Sirius XM Introduces 'XM SkyDock' Satellite Radio Adapter for iPhone and iPod Touch

[yg17]

Sirius XM = Epic Fail
Pandora = Epic Win

Go on a road trip with Pandora and see how much epic win it is when your cell phone loses signal while you're driving through the middle of nowhere.

Better yet, drive from the US to Canada (or vice versa if you're Canadian) and listen to Pandora and see how many thousands of dollars in data roaming charges you rack up.

Is Pandora still epic win?

 

[Bubba Satori]

This will fail.

I don't think so. I'll let y'all how sales are. I think it's going to sell pretty well. I'm going to make sure all our sales staff are aware of it and offer it to all of our iPhone and iPod customers.

 

[jmpage2]

I've been waiting for a month to get a $77 refund check from Sirius/XM due to a double billing problem that they created on the account I have for my wife's car (which has a factory XM tuner in it).

I simply don't trust these crooks with a credit card and I sure as hell won't be shelling out $120 so that I can listen to low bitrate Sirius audio that sounds worse than AM radio.

They can suck it.

 

[anubis]

XM and Sirius are such epic fails. Terrible sound quality (56kbit data rate max), constantly repeating songs, expensive. I have an iPod dock for my car that lets me stream Pandora or any other internet radio station I desire over 3G and directly into my car speakers, for free. Infinitely more variety, better sound quality, no cost. It's only a matter of time before XM/Sirius dies a slow death

 

[canucksfan88]

and yet...if this thing had an apple logo everyone would be calling it pure genius and brilliance.

 

[Bubba Satori]

and yet...if this thing had an apple logo everyone would be calling it pure genius and brilliance.

Yeah and if Apple TV had a RCA label on it....

 

[b1wils1]

taylor swift? really?

 

[mattais]

and yet...if this thing had an apple logo everyone would be calling it pure genius and brilliance.

In THAT case, I would already have one ordered

Of course, I am kidding. This is pants.

 

[weave]

Ah, let me guess

This won't work if you need to run another iphone app, like google maps, trapster, etc. Sigh....

 

[BC2009]

Semi-Cool Technology, Bad Business

This looks like a pretty cool technological accomplishment just like the TomTom vapor-dock. However, from a tech perspective, I wonder why these folks are not making stand-alone bluetooth accessories that will allow me to pair multiple accessories with my iPhone?

Why not let other folks manufacturer docks and just put out a bluetooth XM receiver or bluetooth GPS receiver that I can mount anywhere in my car that I have power?

Enough with the technological analysis, on to the business analysis.....

1) It costs like $15 to activate a SINGLE radio for XM/Sirius

2) It costs about $12 per month to get service for the first radio

3) It costs about $9 per month for each additional radio

4) If you want to listen to Howard or other premium chanels outside your car (i.e.: away from your dock) you will need to shell out another $3 per month for "Premium" online service
(not even sure if that will work on your iPhone when not docked -- I've heard it won't work via the XM app, but another app does it -- maybe the SkyDock unlocks that feature in the XM app)

Tally all that up and then count the number of threads where iPhone users complain about paying $5 per month to AT&T for text messaging and you do the math.

This is perfect for the iPod users who are always in their car, love Howard Stern to the tune of $12 per month, and do not want to use any other kind of dock. However, I think for most of us it will just be interesting technology that we won't be willing to pay for.

 

[Carl Spackler]

Where many are missing the point of going with XM, and its like, over Pandora, and its like, is that XM stations have paid DJs behind the music. There is an art to spinning tunes. While I do enjoy Pandora quite a bit and have considered dropping my XM to save some bucks, in the long haul XM is the superior product. I'll take someone with knowledge of music over an algorithm any ol' day.

Whether XM is worth the cost, is purely subjective.

 

[MacFly123]

wait, i can't see out of my windshield now.

tomtom's adapter. now sirius' one. what's next. i need an adapter for each one?

someone has to be able to consolidate these things.

My thoughts exactly. Nice idea to have the radio... but too expensive and wouldn't replace something more useful such as the tomtom dock.

I thought the same thing too. How many docks will people have lol?

This will fail.

Sirius XM = Epic Fail
Pandora = Epic Win

This stupid company is destined to fail soon. Any bets on how long till they go bankrupt? I say 2-3 years max!

 

[Mattie Num Nums]

Go on a road trip with Pandora and see how much epic win it is when your cell phone loses signal while you're driving through the middle of nowhere.

Better yet, drive from the US to Canada (or vice versa if you're Canadian) and listen to Pandora and see how many thousands of dollars in data roaming charges you rack up.

Is Pandora still epic win?

