They Might Be Giants will be swinging by Sirius Satellite Radio to preview songs from their upcoming children’s album Here Come The 123s.

A sequel to the ridiculously successful Here Come The ABCs album back in 2005, the band will also spend some time playing kid-friendly favorites from their previous albums.

While produced and released under Walt Disney Records, They Might Be Giants was reportedly given complete creative control for Here Come The ABCs. As a result, the album went Gold (over 500,000 in sales) and became the 2nd-highest selling They Might Be Giants album of all time. The follow-up release aims to see a similar level of success.

If you have a young'un in the household, you've probably had several They Might Be Giants songs (like "Here in Higglytown" and the "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Theme") rattling around in your head all day.

Now here's your chance for you and the kids to hear the band on Sirius. Tune in on Monday, February 4th at 8am ET with encores all week long on Sirius Kids Stuff (ch 116).

Today, a bidder on the nationwide C Block slice of the coveted 700mhz spectrum offered up a whopping $4.71 billion.

This bid pushed the auction over the FCC reserve price - triggering the "open access" condition - requiring that the spectrum be accessible to any device or software application.

The bidders' identities are being kept anonymous so as to prevent anti-competitive activity (or so the FCC says) until the entire auction ends. Analysts have speculated that the most likely bidders for the C Block airwaves are Verizon Wireless and Google.

Google had said publicly that they would bid up the price to at least the reserve level so as to ensure the open access condition was put into place.

The C Block is one of five different sections of the 700mhz spectrum - though it is a nationwide slice and considered the most valuable. The 700mhz signal is coveted because it can not only travel a long distance, but can also penetrate thick walls.

Combined, the 700mhz auction is up to $12.78 Billion... and counting.

[RCR News]

Introducing the BlackBerry Remote Stereo Gateway, hot off the presses at the FCC, coming to an executive's office sometime in the future.

It uses Bluetooth to enable a wireless transmission of music from your BlackBerry device to your home or portable stereo. Simply pair your BlackBerry to the Gateway, and plug the Gateway into your stereo (via a 3.5mm line-in or RCA aux input).

Magically all your music tunes get streamed to the speakers of your choice. Think of it like a dock for your phone, only without the wires.

What was it that the NAB used to define satellite radio? Oh right, "nationwide, multi-channel, audio programming." So... what would you call streaming audio over mobile devices?

[via Gizmodo]

Amazon announced today that they will buy digital audio book provider Audible.com for $300 million.

Audible has been partnered with XM for several years now, from including Audible support in the Helix/Inno, to the XM Audible Store, to various co-sponsored events and XM's Sonic Theater (ch 163) featuring Audible content. But I'm assuming none of that will change, since there's no reason for it to.

One interesting thing to think about is Amazon's increasingly aggressive foray into digital media distribution.

Not only do they have a massive DRM-free digital music service, but now they have the leading spoken-word provider as well.

And with the Amazon Kindle (pictured above), users can access and download all of that content over a built-in high-speed wireless EVDO connection... for free.

While Kindle (which Amazon is struggling to keep up with the demand of) doesn't necessarily market itself as a music player - it's primarily an eBook reader - but the capability is currently there. And there could be more to come.

"There are a number of experimental features. We have made them accessible so customers can tell us if we should work on them and make them part of the product," said CEO Jeff Bezos on the earnings call.

It's nothing, yet, but it sure makes you go "hmm."

[ZDNet, TechCrunch]

Well, the day has finally arrived, and not a moment too soon - the long anticipated Slacker Portable is shipping today, according to LAPTOP Magazine.

Some folks already have their Slacker Portables because the company decided to send out pre-launch units to those who preordered the product. But it's finally available now for the rest of us (check out my hands-on photos from CES here).

Even more interesting is the interview that LAPTOP had with Slacker's VP of Marketing Jonathan Sasse, where he hinted that the "mobile application" of Slacker will be coming later in 2008. That "mobile application" of course will be the satellite-enable cardock.

The interview gives some very intriguing insight into how Slacker differentiates itself from other forms of "radio." I've conveniently included a snippet of interest after the jump, but you're welcome to read the entire interview for yourself.

