XM Satellite Radio has launched XM HD Surround powered by Neural Audio. This is the first surround sound technology to be offered by any radio company.

Listeners can hear music in XM HD Surround on the free-form music channel Fine Tuning (XM Channel 76) and the classical pops music channel XM Pops (XM Channel 113). XM will also broadcast a variety of upcoming shows and live music performances at the XM studios in 5.1 surround sound. XM HD Surround promises to enrich the listener’s experience with full envelopment and image detail never before available in traditional broadcast.

The first wave of home audio systems capable of playing XM HD Surround are now arriving at retailers. XM HD Surround manufacturing partners include Yamaha, Pioneer, Onkyo, and Denon.  These systems will carry the XM-Ready and Neural Surround logos. 

XM subscribers can connect an XM Connect-and-Play antenna or the upcoming XM Passport cartridge/homedock to the unit to receive the XM signal. 

NTT DoCoMo will debut on April 8th their first mobile phone with a built-in satellite radio receiver entitled the Music Porter X. This is the latest example of cellphones from DoCoMo that attempts to better integrate portable music functionality into a mobile phone.

The new cellphone from Mitsubishi is compatible with Mobile Broadcasting (MBCO), a struggling satellite radio service that's been available in Japan since late 2004, but to date it's attracted a pretty small number of subscribers.

Users will be able to load MP3/ATRAC format files into the phone's 1Gb memory and tune into FM radio in addition to accessing the satellite radio service. A 15-channel package of programming will be offered to users independent of cellphone service for ¥980 ($8.30) per month. That's a under half the content available from MBCO's full 37-channel audio service and while MBCO also offers a multichannel video service - the cellphone can't receive that content.

The Music Porter X will cost between ¥40,000 and ¥45,000, measures 109 x 50 x 24mm and weighs in at 136g. Talk-time is 170 minutes and the battery should provide about 20 hours of music playback or six hours of satellite radio reception.

[Digital World Tokyo] 

Sarantel, a manufacturer of filtering antennas for mobile and wireless devices, has now begun volume shipments of its new SkyTune antenna, used in the upcoming Samsung Helix and Pioneer Inno XM Satellite Radio portables.

As Sarantel’s first non-GPS product, the patented antenna technology allows OEMs to drastically reduce the size of XM2go devices while simultaneously delivering 30–50% greater performance over conventional patch antennas.

Conventional antennas rely on the size of the radio to achieve good performance – not so with Sarantel’s patented PowerHelix antenna technology. Sarantel isolates the antenna from the device, allowing the radio to be made as small as the electronics will allow. Due to the particular design of the SkyTune antenna, it actually outperforms conventional patch antennas of larger size, even before considering the proximity tuning effects of the user holding or wearing the radio. The SkyTune antenna is immune to such effects and really shines when used in a portable product.

[Press Release]
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