Sirius Satellite Radio Chief Executive Mel Karmazin met with shareholders today and the subject of a Sirius-enabled Apple iPod was raised.
“One shareholder asked whether Sirius is negotiating with Apple Computer about an a Sirius-enabled iPod, or if it is pursuing such a deal with another maker of MP3 players. ‘We’ve had discussions with everyone,’ the executive acknowledged, including makers of cell phones, digital music players and other devices. He said that he’d had dinner Monday night with Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs and other digital entertainment-related executives at a conference,” David B. Wilkerson reports for MarketWatch.
“‘Will there be MP3 players that include satellite radio? Sure. The technology’s easy,’ Karmazin added. The issue, he elaborated, is whether such an agreement would cannibalize existing Sirius business, and how much of its $12.95 monthly fee the company would have to split with a manufacturer,” Wilkerson reports. “Sirius will ultimately have a portable radio that is comparable to the MyFi radio offered by its rival, XM Satellite Radio, Karmazin assured investors. ‘The wearable market is a very small market in radio, and this goes back to the Sony Walkman,’ he indicated. ‘We have been focusing on the auto market and the home market. … But we recognize there are customers who want it.'”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: This would be a welcome addition to iPod’s feature set. The ability to listen to live sports, Stern and other satellite radio content on iPods while out and about would only enhance the value of iPod and probably net Sirius a “serious” amount of new subscribers, too.
Related MacDailyNews articles:
Sirius CEO Karmazin looks to add satellite radio to Apple iPod; no deal – yet – February 10, 2005
Sirius has approached Apple on adding service to iPod – February 09, 2005
Analyst throws cold water on Apple iPod – Sirius Satellite radio deal – December 16, 2004
Analysts: Apple iPod + Sirius Satellite Radio ‘technologically unfeasible right now’ – December 15, 2004
RUMOR: Apple to add SIRIUS Satellite Radio (and Howard Stern) to iPod in mid-2005 – December 10, 2004
Non-Apple news: Howard Stern signs deal with SIRIUS satellite radio – October 06, 2004
I would think an satellite radio add on would make more sense to me, just like the iTrip. That way it would work with all iPod models – not just special satellite enabled ones.
That way either manufacturer could use the Apple platform and Apple don’t really need to be involved. The iTrip can be controled using the iPod display and buttons – why can’t a satelite radio?
I personally have no use for satelite radio, but some people like that kind of stuff
This is definitely one addition I’d love to see come to the iPod in time.
Dream on… why would Apple produce an iPod with satellite radio functionality that would only work in the USA? For those of you who don’t get out of your country much, it may surprise you to know that the rest of the world doesn’t have satellite radio as you do, but DAB – Digital Audio Broadcasting – predominantly free, digital broadcasts of existing free radio channels.
This is a non-starter, at least with satellite broadcasting in its current state. In the future it might be possible to have an iPod that can work with multiple standards, but tat’s a long way off being cost-effective now, and certainly the packagae would never fit in an iPod with today’s form factor.
I wonder what it’s like to have dinner with Mr. Jobs. I bet he sends back food that doesn’t fit his design asthetic.
“This potato is too big and throws off the balance and harmony of the plate. It ruins the taste of everything with too much potato. I want you to take this back and bring me a better one!”
I wonder if he throws the flatware too?
Anybody know if Sirius or XM satellies have the bandwidth to distribute video?
Anybody know if Sirius or XM satellites have the bandwidth to distribute video?
If a Sirius subscription let me have live streaming from any computer (including a mac) and the subscription allowed downloadable podcasts of the Sirius shows (Football, Stern) through the iTMS I would totally be down.
In fact the subscription based Sirius podcast could be synced to iPod and taken wherever you please.
“…why would Apple produce an iPod with satellite radio functionality that would only work in the USA?”
-millions of potential subscription customers
-launching board for versions in the UK and other countries
-millions of potential subscription customers
-removal of Sirius and XM as any kind of threat to handheld music player marketshare
-millions of potential subscription customers
Sirius-ly, why do you think Sirius and XM are in business?
“For those of you who don’t get out of your country much, it may surprise you to know that the rest of the world doesn’t have satellite radio as you do…”
And for those of you that don’t get out of Europe much, it may surprise you to know that the U.S. is by far and away Apple’s largest consumer market, so if a satellite radio iPod was feasible, they would make one regardless of whether it worked in Europe or not.
The real reason you won’t see one anytime soon is because it would not work indoors at all (where iPods are predominately used), plus it would make the iPod considerably more bulky than it currently is. Not to mention the added expense of having a satellite radio built into an existing iPod. It’s doubtful a $500 Sirius iPod would sell too terribly well.
Sirius and XM do not have the bandwidth to broadcast high quality video. Apparently, XM is working on a few ideas, but they probably would need additional satellites. In addition, the transmission is very low strength, so the video bandwidth would be affected, requiring a fairly large buffer in the receiver. You might also need a larger antenna.
As for XM and Sirius replacing the iPod–I just don’t see it. I have the XM MyFi portable handheld radio. To get a decent signal, an external antenna is required, and even then, if you’re jogging and turn down the wrong path, your head or body blocks the signal. And Sirius is maybe two years away from a competitive portable radio.