Pandora also seems to play the same stuff over and over for me

 

[MadDog31]

I'm one of those rare people that likes having satellite in my car because even on stretches of certain interstates in this country, I don't have a cell signal to receive Pandora, WunderRadio, SiriusXM Online, etc.

Driving from Raleigh to Wilmington, there are MANY dropped stretches on Interstate-40 that make radio over the Internet a terrible experience. However, when I took my satellite radio with me on my last trip, I received zero drops.

So, as much as people want to complain about satellite, I still have a need for it. Around town, my iPhone works fine, but when on longer distance trips, I sure do like having the constant connection to satellite, including the freedom to use my iPhone for whatever else w/o having to shut the music app down to do those things. Oh and I have a separate GPS, too.

I'd consider this device, if it was a bit cheaper than the $119. That really is a tad steep. Get it into the $50-60 range and now you're talking.

People are quick to bash things on here before considering the needs of others...but I suppose we really are in an I I I me me me state of mind. Even I can be guilty of that at times.

And also, how would this and a TomTom be blocking a windshield. The last time I checked my cigarette lighters are nowhere near my windshield...

 

[joueboy]

Not interested!

Not interested! There is nothing interesting on this over-priced dock. What's in there anyway other than being a dock charger and antenna. I listen to a music where I can control and choose what to play. I don't listen to a none sense racist radio host. MLB apps works perfectly with live stream of the game can't beat that. Shazam works awesome for free, until now I'm still amazed it works like magic. Pandora is good if you're into listening music without your total control. And thousand more apps available waiting to cater your needs mostly just $.99 away.

 

[DaBrain]

Unless it includes a free subscription of some sort no way. After they changed their prices its just too much.

I was a subscriber to XM for years until the price rises and channel changes. Plus to me, it just got boring so I decided to cancel my account. Well good luck doing that! I will NEVER go back to XM/Sirus as they are one in the same. Oh yeah, they make it so easy to sign up on line, but just try and cancel and find that on line!--))) Not happening.

This is just another method of sucking people in, only this time their using the iphone/iPod. Beware! Choice is yours!

 

[DaBrain]

I don't have satellite radio, but now that there's only one player in the field, Sirius XM, here's my question: When you buy something like this, will it receive all of the former Sirius channels and all of the former XM channels, or do you still have to pick a service? Or did this become moot when they merged?

You still pick the service! What a gimmick. One company buys the other and instead of combining channels they keep the service separate!

 

[Thunderhawks]

Not interested! There is nothing interesting on this over-priced dock. What's in there anyway other than being a dock charger and antenna. I listen to a music where I can control and choose what to play. I don't listen to a none sense racist radio host. MLB apps works perfectly with live stream of the game can't beat that. Shazam works awesome for free, until now I'm still amazed it works like magic. Pandora is good if you're into listening music without your total control. And thousand more apps available waiting to cater your needs mostly just $.99 away.

Hey Sirius,

You are the most inept developers of anything.

Took you forever to get the shows online or account management.

Came out with an iphone app excluding Howard etc.. (For legal reasons, yeah right!)

Many of your receivers get so hot you can cook meals on them and when they break it's a hassle to replace.

Oodles of cables sticking out everywhere.

Since you cannot judge or guess what a sat consumer really wants, talk to Steve Jobs. Apple will design this thing away, so it fits in a shirt pocket and irons it at the same time.

It's an embarrassment to show this contraption next to the elegant iphone.

Might as well have used home depot bolts, washers and nuts from the hardware section. Drill two holes into the car console and screw it in.

Or better yet, make it real long, stick it out through the car the roof and show advertising on it.

And the price ? Not even close to anybody's perception price

DOA product,

Shame

 

[duncan35]

They need to change their business model.....their service is too expensive (anything more than 'free' is too expensive). Why not add commercials to all their channels (they already have many channels that do) and allow it to be free?

Is this a joke? We already have what you're talking about ... it's called terrestrial radio ... or traditional radio. And the rampant commercials and general suckiness are what created the customer base for satellite radio.

On the other hand, I actually agree with the spirit of your comment. I think satellite radio will transition into radio with commercials (a large percentage of satellite channels already air commercials like they're going out of style) and every car/home will eventually have it (to the same pervasiveness as cable TV).

So, all in all, the great "experiment" of satellite radio will be that we have the same thing we had before, but now we pay for it ... and I'm not so sure that wasn't the intent from the very beginning.

 

[bbotte]

dumb.....

 

[duncan35]

It gives users access to all XM and”The Best of SIRIUS” channels, even those the company infamously excludes from its online feed, like Howard Stern, MLB Play-by-Play and NFL Play-by-Play.

