Well, we now have our answer about who the manufacturer is for the upcoming Sirius Live Wearable satellite radio receiver. No, it's not Toshiba, or Sony, or even Archos as we were all speculating - the manufacturer distributor is the same as that of the Sirius S50 (pictured above) - Directed Electronics. Surprise!

During the Q&A session of Directed's conference call yesterday, the question was posed by a representative of CIBC World Market about a more specific release date of the new device. While there was no definitive answer beyond "this summer" it's the first public confirmation that Directed is indeed the manufacturer of this device. Directed seemed to only have intended on speaking about the Sportster 4 during this call, but during the Q&A session it appears the cat was let out of the bag.

Below is a transcript from the conversation:

Q: "Just a quick question, first of all on the timing of the new live wearable product. I think you guys said summer, but is there a [more precise] launch date at this point?"

A: "That's about as precise as we can be at the moment. The development is nicely on track but [we want to] be very careful to make sure that we answer that question when we know it very definitively, but we're very comfortable to say 'summer' at this point. I'm sorry I can't improve upon that at the moment."

Listen to an audio snippet of the conference call for yourself.

So what of the mysterious "leaked" shot on Sirius' homepage? Most likely... just stock photography. I'm sure the web-guys over at Sirius didn't expect the storm of speculation to ensue as a result of a simple pic of headphones. :)

Speaking of speculation, additional rumors are coming in that the new device will be black (like the S50) and will contain an iPod-like clickwheel (probably a spinoff of the Media Dial from the S50). The device will also have a docking station that will hold an extra battery said to allow for a 25 hour playback time, according sources familiar with the matter. As further rumors, speculation and all around malarkey occurs, I'll be sure to make it public.

[DEI 1Q06 Conf Call via GSI]
Thanks to everyone who sent this in!

...that Sirius' new wearable receiver will not be backward compatable with the Sirius S50. From what I heard the new device, (aka the 'Bellagio') will be somewhat wider in shape than the S50 and thus won't be able to fit any S50 accessories.

Let's hope this isn't confirmation of the S50 being discontinued or that support and accessories for the S50 don't die off to be forgotten. Whatever it means, we can't wait. Can someone please make some fake Photoshops so we can speculate some more?

Over the weekend, SIRIUS.com got a very nice redesign, and a photo appeared on the homepage that has caused quite a bit of buzz in the online community. The boys over at Sirius Backstage were able to snap off a screenshot of the possible live SIRIUS wearable unit before it was taken down later in the day, replaced by a photo of earbuds.

Much speculation abounds that this is a SIRIUS equipped Dell DJ - and while it definitely isn't the harddrive based DJ (which was killed recently) - there is a slight possibility it's a flash-based since the Dell Ditty remains. Still, Dell does have a long standing relationship with XM, so it's hard to see them flipping the script like that.

My opinion? I'm betting that the pictured unit is an Archos... I dunno, let's just call it a hunch. (*cough* EchoStar *cough*)

Whether or not this is in fact the new SIRIUS portable - dubbed the "Bellagio" after the hotel is was privately shown at - it's also rumored that this device will be unveiled tomorrow in conjunction with SIRIUS' Q1 conference call. Though the hardware announcements may be limited to only the new Sportster. I guess we only have a day to find out.

[Sirius Backstage]