If you're in the market for a Pioneer Inno and haven't seen this one already, you might want to mosey on down to the psychopaths folks at woot! for a nice little bit of savings.

The Woot Sellout deal of the day is a refurb Pioneer Inno2 portable XM Satellite Radio for $69.99 (plus $5 shipping). Not a bad bargain, not bad at all.

[Woot Sellout]
Thanks Edward!

This is a guest post by Mario Rubio reviewing the Jensen Rock 'n Road personal navigation device. You can read more from Mario at Brewed For Thought.

Hey folks. Normally I write about beer at my blog Brewed For Thought but I'm also a big fan of Satellite Radio, specifically XM. I recently had a MyFi installed in my wife's car and began experiencing problems with my power supply, so I used this as an excuse to buy her the unit she's been dropping hints about: the XM-Ready, Jensen Rock 'N' Road GPS Receiver.

When you open the box, you'll find your typical assortment of battery, cheap carrying case, remote control, headphones, windshield mounting bracket, home and car charger and USB cable. There's a quick start guide and a CD with the Manual stored via PDF. There's also what appears to be an antenna for either the GPS or XM, but this is simply a connector with 6" of wire. I threw it away. I immediately put the unit on the home charger and headed to the car to get my wiring set up.


After doing all my necessary work, I went back inside to start the unit and play with it a little.  I turned it on and went to the Navigation program. The load time on this program is a little long and requires you to touch the screen to move forward. A little annoying, but seems fairly standard with in-car options. Even though I was inside, the unit found my location and saving my home address was fairly straight forward. I added a few other addresses and when entering these directly, found the predictive text to be very helpful.  More on address/POI searches later. It was time to get into the car and fire up the XM.

The DOJ's approval of the merger between Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. and XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. could bode well for some semiconductor suppliers, as well as allow for cheaper satellite radios, says some industry experts.

Suppliers like STMicroelectronics may fare well if the "new" Sirius decides to integrate its baseband and tuner on a single chip. ST would be able to do this with a minimal learning curve, according to Michael Kasparian, market development manager for the automotive business unit at the company. That's because ST is the sole provider of XM's baseband chipset and is one of two suppliers for Sirius' baseband chipsets, plus it also delivers tuners for both systems.

Kasparian says a redesign into a single baseband chip will require retooling, because the two basebands are currently completely different, adding that the new chip spec from Sirius could take up to a year after FCC approval.

"We'd be talking about a 65nm CMOS process for the baseband chip," said Kasparian. "If it takes longer to get the design, we may be to 45nm."

According to EE Times, the unified company could bring in economies of scale large enough to affect the entire industry. The chip's "real estate" alone delivers cost savings.

"You're buying by die size," Kasparian said. "The more you buy, the cheaper per die you can get away with, whether it's what we're charging or what you're willing to pay."

The market currently supports two distinct systems with distinct chipsets, but a single-chip solution serving both Sirius and XM would offer cost advantages.

"That would mean fewer part numbers shipping to larger volumes," said Kasparian. "That's always cheaper to do, and that kind of cost reduction would be passed on to the consumer."

[EE Times]

XM Satellite Radio and Sony BMG are saying they have resolved the lawsuit over its Pioneer Inno.

This follow similar agreements made with both Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group back in December. Sony BMG has withdrawn as a party to the complaint filed by the RIAA against XM in May 2006.

EMI is the last of the Big Four major labels to not have announced a settlement over the Inno.

The companies did not disclose terms of the deal.

If you've deactivated an XM radio in the past, you have the opportunity to get 3-months of free service as part of a holiday promotion. Starting on Friday, November 23rd, anyone with an inactive XM radio (purchased at retail) can get three free months of XM Satellite Radio service - regardless of when the radio was purchased or received.

The value of the three months of service is applied over the first six months of a subscription when activating between November 23rd and December 31st, 2007.

It's a neat promotion to bring back customers who have deactivated receivers just sitting around. It's also a blanket promotion for folks looking to buy satellite radio this holiday season - so if you buy a receiver for someone this year, they can use this promotion.

Very smart.

If you want to take advantage of the offer, just go to visit xmradio.com or call 1-800-XMRADIO. This offer also applies to subscriptions added to existing accounts under the XM Family Plan. (Wow)

The offer is not valid for those radios purchased under a separate promotion. All other radios are eligible for this promotion only when they are activated (or reactivated) between November 23rd and December 31, 2007.

Terms: The value of three (3) months free service will be applied over the first six (6) months of service. Offer applies when you activate service on any eligible XM radio between 11/23/07 and 12/31/07 and maintain uninterrupted service for at least six (6) months. Subject to penalty fee if six (6) months of continuous service is not maintained. Offer valid for purchases made in continental US only. Offer subject to additional terms, fees, and eligibility restrictions available at xmradio.com.

