A few percentage points of iPod owners signing up would make them #1. Another usefull feature may be allowing the Sirius radios to have iPod synergy. In the long term I think Sirius will win because they have a dog logo, and american consumers are easily swayed by unimportant things. Maybe it's time to pick up that Sirius stock now afterall!!

SIRIUS SATELLITE R (NasdaqNM:SIRI) 7.28 0.10 (1.39%)
XM SATELLITE RADIO (NasdaqNM:XMSR) 38.74 *0.05 (0.13%)
 
applextrent said:
Cool, cool. Well I realize its not whats exactly being discussed directly now, its just in my opinion a more logical spin and analysis for what CNN is suggesting. Just bringing it up into the discussion. Logical alternative perspectives and ideas are always a good way to look at different sides to things. No worries.

:D

--Trent L.
CEO of Apple-X.net
Click to expand...

Absolutely, and I agree that the iPod cum portable satellite radio receiver doesn't sound right - I think your assessment of the situation is pretty interesting and worthy of serious consideration.
 
random thoughts

for the person discussing the myfi, yeah there is a similar form factor, but i don't think it has a hard drive. also, (i might be wrong), but the screen isn't as bright as the ipods, and probably has a smaller battery.

as for am/fm radio, i'm torn. my new favorite place to listen to my ipod is my car - where i already have a radio. walking around, i guess it would be nice, and the interface would be easy enough to set up. i know with some stations you can even display what song is playing, etc (I've seen it in the lexus, but i don't know how that works). honestly, i don't think it would be bad. but, if it made the ipod any bigger, i'd have to pass. i'm hoping that with the 5G they do the usual increase capacity, decrease size and make the 40GB a bit slimmer- i think my 15GB 3g is just the right size.
 
I don't think you can get portable satellite radio in Australia, since I've haven't heard anything about it around here.

I agree with most people on AM/FM, it should be added to the iPod. Few people ask me if the iPod has FM, and aren't going to buy one until it does.
If we all ask for AM/FM, Apple may add it:
http://www.apple.com/feedback/ipod.html

Griffin once had an add on in development but then cancelled it:
http://www.ipodhacks.com/article.php?sid=544
 
nbs2 said:
for the person discussing the myfi, yeah there is a similar form factor, but i don't think it has a hard drive. also, (i might be wrong), but the screen isn't as bright as the ipods, and probably has a smaller battery.
Click to expand...
I haven't seen one in person but have seen the commercials. Info on the product page states it can hold up to 5 hours of programming so you're probably right. It's more likely to be some type of flash drive of the sorts.

From Baltimore, eh? Me too. \m/
 
Sirius + Apple = Inevitable

Yea it seemed inevitable that Apple was going to tap into Satellite radio. I think it's an awesome idea of tapping into the satellite world since everything is slowly heading that way anyways. Benefit 1: they'll cover all the music resource bases. Benefit 2: with Sirius integrated with iTunes, like the FM radio, people will want to download the song they heard on the satellite radio. So it's marketing and new technology.

Sirius Integration is good because it can lead to satellite video (sirius is on the same network as "dish network"). So with that who knows... video iPods that can view satellite TV? kinda far fetch i know, but it's a possibility.

Again apple is not wasting time on technologies that are just a step ahead i.e. Portable Media Centers that transfer video through USB. Instead, they want to go 3 times ahead with Satellite Technology. So i predict that the portable video player that Apple will make or iPod Video, it will have capabilities of Satellite TV and Radio. That means Pay per view on an ipod?

Who knows. I think it's a great idea, and it's inevitable. Plus such a partnership is exactly what Sirius needed, and great path for Apple.
 
balconycollapse said:
I wouldn't mind getting airamericaradio but that's on xmsatellite :(
Click to expand...
DONT GET XM IF YOU WANT AIR AMERICA.
XM doesn't play some shows in their entirety. They interupt Air America Shows with Allan Colmes and Ed Schultz. Sirius has the entire Air America lineup on their own channel, and Allan Colmes, Ed Shultz, and other liberals on another channel, I think it's called Sirius Left.
 
j05h said:
DONT GET XM IF YOU WANT AIR AMERICA.
XM doesn't play some shows in their entirety. They interupt Air America Shows with Allan Colmes and Ed Schultz. Sirius has the entire Air America lineup on their own channel, and Allan Colmes, Ed Shultz, and other liberals on another channel, I think it's called Sirius Left.
Click to expand...

or you can do what I do. go to www.airamericaradio.com and listen at your computer. It's my only option considering I live in Texas and we know how well air America will do in the heart of "Jesusland."

Anyways, for those who don't know what Air America is, it's the answer to Sean Hannity, Rush, and O'Reiley except I've never heard a mic cut and they tend to be a tad more civil, however they can push it sometimes.
I would suggest 11a.m.-2p.m. central for the O'Franken Factor.
 
right on brother

dejo said:
I'd rather see commercial-free, greater-variety XM or Sirius come to the iPod, before commercial-ridden, heavily-programmed, song-over-playing AM/FM any day.
Click to expand...

I couldn't agree more. I'm so sick and tire of listening to FM radio that it drove me buy an iPod last month. Commercial radio is so bland and increasingly own by ClearChannel. XM or Sirius would the complete transformation! Imagine buying a car without a radio instead it has a iPod dock!


-Chomo
 
applekid said:
Satellite radio is too fickle. Have you seen the latest portable XM radios? They require some sort of antenna that you attach to your shoulder or if you cover your hands over the device, you lose the signal completely.

Not looking forward to satellite radio in my iPod.
Click to expand...

The only way that would have any effect is if there are no repeaters in the area. These operate on frequency bands similar to cell phones, and are intended to "fill in the gaps" in satellite coverage. However, both companies use repeaters so extensively that there is a running joke that XM and Sirius are terrestrial radio stations that merely use the satellites to fill in the coverage gaps.

In any case, if there is a repeater in range, you wouldn't even need the antenna connected (At least you don't on my SkyFi, it might work a little differently).

How common are the repeaters? I can criss-cross Ohio, of all places, and have repeater coverage at least 65% of the time.

I think an iPod with a satellite radio built-in would be sweet. I like XM's channel line-up better, though.
 
dotnina said:
Satellite radio in the iPod?! You can't be Sirius! :D

(So, so sorry.)

Really though, I can't see Apple doing this. I know they like to start the trend (i.e., abandoning floppy drives years ago), but I don't think satellite radio has caught on enough yet. Maybe it'll happen in a year or so, but not yet.
Click to expand...

That is an excellent choice dotnina. ;) It brought a smile to my face, thank you. I perfectly happy with AM/FM. It's bad enough that we have to pay for Cable. I might be interested in the enhanced signal radio though. That only involves a new radio.
 
Yes, I don't see how they'll be able to fit the electronics required for satellite radio into an iPod....those other devices are huge. Perhaps it will be an attachment?

Trowaman said:
I would suggest 11a.m.-2p.m. central for the O'Franken Factor.
Click to expand...

Actually, it is now called The Al Franken Show after he realized that naming your show something just to anger someone else is ridiculous.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back