By the way, Europe does have a satellite radio system, Worldspace. I sincerely doubt XM or Sirius has any short to medium term plans to broadcast outside of the US/Canada. XM has two satellites and Sirius three satellites to cover just North America. Neither of them has the money or infrastructure to expand beyond that, because the cost to launch two or three satellites each to cover Europe would run into the billions of dollars. So a Sirius or XM Satellite Radio iPod would truly be a US/Canada product. Maybe an add-on device would work, and with the huge installed base of iPods, maybe there would be some interest.
But in the end, sure, I might be interested in an iPod/Sirius product, but I’m not really begging for one. Besides, XM has a better quality signal, better products, and huge market share. Sirius is rapidly becoming an afterthought in the market.
art_vandelay
Fun question.
I once ( back in 1986 ) had lunch with all three: Bill, Steve and Alan Kay at a convention. There was only cafeteria food and other than leaving the fries aside and drinking bottle water – he was just your average job. What I remember is that Bill was obnoxious about the future of CD ROMs and didn’t belive in it, I knew Steve from back in 76 and he had invited me to the table. Alan Kay made the most sense of them all at the time. There you go, my short brush with fame.
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Id like to see the ability to send a playlist to a sattelite from
my home powermac and then have that sattelite forward my
playlist to my IPOD. Is this impossible? I see Sirius as the
Microsoft of sattelite radio and I see XM as the Apple of
the Sattelite radio. I dont think Apple should take sides but
Apple should engineer an IPOD that would allow IPOD owners
to subscribe to the Sattelite service of their choice. Is this Impossible?
There’s just one problem. The current portable satelite receivers have to be in line of site of a satelite to recieve the satelite radio signals. It doesn’t work as advertised on TV with Elton John. Until they fix this issue it won’t work. And until the broadcast is free I wouldn’t want that feature anyway.
“Sirius-ly, why do you think Sirius and XM are in business?”
They are in business serving a US market. The iPod is benefitting Apple by serving a global market. Just because the US is a large market doesn’t mean that Apple should integrate pretty key functionality that means diddly to anyone who isn’t in the US.
When I first heard the rumours months ago, I thought it might work with an add-on for people who want it and can make use of it. That’s still my view. I’m with Tommo_UK on this one.
sorry I spelled saddlelight wrong–
“For those of you who don’t get out of your country much, it may surprise you to know that the rest of the world doesn’t have satellite radio as you do,”
Well arent we a snob?
We dont have to “get out” much to know that just because a service isn’t offered overseas, it may have a market over here. It does, and a very large one at that.
Just because you wouldn’t benefit from it Tommo Boy doesnt mean us Yanks cant have it over here.
So there :^P
Give me that Sirius-enabled iPod now. I’d definitely become a lifetime Sirius subscriber. No more Clear Channel corporate bullcrap preprogrammed syndicated DJ personality nonsense for me. Twenty to twenty-five minutes per hour of radio broadcasting is ridiculous.
No, but it should’t be integrated. Why would the rest of the world want to pay for the hardware when we have no use for it. Make it an addon as had already been said. One thing I don’t understand though, is how come you guys got screwed into paying a subscription service for digital radio when we got it for free in the UK. Plus we don’t have these problems with reception you do. I mean, if it looses it that easily how is it worth having at all?
I wish there was some way SIrius could sell some kind of add-on jack and Apple could post a firmware update for Sirius users..
I do NOT want sirius to come standard on my next iPod.. this is technology that SOME people want.. convergence blows..
So now I’m going to listen to radio on my iPod. So tell me again why I paid for a 40 GB HD? Oh Yes, I remember, to carry around my own playlists and create my own personalized entertainment.
A very good replaceable battery powered mini AM/FM radio with good earbuds can be had from Sony and others for $10 to $50. They are smaller than the iPod mini and weigh even less. Use your heads and save yourselves $100’s.
So what area is covered by Sirius’ satellite footprint? All the USA? Canada? Mexico? It would be cool if they could cover more areas but that is a lot of satellites – which aren’t cheap.
MacsOnly,
Too bad you’re only interested in the product with the huge market share…must suck to be on Windows.
We Mac users I guess are just an after thought too
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they should just have podcast with proprietary encoding, like the way iTMS is set up. Pay the subscription rate, get unlimited downloads from Sirius radio. can’t wait for Howard Stern on Sirius, baby! Baba Booey!
Having Stern available on the iPod will devalue the iPod in my opinion.
Seriously people, do you really think Apple would ever release a product that would only work in one country, no matter the size of the market? Come on, get real… my comment had nothing to do with snobbery, or being anti-American.. (good lord, get a grip – talk about hyper-sensitive!) but was simply a reality check. Look beyond your borders when you’re thinking about things. Apple is a global company. Its products have a global reach. They’ll never launch anything which doesn’t have global appeal.
As for Siruis and XM, well I can’t see them taking the rest of the world by storm for now. Radio is too diverse, and too free, for people to pay for it elsewhere yet. In any event, people in Europe don’t spend as much time in their cars as Americans do, so the appeal of in-car satellite radio is limited, especially when considering the already-hugely diverse broadcasting industry in the UK, and Europe… not to mention Asia. Maybe 10yrs from now, but not before.