Via allthingsd

Howard Stern is not excluded from the online feeds. I listen to him online all the time. The Howard Stern Show is excluded from the Sirius iPhone application.

And it's infuriating because despite the assertions of Sirius and Stern, there's no legitimate reason, other than paranoia and greed.

I'm torn between loving Howard and not being able to wait until he retires so I can ditch Sirius and stop paying people to play me commercials.

 

[mattster16]

So is it going to transmit the signal to your speakers via FM like those other cigarette lighter adaptors? If so that's going to completely suck and discounts a major point of having clear sat. radio in the first place.

Satellite radio is not clear. It is at best slightly better than FM. This is because to save costs, XM/Sirius lowered the bit rate supplied to each individual customer in order to accommodate more users on the same equipment. I had XM years ago when it was fairly new and the quality was much better than it is now. It's so bad now that I decided not to renew my subscription after the 6 mo. trial that came with my car expired.

 

[jwilli44]

Sky Dock

I'm hearing a lot of negativity about the sky dock. I'm hearing "I will use Pandora", "I dont listen to radio", "iphone users are cheap", etc...At last count there were about 14 million iphone and ipod touch users. If xm can get 1/14 that will be great. that's 1 million subs. Now let's think about the common negatives stated. 1. I will use Pandora,
First, Pandora won't work in your car if you have an ipod touch, second, you need unlimited data and a data signal for your drive. Some iphone users dont have unlimited data, $12.95 is cheaper than the data plan, and service nation wide. Pandora is just music, computer generated no personality, Not everyone is happy with a mindless jukebox of songs...sure you can customize it but it is all done by some computer algorithm...Would you go to a party and listen to Pandora? Or would you prefer a human dj? Id take a dj...

:Iphone users are cheap? sure everyone prefer free apps to paid apps...who doesnt, However if they were "cheap" would they have iphones...iphones are more expensive than many phones or mp3 players. They pay for quality..This dock is not marketed to the 12 year old girl with an ipod....This product is aimed at an adult with an ipod touch or iphone who don't like wasting time downloading songs, legal or illegal. Want "plug and play entertainment in car", just dock seclect a chanel and go...Sometimes listens to things besides music...news, sports, talk, comedy, unedited and checked by fcc. XM has chanels for everyone...every genre of music, every genre of talk...african-american, all political views, gay/lesbian, Oprah, howard Stern, cnn, fox, etc..This brings more to ipod touch/iphone usage in car to more than listening to your same old music collection. Can Pandora play a brand new release of a song before it is released? Xm has artist previews of songs before they hit stores..interviews, etc..
: I wouldnt criticize the dock yet, the dock is made to be "easy install" and be transferable between cars.. If you want a permanent more stable installation, im sure that would be available. They should be able to hard wire the power and free your cigarette lighter and mount the dock anywhere you like. The same is offered for xm portables.\
: Last is the price of $119.00 That is the MSRP, that can be adjusted for holidays, or perhaps they can offer 3 months free or something on the service, it will be released for the holidays...dont you think they will have a "sale"? cmon people think how products are marketed!. I don't have an iphone or ipod touch...but I can't believe ipod users are so dense that all they want to hear in their cars is their personal collection of songs or Pandora songs! That is what 16 year old girls do...but is that what all ipod users are?None like talk, comedy, Oprah, Stern, political talk, sports, etc...I bought my xm portable years ago, due to frustration of downloading and making playlists...Sometimes, i am not i the mood for music! I want to hear talk shows, or comedy...or a genre of music i never heard before...I havent boght a cd in years, My computer is virus free due to not using illegal sites to download songs..I have entertainment for just about any one in the country at the turn of a chanel, from my mom, to kids, to a priest if needed...

 

[duncan35]

They need to change their business model.....their service is too expensive (anything more than 'free' is too expensive). Why not add commercials to all their channels (they already have many channels that do) and allow it to be free?

Also, don't forget, someone's got to pay for those enormously expensive satellites they have to put up in space and as neither XM nor Sirius have ever really made any money, they're in a somewhat precarious position, hedging that future paydays will cover past costs. That's why they merged even though they shouldn't have been allowed to.

So, they will ultimately be forced to commercialize the gamut of their offerings. The question is: will they have enough time before they have to do this and is it even possible to make satellite radio like cable TV ... something most people have to have ... and a default inclusion on all new cars (that's the jackpot).

 

[mlyon]

I think some might be confused, the satellite radio will come in via satellite, not 3G. It turns your iPod/iPhone into the XM CONTROLLER. It's cool because if you have multiple cars you don't have to buy a subscription for each. It will work anywhere you get satellite, not cell coverage. If you have a factory iPhone/iPod connector in your car it will be CD quality.