[LAPTOP Magazine]

The smartphone is a quad-band HSDPA device, equipped with WiFi, Bluetooth, full Web Browser, PIM, and - you guessed it - GPS functions. It'll run off of Garmin's own operating system with the user interface based on the current one Garmin's PNDs utilize. Oh, and that 3.5-inch LCD display? It's, of course, a full touchscreen.

Pricing and availability will reportedly be announced soon.

Now, if there's any gripe folks have had about satellite radio's retail strategy - it's been the lack of integration in PNDs and Cellphones. Well, now Garmin's gone and made those two, one and the same.

[Engadget]

Isuzu has officially decided it is abandoning the North American market, and discontinuing sales of its i-Series pickup and Ascender SUV.

Isuzu has an exclusive installation deal with XM Satellite Radio. The status of their partnership is unknown, but it's a pretty good assumption that it's a done deal.

Not that it mattered much anyway.

While Isuzu's sales topped out to 100,000 units in 1999, led largely by the popular Isuzu Trooper, sales have plummeted to dismal levels since. In 2007, the automaker sold a mere 7,906 units, and that's down from 15,751 units in 2006.

And with sales numbers like that, you surely can't blame them for bailing out.

[AutoBlog]

The RIAA isn't satisfied with those already bloated statutory damages in file-sharing lawsuits, now they want you to pay an incredible $1.5 million for a ten-track album.

See, the problem is those dastardly compilation CDs. Who's to say that the songs came from a compilation album, or each from a separate album? The solution: fine each song as an individual album.

Yep, the RIAA wants each copied track to count as a separate act of infringement. So instead of a mere (and, still, absolutely ridiculous) $150,000 - the RIAA wants to count each song as it's own separate album. Meaning a ten-track soundtrack/compilation CD would run you a whopping $1.5 million in damages. (Forget the fact that the same song costs $1 from iTunes...)

It all part of the "PRO-IP" Act (aka, the Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property act: H.R. 4279). A bill that that Google's own top copyright lawyer, called the most "outrageously gluttonous IP bill ever introduced in the US."

And guess who's among those who are sponsoring the so-called PRO-IP Act? None other than Reps. John Conyers (D-MI) and Steve Chabot (R-OH) - the boys who were "dismayed" by the prospect that the DOJ would be approving the Sirius-XM merger. Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) is also among the 12 co-sponsors of the PRO-IP act, the man behind the now-dead Copyright Modernization Act which would have eventually prevented you from recording satellite radio.

Thank goodness these Congressmen aren't being influenced by lobbyists or anything.

[Ars Technica via Gizmodo]

Side note: Someone sent me a link the other day with the statement: Gen-Y doesn't pay for music, so "why the hell would they pay for something they can get for free?" (Thanks Chris!) This is totally true and one inherent problem with satellite radio's subscription model. And worse yet, the RIAA's style of legislation/litigation will only help to breed resentment and indignation... only making the problem worse.

Pop-rock band Maroon 5 will be taking over XM Satellite Radio’s hits countdown channel Top 20 on 20 this Friday. And to make the screaming masses happy, they'll even perform a song or two.

The group is dropping by XM's studios to play some songs of their liking, talk about their music, and will treat the XM Nation to a live performance.

Maroon 5 is getting ready to head out for concert dates in Asia and Australia in support of their current album It Won’t Be Soon Before Too Long. But you'll be able to catch them on Top 20 on 20 (ch 20) this Friday, February 1st, at 9am, 3pm, and 9pm ET.

Platinum selling singer-songwriter Jack Johnson will sit down for an intimate interview on Sirius Satellite Radio to discuss his upcoming album Sleep Through The Static.

Johnson will share with listeners his inspiration for the album, and discusses other topics like his life as a parent and his new “green” studio where the album was recorded.

Sleep Through The Static is his 5th studio album and is due for release on February 5, 2008. It was being recorded at L.A.'s Solar Powered Plastic Plant - he has recorded all of his previous albums in Hawaii.

Jack Johnson also will treat fans to an acoustic performance of the album’s title track, "Sleep Through The Static."

You'll have plenty of opportunities to hear this interview/performance. Sirius will air it on Friday, February 1st at 5pm ET; on Saturday, February 2nd at noon ET; and February 3rd at 3pm and midnight ET - all on The Spectrum (ch 18).

View a video about the making of Sleep Through The Static after the jump...