Sirius XM pivots into streaming satellite radio By Ted Kritsonis WhatsYourTech.ca
November 23, 2012 Listening to satellite radio online isn't new, but the new features and revamped mobile apps are carving out a more balanced niche for Sirius XM. http://www.calgaryherald.com/technology/Sirius+pivots+into+streaming+satellite+radio/7601557/story.html It used to be that satellite radio and Internet radio were rival methods of listening to music. Satellite offered access almost anywhere you could drive, while the Internet presented tens of thousands of radio stations from across the globe. Sirius XM Canada’s foray into Internet streaming doesn’t exactly fuse the two together, but it does mark a turning point in how you can listen to your content as a subscriber. This is pretty much all centred on the revamped iOS and Android smartphone and tablet apps, as well as the Lynx, the first satellite radio unit in Canada that has the ability to not only playback audio over Wi-Fi, but can also play all the exclusive channels from Sirius and XM, respectively. These are called Premier packages, and they’re basically add-on packages that tack on the channels the other provider has. For example, as a Sirius subscriber, you would get the NHL, MLB, NBA, PGA, Opie and Anthony and Oprah. As an XM subscriber, you would get Howard Stern, NFL, Martha Stewart and Playboy. Signing up for this is an extra $4.00 over and above the regular $15.99 monthly subscription. Then there’s the Internet side of the equation, which will also costs a bit more. For another $4.00 per month, Internet audio streaming gives you access to an online player on a computer (most browsers supported), smartphone and tablet. With mobile devices, you can also stream over 3G or LTE, too. The added benefit to all this is that you have more control and freedom over how you listen to your favourite programming. The most noticeable feature is Start Now, which lets you go back up to five hours on a majority of channels as part of On Demand. In other words, if you missed a countdown or a some other show in its entirety and it aired within the last five hours, you would be able to scrub back along the playback bar and just listen to it from the beginning. The name of the show, segment or song title is displayed above to let you know where you are along the line. TuneStart is along the same lines, except that it just lets you skip back to previously played tracks, like you would on any tracklist. Because the show or playlist continues to play live, you can also skip tracks forward or just go directly to what’s currently playing. No matter where the song has progressed, you will always be taken to the beginning, and you can pause live content anytime you want. The extension of those two features is the ability to record content directly to your smartphone or tablet to listen off-line. This isn’t new to satellite radio, since there were previous Sirius and XM products that made that possible, but the difference here is that the content is stored on your mobile device for 30 days where you can listen to it as much as you want. Show Finder is a programming guide for all the channels, where you can set reminders to alert you when it’s about to go live, or set it to record like you would on a PVR for your TV. A major caveat to that is you won’t really be able to do it with music. Music ownership continues to be a thorny issue, which means that you can set reminders, but can’t actually record anything. There are some exceptions, like Sirius XM-specific music shows or programming, but those tend to be pretty rare. This is a shame because streaming over 3G and LTE can be a serious drain on your mobile data plan. The quality of the stream is fairly high to begin with, but it’s also easy to forget you’re even listening to a stream. Time goes by, and before long, a chunk of your data plan is gone. Because the app can play in the background, this is a scenario that can happen more often than you think. Of course, it helps that the new app also resembles an Internet radio app. Navigation is easy to understand, it’s got a polished look with album art, bios and clear explanations on what everything means. The Lynx can best be described as a hardware unit that does all of the above, including streaming to a Bluetooth-enabled speaker. The good thing about that is you don’t have to necessarily spend money on a home kit. Just plug in the charger and stream the audio over to a speaker that has Bluetooth built-in. Store up to 25 presets so you’re not navigating all the time. One neat trick Sirius XM included is the Radio Replay feature that records up to eight hours of content for each of the five presets that are displayed on the screen at one time. This is accessible when the Lynx is in Satellite mode, whereas Internet mode limits it to five hours, like the mobile app. The major difference is that Satellite mode records music, whereas Internet mode can’t. Like the mobile app, the Lynx doesn’t actually tap into any Internet radio stations to offer a hybrid of over 100 satellite radio stations to go with thousands of Internet radio ones. The only content you’ll have access to is what’s offered within the Sirius XM platform. Keep that in mind because using the term “Internet radio” can confuse some into thinking the best of both worlds is what’s being offered here. That’s not really a knock against Sirius XM. It is a different business model, after all. It’s just important to remember that enjoying all the channels and features that come with this new pivot to the Internet amounts to $249.99 for a 12-month period. That covers your regular subscription, plus Premier and Internet. _______________________________________________ Please be sure to include a URL to the article. Reply to the sender with a "Thank you" if you like this post. _______________________________________________ Medianews mailing list [email protected] http://lists.etskywarn.net/mailman/listinfo/medianews
