Ever since word got out that Sirius XM were working on an official iPhone App, the StarPlayr project has seemed to hit a few bumps in the road. The players started stopped working, and now word is out that NiceMac has decided to end StarPlayr altogether.
Lips are sealed as to the exact reason over the closing, but the string of events seems to make it obvious. As soon as the StarPlayr iPhone App was refused by Apple, the revenue stream potential disappeared. Oh sure, there's ad revenue, but the iPhone client was the whale and would at the very least justify the hours spent in programming.
"...thanks to the fans. It's been a wild ride!" wrote GeeksToolBox on Twitter. While Jason Millard tweeted, "Sad news. uSirius and uXM standalone PC applications retired. Thanks for being fans!"
And, that's that. Sadly, there's a lot of talent in that crew that has been lost.
[StarPlayr]
"...thanks to the fans. It's been a wild ride!" wrote GeeksToolBox on Twitter. While Jason Millard tweeted, "Sad news. uSirius and uXM standalone PC applications retired. Thanks for being fans!"
And, that's that. Sadly, there's a lot of talent in that crew that has been lost.
[StarPlayr]
I would like to personally thank the starplayr team for all their hard work and dedication to satellite radio fans around the world.
Thank you
Don't be surprised of Sirius XM comes out with an app.....they would be very stupid not to do so.
I too would like to thank the guys that worked on this project and put alot of time and effort into trying to get this app out to us.
I really wish they would keep going until they knew for sure siriusXm was going to release an app but i guess the time and effort isnt worth it if they do end up releasing an app for free.
Best wishes to you guys.
I hate lawyers.
These guys have put out great software, and for ALL of it to be killed on every platform only points to Sirius being douchebags.
Why is using an app that is dedicated to listening to sirius so much different than using a browser?
Thank you guys. I have to say that it has been an honor to be a part of the beta for this incredible application. It will be a sad sad day when it is turned off. I am sure this is disheartening. Best of luck in all future endeavors.
Last shot of the uSirius StarPlayr beta 2
http://i409.photobucket.com/albums/pp180/egiscodr/StarPlayrend.png
Shame to see that hard work go to waste, but they really didn't have a choice now that an official app is coming through the pipeline. :P
I don't have a problem if they want to stop the project, but at least release the code into the wild.
I hope it was not pressured legaly but bought out from Sirius.These guys have everyone username and password! We will know by the way the app looks if it was bought or not. The first one they put out had recording and it was great it automaticaly put it on the iPhone when synced. I hope mel and the gang Tweeks it with even more features but thanks nicemac for everything,I will never forget your great creations.
Thanks NiceMac. You guys did a nice job, for what it's worth
Thanks too to NiceMac, it was a great application and worked through work firewalls and my cell phone. I will miss it.
Also, for the interested, there is a 3 month Sirius Everything plus the Best of XM Quaterly Service promotion. I got it tonight 3/8/2009 for $30.99 + $2.09tax = $33.08 or $11.03 per month. Just like I speculated earlier, the new pricing is some MBA playing with a spreadsheet.
To StarPlayr:
Thank you.
I've enjoyed your Mac, and then later your PC application for what seems like forever.
You've made my access to the Sirius and XM streams unbelievably easy...the way it should have always been.
Plus, the secret access to the high bandwidth stream, (Shhhhh! :-) The recording/playing two streams!
It's heartbreaking to know this is all going away. I was never interested in the iPhone app, but I loved your Mac/PC apps.
So I hate to think that the iPhone app. started this project shutdown, but it is what it is.
So know this…
You guys are really cool. You made a really great thing. (A couple of them, actually.) I used them most every day. I told all my friends about them. I'm really going to miss 'em.
So it's back to the captcha nonsense, the "are you listening?" timeouts (YES, I just can't run over to that computer right now!), a player that semi works on the Mac, and a layout/design that would be embarrassing if it were just a college project.
From what I can gather, this didn't end nicely by SiriusXM, which is unfortunate. Your applications brought much more value to the subscriptions, and everyone I told about them were equally thrilled to use them. I hope you're as proud of making the apps as I was in using them.
Should you return to the market with a paid product for the PC and/or Mac, count me in.
Good work.
Thank you.
And Baba Booey to you all :-)
steve
To be clear (because my article *could* be misinterpreted), these guys were not "in it for the money." If anything, they wanted to just break even.
I just wanted to make sure everyone knew that - the world is more complicated than what it seems sometimes.
Its hard to even break even with a pay app when your 'competition' gives their product for free.
I work at Sirius XM and was close with one of the guys on the StarPlayr project (who was* also a Sirius employee). The trouble started when someone on the Howard Stern show began talking up the iPhone app, which put Sirius management in an awkward position. They had previously contracted with ANOTHER developer to create an "official" iPhone app: the NiceMac product was in direct competition AND being talked up on the Stern show. As you can imagine, the sh*t hit the fan and lawyers got involved. End of story.
(*Notice the past tense.)
Will the application (StarPlayr 2 for Mac, beta for uSirius starplayr) continue to work? I'm not familiar with the architecture of the apps, so I don't know if they are simply a conduit to Sirius/XM's online server or if they connect to a NiceMac server.
Thx.
It's sad to see that Jason Millard is retiring the uSirius PC application, as well. It was a great piece of software that allowed me to listen to Sirius's Internet stream throughout my house on a Roku Soundbridge.