I'm really impressed with this promotion. That's one heck of a deal and really great idea. The fact that it applies not only to new radios, but it applies to older inactive radios as well. Really, really impressed.

Circuit City brings us the Black Friday goodness with the XpressEZ XM radio (read my XpressEZ review in case you're curious) for a mere $19.99.

That's with a $20 instant rebate and a $30 mail-in rebate.

While there's no pre-paid subscription card included, twenty bucks is a pretty good bargin.

The holiday shopping season is quickly nearing. And thanks to the collective goodness of the internets, we're able to see many of the deals reserved for Black Friday way ahead of time. Of course there's several websites dedicated to all things Black Friday but I won't bore you with the lameness of other products - it's all satellite radio, all the time.

So let's begin.

Starting with Best Buy, we have XM's "Complete Satellite Radio Package."

It's a Roady XT tuner, with a Boombox, a Car Kit and a free $30 XM Service Card all rolled up into a $99.99 package. Normal price is $228.83. Not a bad deal.

[via BfAds]

Engadget has uncovered, in some vigorous FCC digging, that a new MyFi has come across the desk at the Commission.

Unfortunately little is known about the device because XM has requested short-term confidentiality on such goodies like internal/external photos, manuals and technical info regarding the "coupling device." Other items like schematics and parts lists that may contain "trade secrets" are wrapped in the veil of long-term confidentially. Thankfully, the short-term confidentiality only lasts for 45-days, so we should know more about this badboy by December-ish.

Now, judging from the fact that its the same part number as the 1st gen MyFi (SA10113), I'm willing to guess that this is just an updated version. More than likely to have something to do with FM transmitters or something boring like that.

Then again, XM could be updating the beloved device with beefier internals (such as a more powerful Inno-like antenna) and preparing the MyFi as its low-end (read: affordable) handheld receiver. All the while prepping a badass uber-handheld complete with a sweet touchscreen interface for us to fawn over in the year ahead. Mr. Nate Davis did afterall drop some hints about a new portable coming next year. Oh the speculation!

[FCC Documents via Engadget]
Thanks TV Genius!

Integrating directly with your sat-ready car stereo meant the need for both a tuner-box and a smart adapter/cable. If you upgraded your car stereo, chances are you needed to get a new adapter.

That is, until now.

Introducing the XM Direct 2. Shipping now and available for an MSRP price of $129.99, the XM Direct 2 is a fully upgradeable (“flashable”) solution. In other words, it'll never become obsolete.

The XM Direct 2 supports more than 100 car stereos just by flashing the software via the USB port. Simply download and update to the latest software. And as the latest head unit technology continuously evolves and new manufacturers add XM capability to their radios, you'll be good to go.

Now most people generally aren't up to flashing, wiring and installing tuners, which is why professional install is recommended. But the reality nowadays is that many people are opting for professional installs anyway. For folks who want to have a clean XM installation with the most flexibility, this is truly the way to go.

The XM Direct 2 also has an expansion port, allowing you to connect other devices like CD Changers or iPod adapters right into it.

Oh and one more thing, it's not a static built-in tuner anymore either. The XM Direct 2 rocks out now with the XM Mini-Tuner cartridge (about the size of a 9-volt battery). Pop it out, and your XM subscription can go with you from your car to your pocket instantly.

For most people car stereos should be heard, not seen. If you want a clean install, with absolute flexibility and portability, your wait is over.

It amazes me what counts as a "review" in an age when information is abundant and, let's face it - valuable. And if we were to give a dollar amount to CNET's review of the just released XpressRC... it wouldn't be worth the $0.02 that the author continually throws in.

This is how the "hands on" with the XpressRC opens up:

"Generally speaking, my love for satellite radio is nonexistent. Sorry to say, I just don't see a reason to spend that kind of money ($12 per month) to listen to a host of shows that can usually be heard on the radio and music that copies what we hear on local radio for free."

...and so it begins.

The reviewer, Don Reisinger, goes on to talk about "the pains" of using satellite mobile products, though he does throw us a bone for the beauty of its color display. Oh goody. Don also likes the preset buttons, because he's miraculously found how "you can save all of your favorite shows" with those same presets. Alas, poor Don finds fault with the control knob (though gives no real reason), and dislikes the small power button employed on the device.

Thankfully, it's the pause-rewind functionality that wow'd Don. Yes, that's right, the same pause-rewind functionality that's been in satellite radios for years. In fact, he found that this functionality "sets the XpressRC apart from its competition" -- welcome to 2004, Don.

"Generally speaking, I usually don't endorse satellite radio as an alternative to podcasts or terrestrial radio..."

'nuff said.

[CNET]