Once the version of uSirius that I currently have on my PC stops working, I'll be dropping my Sirius "premium" Internet radio subscription as well.
I hope they do, however I found another application called Pulsar. ( http://www.rogueamoeba.com/pulsar/ ) I'd anticipate their user base to grow significantly over the next few weeks if StarPlays stops working all together. As for the "webplayer" I'll agree that its ok when I'm on the computer working, however I tend to broadcast the audio onto my stereo and the "Are you listening?" always logs me off.
-Mike
How will I be able to stream sirius on windows mobile without this software. I have been using this application for a very long time and cannot believe it is not going to be available any longer. What the F?
This sucks. I love StarlightXM. It's a million times better than streaming Sirius from their own website, which, due to their idiotic decision to use Windows Media, sucks in general and is barely Mac friendly.
I'm not holding my breath, but I hope Sirius comes out with a solution soon.
:(
What is the right way to listen online? Is it to login in the Sirius website through a bunch of prompts that never remember your password, type in a captcha and then maybe the player plays? What the heck? Do they have any intention of making it easier for PC and Mac users????
So Apple can just hold up or deny someone's application in the App Store because it wants to give a competitor time to complete their own app? That stinks all kinds of unethical.
Once again, SiriusXM fucks up another good idea. The new Sirius product will be LESS impressive I am sure. The PC desktop player those guys had was impressive. Sorry to see it go.
Btw.... The post by Ryan put up on Friday about Oprah and her new line up was ABSOLUTELY hammered by Stern on his show today...
They all expressed that Oprah is a waste of money and was brought in by XM for 55million clams... way to go XM.
Other than the full bandwidth, the XM merger sucks.
I need an alternative for my windows mobile device...Im gonna try using SiriuCE...any other suggestions????
1. No one from nicemac worked for Sirius
2.Yes apple can hold up an app when it infringes on materail already distributed and copywritten by another comapny. Get a clue. would you want someone profiting off of something you created?
Sirius is pathetic. I hope they die. They don't deserve to survive with all of their stupid moves as of late...
Lawyers suck!!!!!!!!!!!!
At this point I am canceling my sub. I'll torrent the shows I listen to.
http://www.sirius.com/serviceterms
4. SIRIUS Internet Radio: You may not re-skin, re-package, decompile, reverse engineer, disassemble SIRIUS Internet Radio, or construct a media player or interface that accesses SIRIUS Internet Radio. In addition, your use of any products or services that access SIRIUS Internet Radio and are provided by third parties not authorized by SIRIUS constitutes a violation of these Terms, even if you did not create such product or services and/or do not understand how they were created.
I just emailed the following to Sirius. It's not hatemail, just a straightforward expression of dismay over their decision to block this app. If you agree you may want to send them something similar. Also, I CC'd this to the HS show. Maybe if enough of us speak out? At least I'm going to try because Nicemac was really screwed on this deal.
My email to Sirius:
"I AM OUTRAGED that Sirius XM has forced the developers of NiceMac LLC to close their doors because you couldn't reach an agreement to allow them to release the app they created for the iPhone. I won't cancel my subscription until Howard leaves, as you probably assumed most of us won't, but I am really embarrassed to be a loyal Sirius fan right now. This is the first time I've actually considered giving up Howard because of my disgust at Sirius that you've decided to block the iPhone app from happening, especially after it was already developed. Sirius' own products (I'm a Stiletto owner) SUCK compared to the ability and convenience of the iPhone app. I would have paid a premium to stream Sirius on my iPhone ABOVE the extra $$ I ALREADY pay for the premium internet stream. At this point even if Sirius does release it's own iPhone app SOMEDAY, I will think twice about it until I am sure you've made it right with the guys at NiceMac. They were a small startup company just trying to please fans and make an inferior product better. You certainly had the RIGHT to stop them, but why did you wait till the 11th hour??? And just because you HAD the right to stop it doesn't mean you should have exercised it. I hope Sirius gets a huge round of bad publicity because lets face it, you're only here because of Howard and when he leaves, so will millions of subscribers."
This sucks!!!
I have been waiting now for 5 weeks since I heard the app was coming available for my iphone.
Then I get this news...
Sirius - please wake up and smell the coffee!!!
Thanks Nicemac team for the thousands of hours of work dedicated to something that you clearly loved. I was so looking forward to your product and would have gladly paid for it. I wasn't on the beta team and never saw the app run. However I have no doubt that it runs circles around whatever tripe comes out of Sirius XM. You are a class act and the iPhone is worse off because of what was done to you.
So your telling me we all lost Starplayr because of berry faced Ralph?????? I now have even more hatred to that jerk-off.......
Look at your starplayr screen now....GT pays tribute to berry face ralph for his part in the demise. nice goin ralph....dickhead.
It is a genuine Thank You to Ralph. He has been very helpful to the team as a tester as well as by providing some very good feedback. Nothing Ralph did caused any problems at all for anyone involved.
Thank you to all of the fans... I expected to wake up to my inbox filled with emails complaining, and instead I found it full of emails with only kind words.
I am truly thankful to have a user community as massive and as kind as ours.
~Dave
I hope Sirius was at least smart enough to buy StarPlayr out! I love the Windows and Mac apps and I'm sure the iPhone app would have kicked ass as well.